OBSESSIONS

After Getting EarBurn From Wearing Masks, Singapore Product Designer Creates 'FISHBONE Ear Saver’ To Reduce Skin Abrasion

BY: JONATHAN LEONG
HEAD OF CONTENT

1st MAY 2020

In this Singaplex segment on “stuff people do during Circuit Breaker” we spotlight how people are coping with life during this COVID19 era. Royston Phang is a product designer running a studio in Singapore. All our content is funded by our merch store.

Product designers are a rare breed in Singapore, for the uninitiated could you explain a-bit more about what a product designer does?

Although interest in product design has increased locally and there are more product designers working here these days, it is still an uncommon profession. Products either materialize in the form of a final physical end consumer product or service - and sometimes a blend of both.

For the uninitiated, I personally think that you can perhaps see product designers as chefs, we work with whatever ingredients that we have on hand at that point of time and whip up a dish that would fulfill the taste buds of the consumer whilst being mindful of the restaurant’s genre and ethos, the end product is a dish that would satisfy the needs of both parties. We aim to provide useful solutions for problems in everyday life.

As we’re in the era of social distancing, instead of a human model for Royston’s product demonstration, we used a Care Bear toy:

Tell us a-bit about yourself and how you ended up doing what you do now?

I’ve always been curious about how things work, since I was a child, at a young age I've taken many things apart just to see what makes it work. Putting them back is another thing altogether. I’ve been practicing product design for a decade and in 2019 I started my own Product Design Studio & Experience Craft Workshop. Merging my work in product design and my passion for making things with my hands into one holistic space. 

Have you always wanted to be a product designer?

I started off as an engineering student actually, but then i found it too dry, too functional, “All function and no form makes a dull design” if that makes sense, in my final year…I took up an engineering design and prototyping module. That rekindled the love I had for art as a child, and I decided that my further studies would be in product design and that’s how I am here doing this now.

How did you get the idea for this product?

It started as a complaint from a friend of mine who runs a cafe, he said ”wear face mask until ear cannot tahan liao, ears want to break off liao. Can you design something?” At first I did not take him seriously, but curiosity got me, so I started researching and it was true. There was a need for such wearables during this Covid19 situation.   

How did you manage to make this idea from concept into reality?

It starts from a complaint as always, then you ask google for a solution these days, decide on the most plausible solution others have shared, prototype test it, make modifications and refine it to suit the tools/resources/budget you have available on hand. That was how the design of “FISHBONE” ear saver came about. 

Do you hope this product can be adapted for general use by institutions in the long run and how do you see that happening?

Ear Savers are born due to the needs of healthcare workers who don on masks for long periods of time to relieve ear discomfort. I think what may happen when the Circuit Breaker eases - is that wearing of face mask when outdoors will still be the norm for quite awhile.

Irregardless of how things pan out, I’m sure many people (myself included) will still be wearing masks for awhile to maintain a safe stance moving forward. It will be quite awhile before things move fully into ‘normal gear’. If anyone is keen to order my product, which can be bought in small batches (due to 3D printing technology), they can go to my website (link below, at end of this article).

What steps have you taken to ensure the sustainability of your studio during this COVID19 era?

That is in hindsight, an easy question to answer, but hard to figure out how to do it sustainability. My focus right now is to articulate vividly - my product design services through my website and adopt the online tools that will allow me to effectively service my clients remotely.

As for the craft workshop side of things, I am looking to conduct online workshops by providing customers with KITS that have materials pre-processed and delivered to their residence prior to the class. But experiencing a craft workshop at home vs in a studio set up is not the same.

The challenge to overcome this is to explore how the experience and knowledge can still be presented and imparted in a fun and fruitful way. I probably have to start developing multiple personas to keep the class engaged and lively, as the dynamics of video education are slightly different from the real world…at least with current technology.

What are some of the best designed products in the market today in your opinion?

There are many products that I as a designer would love to own, some for its beautifully designed form, some for functional performance. For me, it would have to be a pair of unassuming CHOPSTICKS. To me it totally checks the “10 principles of good design” coined by Dieter Rams   

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What are some of the challenges Singaporean product designers face in developing their own products and making them commercially sustainable beyond the concept stage?

Ideas and concepts abound but manufacturing costs, complex market conditions and access to experienced and genuine mentorship still pose substantial challenges.

Starting anything is easy, however to develop and grow and sustain that long term is not. As designers we are trained to think divergently foremost and the convergent parts serve as a means to funnel towards the development of one end result; the product itself. Then what? My personal realization is that to move forward, we need to learn how to wear many Hats in business, marketing, manufacturing, sales strategy, branding - while we keep testing the waters by putting our product prototypes into the hands of people constantly and improving things along the way.

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Some Singaporean companies like SecretLab which makes gaming chairs have successfully gone global and achieved commercial viability, in your view as a product designer, what are some of the lessons other product focused companies in Sg can learn from that?

I am nowhere near the level of SecretLab’s scale of operations to comment critically what are the lessons there. However, have you sat in their chair? It’s Damn Comfortable! So I guess, a good lesson to note, is to ensure that your product does what it is supposed to do, it comes flat packed so shipping cost is lower, it’s easy enough for one person to assemble so there is little friction on the user experience to assemble it. It has a clear target market (gamers, who are willing to spend money on it), the product does not try to serve every ass, only gamer ass, but non gamers want it too, because it’s made countless asses comfortable as can be.   

Where do you see the future of product design?

The meaning of Product design is constantly evolving, from physical products to digital, to systems. It is my personal belief that Product design’s unchanging purpose exists to solve problems.

And the future of product design is heading towards one of seamless hybridization of many new disciplines that have emerged from AI, VR, UI, new materials, 3D manufacturing and the list goes on... to be packaged together as a Physical device or an “App” to provide better solutions for Agricultural, Energy, Communication, Transport and Living.

Check out Royston’s “FISHBONE” product here.

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