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Season’s Greetings from Sated Design

And so we say goodbye to another year. During last year’s greeting we were hoping that the worst was behind us and so it was but like many other businesses we are not totally free of the repercussions and ravages of Covid 19. This has the makings of a story that will go on for a long time with ever more twists and turns like a rubbish TV serial way past its switch off date!

Despite these challenges, we as a business continue to adapt to new ways of working and have remained on hand to support our clients at every step.

Sated’s Director Chris Howsam says “The resilience of our business community continues to be tested but it is determined to move forward by adapting to every twist and turn of the plot whilst acting in the best interests of its employees and customers. This has been a challenge we and many other businesses have faced and overcome. So, this year we should say thank you to those who have supporting our decisions, good and bad as we get through to the other side.”

“I wish all of our clients and colleagues a safe and restful break over the holidays. I feel sure that 2022 will see new energy, new ideas and new success, so let’s look forward to that as 2021 draws to a close.”

If you would like to embark on a new product development in 2022, we’d be delighted to hear more about it. Contact us today to start your project.

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The truth about plastic: Part 1 – Is plastic-free feasible?

The inconvenient and very awkward truth about the problem of plastic is overuse and the global reluctance to address this. Unless you elect to live in the stone age you need plastics. Within minutes of getting out of bed into a life without plastics you would be uncomfortable and very unsafe. As you step out of bed many of us put our feet on a carpet containing plastic fibres. The bristles in our toothbrushes are variants of the same fibres. The water flowing through the tap can only flow because the valves in the taps and the rest of the system are made from elastomers.

Making a plastic free breakfast would be almost impossible for the vast majority of us who could not cook on an open fire because the electricity in the circuits relies on insulated switching gear. The copper used in making the wiring has to be mined. The other metals used in making pipes for liquids and gas also have to be mined. Mining and refining rely on equipment and processes that cannot happen without thousands of plastic parts, not forgetting the miles and miles of electrical insulation around the wires of countless circuits. So, it does not matter where the electricity, water or gas could come from if it can’t be delivered to or used at the point of need in a plastic free world.

Without the heating on to fight off a chilly morning or make a warm drink some will succumb to infection and end up with bacterial pneumonia. The chances of dying from this common infection would substantially increase to about 1 in 3 without antibiotics. The production of antibiotics requires highly technical plastics used in piping for air and nutrient delivery systems. The loss of life caused by unavailability of antibiotics would be catastrophic in a plastic free world.

The huge worldwide effort to fight Covid has only been possible because of the use of plastics at the heart of the infrastructure that guarantee vaccine identity, purity, sterility, efficacy and safety that we have all been desperate for.

The truth is that plastics are not the problem, it’s the abuse of the resource of plastics that is the problem. If we treated all plastic (which are petroleum derived products) as a finite and therefore precious resource we would then reserve plastics for important uses. Here is the crunch. What do we all agree is the correct use of plastics? Is it the millions of tons of excessive single use plastic packaging, or the seals, electrical insulation and technical mouldings, sheets and tubes we all derive enormous benefit from?

In every sphere of life we all need a certain amount of guaranteed high quality plastic to meet the compliance demands of manufacturing. This can include medical, industrial, aeronautical, food and thousands of other important applications. To put it bluntly, would anyone accept a surgical implant made from grubby old food pots, no matter how much you washed them out before hand?
In our opinion the only viable option is to reduce the use of plastics for only those purposes where it really matters. This is where product designers can make the most difference. By using materials sensibly and designing proper products for a proper purpose we can use plastics in the right way and live with them in our world.

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How much do our sex lives impact on climate change?

The adult toy industry is estimated to be worth £36.1 billion by 2027 and encompasses electronic products, clothing, lubricants and contraceptives within its remit. All of these products will have a carbon footprint and an impact on climate change. Clearly some more than others – 10 million latex condoms are reportedly manufactured each year and disposed of in landfill after a single use. Many water-based or organic lubricants cannot be used with most condoms because of the risks of breakages.

So there lies a problem. Being responsible and protecting ourselves (i.e. using proper methods of contraception) can be in direct conflict with protecting our planet. The environmental costs of contraception will need to be off-set but it is our choice as a consumer if and how we choose to do this. For example, pledging a meat-free day, walking instead of using the car, showering instead of using the bath can all act as carbon offsets in exchange for our extracurricular activity!

