Editing The Pen Addict 236/transcript (section)

== Product Design ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, yeah. So, let's rewind. I need to lay some groundwork here. All right. I make things. Jeff and I design things. We grab materials. We put them on a sewing machine. And we try to make very practical, very useful, very thoughtfully designed items that our customers will be able to pick up, know exactly how to use them, and work how we presented them. Mm-hmm. Okay? So, being in that business, we're always looking around at what other companies are doing. So, there's lots of companies I follow, and, you know, watch what they're doing, see what they're making, see what's cool, see what's not cool. One company kept popping up that I do that little, you know, when the dog is confused, and he tilts his head to the side, and it's like, huh? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And it was the, this is ground. And it was specifically the mod, the tablet case, because I was seeing the way it was set up online. And this is long before, you know, I'd met someone like Catherine. This is, I'm talking like a year or two ago. This is a long-seated thing with me. Like, I don't get it. Like, but I just kept watching them blow up. Like, absolutely blow up all throughout my Instagram feed, especially in the past, like, six months to a year. And so, I've always told Jeff, you know, I'd be looking at one of their products, and I'd say, see where this is right here? I would never do that. Like, we will never do this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And what do you mean? Like, where, like, somebody puts, like, a snap or whatever?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, where there's a snap or where there's a pen holder across from where your tablet's going to be, so you have to close it on top of it. I was like, this is something we will never do. Like, this is not what our customer.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You are super, like, particular about things like that, though. Right? Like, I think, you know, you appreciate that you are maybe a little bit more particular than the average person when it comes to pens touching and stuff like that, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sure, because we are in a very particular market. Yeah. This is ground is in a more broad market. I think that's fair to say.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I look at it from our market and saying, for our case designs and for our customers, we would never implement a design like this. And I kept saying it, and I kept saying it, and I was actually on a call with Lee from ArtSnacks. And we were just, you know, shooting the bull, and we were talking about products and, you know, talking about making things. And I was like, you know, I just don't get this. And he's like, well, you need to buy one and see for yourself. You know, if you're going to keep saying that, why don't you just buy one and see? And I was like, okay, I'll buy one. So, I did. But the day I ordered it, I ordered it one morning. I ordered it from my friends at Huckberry. They actually had to put them on sale, which I thought was a pretty good deal. Well, relative. That's another thing we'll talk about.