August 2008

“To see a world in a grain of sand And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour." - William Blake "Auguries of Innocence" An appealing industrial design helps an inventor persuade investors, marketers, and consumers of the value of an invention and convey important details of the invention to design engineers and patent agents/attorneys. Mr. Chris Stuart (of LUUR [a design and visualization firm]; formerly a senior designer for Thomson Consumer Electronics) spoke to us about the steps he takes to help inventors express their inventions visually, fully, and relatively inexpensively, and showed us some impressive examples of his work. 1. Chris first sketches (freehand and using a Wacom tablet) the invention, focusing on concept and form rather than on production. CAD modeling converts the sketch to a two dimensional illustration of the invention, to which forecasted colors are applied. Something as simple as your product’s color can make the difference between winning and losing a sale. 2. He gives the illustration a realistic three dimensional appearance with light rendering using the Rhino software program and the V-Ray rendering engine. This helps make the illustration emotionally appealing to viewers, persuading them to invest in your invention and to buy your product. 3. Chris can create a first prototype of an invention. 4. And he can prepare real art specifications of an invention for a manufacturer. Thank you for your presentation Mr. Stuart!