Cyclepods is an innovative cycle storage company started by entrepreneurs Natalie Connell and James Steward. Patrick Hazard, a student at Bournemouth University studying Product Design, was placed with the company to develop the original award winning product for the junior market. The target customers were schools who have approximately £5 per pupil to invest in cycle storage.
The project brief
Patrick’s brief was to design a new concept that would meet health and safety standards, be innovative and yet look like part of the Cyclepod family. He also needed to make sure that the final cost of the product would be viable for schools to buy and would be constructed from recycled materials.
Challenges..
One of the biggest issues that Patrick had to overcome was the variety of children’s bikes. This made the design of the securing arms extremely difficult as they had to be able to accommodate every size of bike. Another key task was to decide the best materials to manufacture the pod from. After producing his CAD designs, Patrick researched the best materials and came up with the solution of using a fibre reinforced plastic composite.
Success!
At the end of the project, Patrick not only came up with a winning design that prompted James Steward to comment “you’ve achieved in eight weeks what took me my whole final year at university,” but he also helped design even more products, such as the Wallpod. Initial projections estimate that Patrick’s designs have helped the business to
secure approximately £500,000 of new business.
Unsurprisingly, the company asked Patrick to stay on for his full placement year.
“Patrick is extremely motivated, confident and enthusiastic with some fantastic ideas which have really benefited the company. Patrick has enabled Cyclepods to develop its range ahead of schedule. He is a talented designer who has the Cyclepods way of thinking!”
- Natalie Connell, Joint Partner, Cyclepods
