Creating products that touch lives. Brownlie Design develops leading-edge products for a variety of industries, including the medical, consumer, energy, heavy equipment, and industrial markets. For decades, clients have relied on our aesthetic and technical expertise. Our commitment to ergonomic design principles, innovative functionality, and cost-effective manufacturing solutions has remained the hallmark of our work from day one.

RESEARCH

Offering a fresh perspective. It all begins with identifying client and user needs. We uncover the opportunities and insights our clients require to gain a competitive edge and build brand success. The customer is a valuable resource for determining current product issues, operator needs, product usage, behaviors, and brand loyalty motivations. What was state-of-the-art yesterday may be outdated today. Then, we benchmark leading product competitors worldwide to identify design opportunities and unmet market needs. Finally, we analyze and test materials to ensure that a product meets or exceeds the relevant performance standards. Our due diligence sets the stage for enhancing global brand identity, while satisfying market goals.  

• User Input

• Engineering Input
  

• Marketing Goals

• Internal Component Requirements

• Manufacturing Processes

• Material Selection

CONCEPT DESIGN

Blue sky, grounded in reality. Our concept design process is a fully engaged effort to define opportunities and solutions for your product. Up-front research paves the way for creative brainstorming and idea generation. Using idea sketches and CAD layouts, we produce an array of cutting-edge options that work within the goals, manufacturing capabilities, and budgets of our clients. By collaborating closely with key stakeholders, we refine the appearance and ergonomics of the initial concepts through rendering and CAD modeling, providing visualization tools that empower key product decision-making.

• Creative Brainstorming

• Ideation & Sketching

• 3D Form Studies

• 3D CAD Modeling

HUMAN FACTORS

Optimizing the user experience. Considering the human body and mind at every step of development is integral to our design process. Through ergonomic measuring, modeling, and testing, we establish the product’s parameters for comfort and comprehension, with a goal of reducing fatigue and operator error. Throughout the process, a wide range of user profiles and perceptions are taken into account to ensure the products we develop lead their markets in user comfort and usability.

PROTOTYPING

Iterate fast and learn quickly. At every stage of development, prototypes help us explore and understand all aspects of a product's design. Our in-house 3D printers allow us to iterate early and often, providing a high level of form and functional refinement. Through rapid prototyping, we can quickly verify a design's ergonomic attributes and aesthetic features. By refining the components for the assembly process, we achieve improved manufacturability and lower production costs..

• In-house 3D ABS Printing

• FDM

• Appearance Modeling

• Engineered Breadboards / Proof-of-Concept

• Stereolithography

• Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)

VERIFICATION

Your success depends on it. Our design team works to ensure that initial design requirements meet rigorous product-specific tests. Verification testing results are used to drive the final product development and ramp-up for manufacturing.

We select the appropriate materials for the product, then simulate real-world operating conditions to comply with industry-specific regulations and specifications. Our reputation and your success rest on product reliability and performance. Beyond our strict internal accountability standards, we are committed to satisfying U.S. and overseas regulatory requirements for design and manufacturing protocols. 

• Performance Testing

• Agency Approval

• Mold Flow Analysis

• Structural Analysis

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Where the rubber meets the road. With a design prototyped and tested, the final tweaks to the 3D files are made. We will then work with your preferred vendors or can suggest highly qualified suppliers. Our long experience collaborating with suppliers ensures that our designs are optimized to meet your production schedule and cost goals.

• Final 3D CAD Modeling

• 2D Documentation

• Production Quotes

• First Part Inspection

• Vendor Liaison

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Collaboration is key. The successful development of complex products and systems can require skills in many and varied disciplines. To bring our concepts to fruition, Brownlie Design has built a network of trusted experts and suppliers who provide expanded capabilities that we can call on when needed. Whether it’s finding a vendor for a new material or process, or conducting a focus group for a new product, these resources allow us to stay lean and focused on our areas of expertise. Because of our long-standing relationships with these companies, their input into our projects can occur quickly and seamlessly, providing cost-effective integration and a proven track record of success.