MAKO Hosts Design Workshop For Trend Hunters’ Future Festival

Known as one of the best innovation conferences in the world, Trend Hunter’s Future Festival is like Disneyland for any product development company, let alone any thought leaders in innovation. But, instead of hosting vendors who typically exhibit their brand or product like many other conferences, the world-renowned three-day event hosts Trend Safaris.

Trend Hunter partners immerse attendees in interactive innovation experiences giving them a real glimpse into how these companies are driving innovation. Our talented team at MAKO Design Toronto hosted a Trend Safari, giving 50 attendees from companies, like esteemed toy manufacturer Mattel and Henkel, a glimpse into the innovation that is MAKO Design.

Our Industrial Designer Rob leading one of the Trend Safaris at the Mako Design Toronto office

Our Product Development Company Hosts Future Festival’s Trend Safari

The MAKO Trend Safari occurred last Friday afternoon, so of course, chilled wine and ice-cold beers welcomed our guests upon arrival. After proper introductions were made, attendees were broken up into small think tanks where each group was randomly assigned a project that our product development company had previously brought to life.

We provided the real-world problems that our clients originally brought to us, and it was their job to think like a product development company and solve the issue by developing an invention. But before throwing our attendees right into the deep end, our designers and engineers who worked on these projects provided tips on strategic thinking for development and problem-solving through design.

Real World Problems Solved at MAKO’s Trend Safari

One of the problems attendees were challenged with was a way to make story time more fun for children, keeping them engaged by using their imagination. The client wanted the solution to have audio or subtitles so you can read the story to the child.

She also wanted the product to project the story visually to keep children interested. The groups were given 15 minutes to design a device that would check off all these boxes (and look awesome) using the various materials in front of them. Check out the think tank’s final product!

Each group was given a problem and 15 minutes to sketch a product solution.

Once everyone presented their ideas, our team presented the final product that we created. For this example, we created the Moonlite. Check it out below!

As a product development company, we were thrilled to share a glimpse into our world with the Future Festival attendees – all leaders in innovation. If you’re interested in taking a sneak peek into our world or contacting our product development company, you can contact us here!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!