Client Stories
“Design 1st has been our trusted industrial design and mechanical engineering partner for over six years and they have proven themselves to be valuable, competent and committed to our success. They add value because they understand the tradeoffs between user value and cost, the need to balance both the business and product objectives, along with excellent knowledge of materials and manufacturing / tooling options.”
Stephen Rayment, Chief Technology Officer
“The decision to engage with Design 1st to be our design partner was an excellent investment. They had the talent to take our idea, render it, complete the engineering, prototype it and work through the physical, ergonomic and aesthetic aspects of both the manufacturable product and the retail package. All of which allowed me to focus on the software, the operation and the requirements of the business.”
Derick Cassidy, Founder & CTO
“When we wanted to transition our older generation projector models to a more modern look and feel, Design 1st was a valuable asset. Given the depth of their design and engineering experience as well as their core competencies in areas such as injection plastics, tooling strategies and manufacturing, Design 1st immediately understood what was needed. They worked with our internal engineering team all the way through the process to provide us with compatible solutions to meet our needs.”
George Tsintzouras, Director of Product Management, Business Products
“How do you deliver a campaign that involves moving one million Hershey chocolate bars across Canada in five months? And how do you transform your mobile marketing concepts to do this into the best solution in only six weeks? The right answer is you engage a partner that can make it happen with lightening speed. Design 1st was that partner for Gearwerx. They were able to transform our ideas into a real ”wow” experience for people which took a depth of experience, strong collaboration and team work, constant problem-solving and a little bit of luck.”
Adam Starr, Co-Founder and President
“We wanted cutting edge design that would match our superb performance. Working collaboratively with Design 1st we fully achieved our goals.”
Sandy Gross, President
“The Design 1st ‘napkin sketch to design’ product development approach was exactly what I was looking for. Working with their world-class engineering team, I was involved and guided throughout the patenting, design, engineering and prototyping process. With their broad range of suppliers, in-depth materials knowledge and prototyping capabilities - my product successfully achieved its CSA certification. Beta trial units are being handled by the Design 1st New Product Introduction (NPI) team, coordinating the build with suppliers and testing. From here to market is now in sight and my business opportunity is now expanding with its potential uses in the home building and renovation industry.”
Nunzio Consiglio, Founder & CEO
“Design 1st was in sync with us throughout the whole project and still supporting us even hours before we flew to the event. They were truly an extension of our team showing the same willingness, commitment, passion and pride in the successful delivery of the product. They were without doubt thinking through all of the requirements as well as outside of the box to deliver the best solution possible. As we moved on to development and pre-production of the Health Monitoring Kit, Design 1st found methods, materials and cost effective components to deliver a commercially viable solution to a very technical challenge.”
Timon LeDain, VP Engineering
“Our product absolutely had to have a design and look that immediately captured the attention of consumers and prospective partners. The NorthVu NV20 Pro Fractal Indoor HDTV Antenna needed to fit into any home entertainment space and not stand out as another piece of technology. As a start up, we needed to access a broad spectrum of expertise, experience and supplier networks. As our product development partner, Design 1st delivered an ultra-compact, elegant and reliable enclosure for our innovative antenna as well as product packaging concepts and images for our marketing materials and website.”
Spenser Williams, President
“Design 1st continues to be a great partner and one we value highly. In the initial stages, it was critical that we get our EFD right the first time and Design 1st’s expertise and commitment was exactly what we needed as a start-up to be successful. To date, as the product comes to market after 3 years of development there is nothing like our high performance EFD on the market.”
Mike Chenery, President/Founder
“We partnered with Design 1st because they were able to provide a solution to overcome the complexity of factors impacting our unique chuck and bur system design. Their considerable design expertise and manufacturing knowledge was critical in problem-solving and expediting us to working prototypes. We also relied on them to create a test system so we could collect the data to prove our superior performance. Design 1st’s work behind the scenes helped us to be the leading dental technology company revolutionizing our industry.”
Richard St-Pierre, President and CEO
“Design 1st was a great partner to work with; they approached our project with a high degree of collaboration and provided us with several options at each decision point. They took our Ridemaster concept and turned it into something real that was both practical and had a high quality feel to it.”
Dave Gilmour, President
“I needed to transform the Rumidifier napkin sketch design into a working prototype and then a real product in order to engage retail buyers. In my search for a design firm, Design 1st definitely stood out. Combining strong Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering experience in product development and a professional approach, their artistic team created a great looking product that is easy to use. They also added a valuable claim to my patent, making the product more efficient. As we work together to secure commercial buyers, the importance of having a knowledgeable product development partner, like Design1st, is very clear.”
Jeri Rodrigs, Founder
“Design 1st’s ability to balance artistry and engineering played a key role in ensuring the We-Vibe design resulted in a product that was both beautiful and functional. The Design 1st team consistently proved themselves to be a valuable and trusted partner, from their holistic involvement to their invaluable expertise in “design for manufacturability" and “design for quality”. The We-Vibe has a return rate of 0.2% which is fantastic compared to the industry norm of 1 to 5%. We appreciated that they made this target for quality a reality. We will continue to use Design 1st as our product design company for our next products.”
Bruce Murison, Founder and CEO
“Two end users had to be accommodated – the individuals who wear the tags and the healthcare providers who use our systems. Design 1st did a superb job of balancing the end user requirements of both our products. We needed both devices to be durable and secure as well as easy-to-use, while still being attractive and comfortable to the individual patients. In addition, the Design 1st team provided us with excellent support during our field trials and launching the product at various tradeshows.”
Kevin Smith, Product Manager
