The client is a market leader in pet and aquatic products based in the UK with an extensive retail presense in independent pet shops, national retail chains and garden centres. The brief was to design a home for goldfish that would encourage children and parents to take better care of their goldfish by making the experience of owning a goldfish more interactive. The home was going to be marketed as a complete aquarium with everything needed to create a healthy cold-water environment. The client made its own experts on fish behaviour and brand marketing available and the project was strongly supported by the client at all stages.

The first stage was to research the current market for aquariums and accessories and lead several brainstorming and focus sessions to identify opportunities for innovation.  This was followed by an extensive concept design stage using sketchbooks and card models and developing into 3D visualisation and an outline specification of the control panel operation. The concepts were refined into a composite design. This was costed and adjusted. The client requested a full review of the project including a full working Powerpoint presentation of the Control Panel prior to committing the product to its business plan. Following this the client commissioned a full working prototype from a specialist prototype house.  The client had committed to the product for its next season launch and this was to coincide with a various trade shows and an internet website dedicated to the new product. The timescales would be very tight and this involved an intensive period working over the Christmas holidays to finish component designs and issue CAD data and control drawings direct to toolmakers. Due to the large scale of the project and the timescales it was not possible for me to undertake all the work and the design of the internal 'architecture' and the filter was commissioned to another design agency. Both design groups supported each other to meet the deadline by collaborating with drawings and CAD information.