Inventing the Quirky way
Published on Nov 13, 2011
Products created on Quirky.com include (above) Switch ($169), a utility device with 18 attachments that allow you to mix and match tools. -- PHOTOS: QUIRKY.COM
Click N Cook ($79.90), a spatula system where you can keep essential utensils in one place. -- PHOTOS: QUIRKY.COM
MugStir ($29.90), a set of teaspoons with sleek curved handles that hang snugly on the side of a mug. -- PHOTOS: QUIRKY.COM
By Cheryl Faith Wee
A website in the United States, Quirky.com, aims to make Thomas Edison-style inventors out of ordinary folks.
For a fee of just US$10 ($12.90), you can contribute ideas to the website, which transforms some of them into actual products, a la Edison's light bulbs.
While this concept has not caught on here, more than 10 products created through Quirky.com are being sold at basement one of Takashimaya Department store and at Outdoor Life in Novena Square.
One such item is Verseur ($59) - a wine lover's multi-tool that combines a cockscrew, pour spout, rubber stopper and foil cutter. Another product caters to forgetful dog lovers who need a reminder to bag their pet's poo - Kososku ($79), a retractable dog leash that can store trash bags in a side compartment.
Many ideas contributed to the website start with a gripe. Take, for example, school counsellor Judi Sigler from a small town in Nebraska. She was tired of fumbling around for stirrers and teaspoons in the teachers' lounge and wanted a utensil that could combine a stirrer with her coffee mug.
The research and development team at Quirky.com evaluated her idea and sent it through several phases of research, design and branding. The public also provided suggestions on how to improve the product. The result is MugStir ($29.90), a set of three teaspoons with sleek curved handles that hang snugly on the side of a mug.
It made the final leap to reality by hitting a required number of potential buyers before it was manufactured and sold.
Although sales for Quirky.com products are just starting to pick up, local marketing and distribution company ActiveConnexion is expecting more than 50 products before the end of next year. Department stores such as Tangs may soon carry these products as well.
ActiveConnexion's director, Mr Nicholas Yong, 37, chanced upon Quirky.com online a year ago.
At the moment, about 700 ideas are submitted to Quirky.com every week, an increase from around 20 a week two years ago. Hence, Mr Yong is hopeful that the concept will catch on here soon.
He said: 'You do not have to be an industrial designer to contribute an idea. Great ideas can be simple and you can just submit a sketch or even a description of your idea in words.'