Many pleasure product manufacturers are now considering ethical design – rechargeable toys and ethically made lingerie now feature in the majority of online and bricks and mortar retail outlets. Manufacturing poorly designed and poorly made novelty products is not justified. Not only does this damage the reputation of our industry but these products are manufactured waste products that shamefully clog up the planet.

We touched on the latest ISO 3533 safety standards for sex toys in our last article. Although voluntary, these standards will help set a quality bar within the industry.

At Sated Design, we can do our bit by ensuring that every product we design has a purpose and is designed with quality and longevity in mind. We invite our clients to think about the bigger picture too through their innovation.

It isn’t always possible to do the best thing for our planet in order to protect our own selves, however by being design savvy and off setting with ethical consideration we will go a way towards reducing our carbon footprint.

If you have an idea for a new adult toy or wish to review a current one we’d be happy to discuss this with you. Contact us today.

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Sated marks one year since the first UK lockdown

Today the UK marks one year since the first coronavirus lockdown. Now is as good a time as any to ask ourselves to compare our lives 12 months ago to what they are now. What are we seeing? What positives can we take from this? How can we apply these to how we live and how we work going forward? Is there a better way?

We think it is important to talk about what Sated Design has done because providing guidance and support to our clients, is a large part of our work as product designers. If we can practice what we preach and show resilience as a business, offer sustainable alternatives, implement cost saving measures and a more beneficial way of working, we can encourage these businesses who wish to look at their own strategies for dealing with Covid19..

Here are some of the ways we have adapted to our ‘new normal’.

Providing for our staff

The biggest change for us has been the relocation of some of our staff as a result of social distancing measures. In the office we have made changes including staggered breaktimes, availability of PPE, a new layout for the office and become more aware of not gathering around the printers etc.
For those that now work from home there has been an improvement in the work/life balance and with the assistance of technology, it is possible to liaise between those who need to come into the office and those who can work from home to maintain what is essentially a normal working week.

Everyone has adapted to this new way of working without any drama and much of what we have implemented will no doubt influence how we operate as a business going forward.

Supporting our clients

With regards to our product design service and a client list that extends across the UK and overseas, we were already adept at using remote conferencing and real time on-screen CAD viewing to discuss projects so there hasn’t been any notable difference.

A great many of our projects take months to work through because of development, tooling and testing so a large proportion of our work is focussed on supporting work in progress. Current projects have continued with very little interruption. New enquiries come in every week and we are heartened to see an increase in enquiries as business confidence increases and we near the end of the imposed lockdowns.

Director Chris Howsam says “Businesses should be thinking ahead and planning for what happens when the lockdown is lifted. We have supported our clients by maintaining a constant service over the last twelve months so as soon as this is over, they can be the first out of the blocks”.

He continues “Taking action now will make all the difference when it comes to securing the future of your business. If you have a great idea and would like a little help to guide you through the journey of making it a reality, take this opportunity and get in touch”.

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Dreams can come true

“Back in ‘82 I saw Blade Runner on the big screen and it was awesome, easily coming into my list of the top ten films. One thing in particular that stood out for me were the flying police vehicles known as Spinners – taking off at ground level from seemingly anywhere and going directly to their destination. It seemed like the stuff of dreams to imagine that we could see these in my lifetime but jump forward a few years and we are almost there with the development of the flying taxi”.
Sated Design’s Director Chris Howsam

The Hoversurf air taxi is such an inspiration. Billed as Russia’s ‘flying taxis’ these amazing machines could be ready for flights in 2025 and will offer passengers a quick and easy way to travel. Being electrically powered means they are also environmentally friendly providing the first real potential for convenient, zero-emissions, go anywhere travel for us all.

Once upon a time, flying vehicles seemed unachievable due to safety concerns, logistics and costs. Confined to the dreams of our youth, this kind of travel seemed as though it would never appear outside of fiction; immortalised in films such as Back to the Future and the Fifth Element but never within our grasp.

Yet through the innovation and aspirations of Hoversurf’s inventor Alex Atamanov, the drone taxi will be in production in less than 5 years. And so, fiction gets ever closer towards a reality.

Currently the infrastructure to support flying vehicles is the weak link – there is much work to be done here but excitingly that is being addressed too with start-ups such as the Urban-Air Port receiving a large grant from the government to help fund a temporary installation of a flying car airport in Coventry city centre.

We believe that innovations like the flying car are incredibly exciting and clearly demonstrate that better things are to come. Well researched NPD (New Product Development) that is proven to be both achievable and desirable will usually attract investment and interest and therefore, in most cases, lead to success. What we dream of today can be the reality of tomorrow.

If you have got an idea for a great new product and want to make it a reality, we will assist you through your journey. Even the most accomplished will require assistance which is where our expertise is invaluable. We work closely with all our clients to ensure they have all the support they need.

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Positive News Please!

Currently you cannot escape the doom and gloom being depicted in our media; and yet in manufacturing we’re seeing a very different picture.

It is true that businesses have challenges but that is not new, business is a challenge all the time and there are always problems. Businesses are used to this and it stimulates their natural response to understand the challenge, innovate solutions and implement strategies that will move them not only past the problem but into success.

If there was ever a good news story, it would be the way our manufacturing industry is rising to the challenge of 2021. If there was ever a time when the nation needed a good new story full of hope for the future now would be the time.

So why doesn’t the news media refocus its attention and give some exposure to those businesses who are doing great things? Surely there is worth in articles featuring the ways in which businesses have managed (and continue to manage) through the pandemic. We feel this could provide not only some great stories but be a way of sharing ideas to support other businesses.

At Sated Design we feel we are a typical example of what’s happening in businesses across the UK. We are supporting those staff who can work from home, we are managing transport to and from home and providing a safe environment for those who remain in the office. We are still here for our clients and our suppliers who rely on us. It’s business as (the new) normal.

Sated’s Director Chris Howsam says “The New Year has brought us new enquiries from established clients and new prospects. It’s clear to us that there’s a desire for many to come out of covid-19 in the starting blocks and ready to go.”

He adds “it is time we celebrated some positive news and where better than a look at our manufacturing industry and the fantastic way they are rising to the challenge of 2021?”

So come on Journalists, Editors, TV Producers… can we see some reporting on the efforts being made by businesses, and in particular our manufacturing industry to secure our economy and make 2021 a better year than it is at the moment”.

If you are about to embark on a new pleasure product development and would like to know more about how we can help you on your journey, contact us today.

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Season’s greetings from Sated Design

As we draw a close on the year 2020, we reflect on how tough it has been for everyone and we feel we need a rest and to recharge our batteries.

Despite our own challenges, as a business Sated Design has adapted to new ways of working and remained open for business – on hand to support our clients at every step. However, we know many others have not been so fortunate. This has been tough to see and we hope that the worst will soon be behind us all.

Director Chris Howsam says “the world seems to have been occupied with doom and gloom for a long time and it is easy to forget that tomorrow is a new day with new hope and new dreams. We have taken the approach that we can’t change the past, but we can hold our heads high, go forward and make the best of what we have”.

He continues, “we wish all of our clients and colleagues a safe and restful break over the holidays. Our seasonal message going into 2021 is this, ‘New Year + New Energy + New opportunities = New success’ and this is a sentiment we hope many will adopt as their own”.

Do you have an idea for a new adult pleasure product you wish to bring to market in 2021? Would you like a little help to guide you through the journey of making it a desirable reality?

Contact us to start your project.

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Sated Design welcomes a business boom during lockdown

With the UK reportedly heading for a recession, there’s one industry that appears to be bucking the trend. Sales of sex toys went through the roof during lockdown and job retention schemes have provided many with time and space to take stock and make plans for the future.

These two factors have meant business is booming for one Devon-based company that specialises in designing adult toys and pleasure products for manufacture.

Sated Design have been assisting adult sex toy companies develop quality and innovative products for over a decade, many of which have gone on to win coveted industry awards. Their list of clients range from large international companies, SMEs and lone private inventors.

The team is headed by Director Chris Howsam who has an extensive career in product design spanning 35 years. Operating from his office in Teignmouth, Chris and his team of designers offer a range of services to those looking to develop the next best sex toy product.

Chris explains “what we do at Sated is quite unique. A sex toy has an intimate and personal context that makes them unique to each user. The designer has to be tuned in to the unique ergonomic and psychological aspects of a sex toy and the way in which the user interacts with it. For every new innovation in our lives there will be someone thinking about adapting it into a sex toy!”

He continues “since lockdown in March, we’ve seen an increase in enquiries from lone private inventors with an idea for a new product. We’ve also had enquiries from companies who have a product range already but used their time in lockdown to review what they offer. Coupled with this has been an increase in web traffic to our site sateddesign.com which is up 30% for the same period last year”.

There have been some outstanding innovations over the past years. Products are now more stylish, safer, cleaner and easier to care for then ever before. This has resulted in increased sales globally. Sated Design have been at the forefront of these changes, often pushing the boundaries with complex mechanical design and aesthetic styling.

Chris is often asked what advice he would give to an aspiring inventor, starting out in the world of sex toy design.

His response is always “Keep an eye on the latest advances in manufacturing, electronics, materials, and trends because all of these can be the catalyst for great ideas for sex toys. Don’t be shy and don’t be afraid to try things because if you want to improve people’s well-being and enjoyment of life through sex toys you design then you might learn a few things for yourself along the way.”

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Living in the new normal

The way we live and the way we go about our work, day to day has slowly eroded the quality of life for many and undeniably had a negative impact on the environment. In our last news article we touched on what a post-lockdown world could be like if everyone takes the time now to consider where their priorities should lie both at a personal and at a professional level.

After much discussion between all of us this is how we have embraced the new normal. The biggest change for us has been the relocation of some of our staff as a result of social distancing measures. There were some teething issues to do with the UKs inability to balance upload and download speeds in rural areas but we soon had everyone adapting to a new way of working.

In the office we have made changes including staggered breaktimes, availability of PPE and become more aware of not gathering around the printers etc. For those that work from home there has been an improvement in the work/life balance and with the assistance of modern technology, it is possible to liaise between those who need to come into the office and those who can work from home to maintain what is essentially a normal working week. With clients based across the UK and overseas, we were already geared up for remote conferencing and real time on-screen CAD viewing to discuss projects so it is unlikely clients will note any difference.

We think it is important to talk about what we have done because providing guidance and support to our clients, is a large part of our work as product designers. If we can practice what we preach and show resilience as a business, offer sustainable alternatives, cost saving measures and a more beneficial way of working, we can encourage these businesses to look at their own work priorities. We hope this would inspire them to look at how they too can embrace the new normal.

What else can we learn about the new normal as product designers and how do we respond?

The designer and the client have a responsibility to be mindful of the end use of the products they collaborate to design. With many goods in shorter supply and retailers also in lockdown, many consumers have utilised their right to repair and shown great intuition to fix what they have. Unfortunately for many years the right to repair has not been something manufacturers have wanted to support and the opportunity to repair products is limited mostly by having no spare parts available. If there was a mindset to create products that are intuitive to fix this would help combat our ‘throw away society’.

Now is a great time to open discussions and champion this approach. We believe this is a crucial role for Product Designers and manufacturers to address on a global scale.

If you are about to embark on a new product development and would like more information about how you could benefit from our insight, please contact us today.

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The Lockdown Lowdown – Part 3

Managing Director Chris Howsam shares his thoughts about the lockdown.

For many years I have maintained a fully functioning office at home complete with CAD and secure access to all our files and documents. I can’t remember when this was not the case as it has been driven by the needs of planning projects, dealing with admin and working with clients/suppliers in different time zones. Having video conferences at 3am to look at tooling in China or talking to clients in far flung places at 9pm is quite normal and part of the day to day challenge of delivering our product design services. The challenge of Coronavirus now means that a home office is crucial for many of us. In my case I am sharing my time between home and the office. Work that can be done at home is done there but work that needs to be hands on with parts must be done in the office. There are of course the usual items of post and parcels that need to be dealt with, many of them necessary to maintain the running of the business.

Within Sated Design we now have some staff working from home and some working in the office. By liaising between those who need to come into the office and those who can work at home we maintain a normal working week. Thank fully, the office space and workshops are large enough that we maintain social distancing. Unfortunately, we don’t have the same buzz in the office because of the reduction in conversation and bustle of people moving about it feels a little odd, almost like working on a weekend. Gadget and Gizmo (the office dogs) must think everyone is on holiday!

Everyone here has adopted to the new way of working without any drama and this set me thinking about what could happen once the lock down is over. I think there will be a need to redefine how many businesses operate. The changes imposed on us through Coronavirus and the lock down have added a different dynamic which will change the status quo.

Of course it will be impractical for some to work from home but there are many that could work in an office facility close to their home. The provision of more leased workspaces in residential areas and town centres created from vacant retail or office space would reduce travel costs and travel time for many. The concept of leased workspaces is not new because many business start-ups get off the ground in this way, but I see many people wanting to work nearer to home, especially after proving they can work remotely from a central office.

I believe there is something positive to be learned about how businesses are coping with lockdown and this could result in improvements to the work and life balance of many people. Do we go back to everything as it was or do we as employers and employees actively engage in discussion about what we have learnt about how we work and use it to define a better way?

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