WOWME

OUR INTERNS 2026-Rory Niven Welcoming Rory Niven to WOWME Rory joins the 2026 internship program from Queensland University of Technology. He is already contributing to real industry projects, working within active product development rather than isolated academic tasks. This creates an immediate connection between theory and practical execution. His involvement includes supporting client discussions, developing CAD with a focus on production intent, and working within struct

OUR INTERNS 2026-Askin Battley Welcoming Askin Battley to WOWME Askin joins the 2026 internship program from Queensland University of Technology. From the outset, he is engaged in real-world industry projects, contributing to ongoing product development rather than working on isolated academic briefs. This allows his academic foundation to be applied immediately in a practical, production-focused environment. His work so far includes client conversations, CAD development with

OUR INTERNS 2026-Emi Pienaru Welcoming Emi Pienaru to WOWME Emi joins as part of the 2026 internship program from Queensland University of Technology. From day one, she is stepping into real industry projects, contributing to active product development rather than working on isolated academic exercises. This creates a direct link between academic knowledge and real-world application. Her work already involves participating in client discussions, developing CAD with a focus on

Design Education vs. Industry Reality: Bridging Thinking, Doing, Business, and Technology After following several discussions lately about the future of the design industry and the evolution of our profession, I keep coming back to the same thought: it all starts in the classroom. Today, I want to open a conversation about design education—where it stands, where it is perhaps falling short, and how we can collectively shape what comes next. Design education often begins with

Why Product Designers Should Not Design Cars (Even at Ferrari) https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/auto/ferrari-luce Right now, LinkedIn is exploding with opinions about the collaboration between Ferrari, Jony Ive, and Marc Newson. Everyone has something to say. Designers, founders, UX people, car enthusiasts. Praise, criticism, excitement, fear. And that reaction itself already tells us something important: this collaboration was designed to provoke. Before anything else, I want t

Why Supplier Due Diligence Is Critical Before You Start DFM Many of the problems people associate with product development — delays, rising costs, quality issues, frustration on all sides — are often blamed on design, engineering, or unrealistic expectations. In my experience, that is rarely where things truly go wrong. More often, the root cause sits much earlier in the process: choosing the wrong supplier. I didn’t learn this from theory or textbooks. I made a few mistakes

From WOWME to BMW: Alec Maclean’s Design Journey At WOWME, one of the most rewarding parts of what I do—beyond projects, products, and clients—is mentoring young designers and supporting their transition from academia into real-world practice. Alec Maclean’s journey is a perfect example of why this matters. Alec joined WOWME last year through the QUT Work Integrated Learning (WIL) program. What was initially planned as a defined placement quickly became something more. After

A New WOWME Workflow: Designing Systems, Not Just Products Over the past year I’ve been expanding our workflow at WOWME by integrating advanced AI tools directly into the design process. The goal is not faster output—it’s deeper clarity, earlier alignment, and stronger strategic value for our clients. Traditionally, product design focused on the physical object and its path to manufacturing. But today, that is only one part of a much larger system. Our responsibility is to co

Wrapping Up 2025 at WOWME — A Year of Growth, Reflection, and Momentum As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve been taking a moment to look back at what has truly been one of the most transformative years for WOWME. It wasn’t without its challenges, but the positives, the breakthroughs, and the steady forward movement far outweighed the setbacks. This year brought a remarkable mix of projects — from early-stage research and conceptual explorations to full development pipelines. Severa

Technology Without Sensibility (A reflection on the digital condition of design) Technology has given us almost everything we once wished for. We can simulate physics, generate forms, test ergonomics, and visualise a design before a single prototype exists. We can iterate overnight, manufacture at scale, and compress entire months of experimentation into a week of digital exploration. It’s extraordinary — and quietly dangerous. Because somewhere in that abundance, we may be l

When Did Design Stop Being Slow? A reflection on speed, depth, and the craft we’re losing. There was a time when design unfolded like a conversation. Not the rapid, compressed exchanges we have now through screens and Slack channels, but the long, meandering kind that let ideas breathe. A time when designers thought through their hands — shaping clay, sketching on tracing paper, redrawing the same form until thought, material, and intention began to align. Back then, slowness

When Design Meets Manufacturing: The Moment of Truth There’s a specific silence when you unbox the first production sample.Months—sometimes years—of sketches, CAD models, and prototypes all converge in that one tactile moment. It’s the point where imagination collides with physics. Where every pixel and dimension becomes weight, texture, reflection, sound. At WOWME, we call it the moment of truth . That’s why we integrate manufacturing considerations from the very beginning—w

The Invisible Part of Design: Trust We talk endlessly about creativity, innovation, aesthetics—but rarely about the quiet material that holds it all together: trust. Trust is invisible, but you feel its presence in every meeting, every sketch review, every late-night decision. It’s what allows a founder to say, “I don’t know,” and a designer to reply, “Let’s find out.” Without trust, even the most talented team collapses into fear and second-guessing. At WOWME, we treat trust

Designing Under Uncertainty Uncertainty is not a flaw of innovation; it’s the fuel. Startups exist precisely because something isn’t clear yet: the market, the technology, the right form, the right timing. The mistake is trying to eliminate uncertainty too early—locking into assumptions before the product has had a chance to breathe. At WOWME, we design through iteration. We move quickly, prototype relentlessly, and treat every version as an experiment that teaches us somethi

Why We Treat Every Startup Like a Collaboration, Not a Contract Some studios work to briefs. We prefer to work to curiosity. Contracts define what must be done; collaboration defines what’s possible. Startups grow fastest when design becomes part of their internal rhythm—not an outsourced transaction but an extension of their own creative team. At WOWME, we don’t hide behind NDAs and status reports; we sit next to our clients, share prototypes, and solve problems together in

How Early Should a Startup Hire a Designer? There’s a misconception that design comes after the idea—that once engineering is done and investors are on board, then  it’s time to “make it look good.” In truth, that’s when design can do the least. Every decision that matters most—user experience, manufacturing feasibility, emotional appeal, cost structure—is made long before aesthetics enter the room. By bringing design in late, startups sacrifice the opportunity to shape the p

The Most Expensive Design Is the One That Fails to Launch Every designer has seen it happen: the beautiful prototype that never leaves the studio. It looks flawless in renderings, the deck impresses investors, and the founder believes they’re a step away from production. Then the quote from the factory lands—and everything unravels. The parts are too complex, the tooling is unviable, the assembly costs triple what was expected. In that instant, months of creativity become a v

The Next Frontier: Human–Robot Collaboration A sneak peek into one of our latest explorations — a medical device designed to be shared between human and humanoid professionals. As robotics and assistive technologies continue to merge, the boundaries between human and machine-centred design are becoming increasingly fluid. At WOWME, we’re collaborating with a Japanese startup on a concept that bridges ergonomics, empathy, and precision — a product that can support both medical

From Idea to Object: What Startups Really Need from Design Every startup begins the same way — with a spark of imagination and a frustration that the world hasn’t built what it needs yet. That spark is priceless. But the path from that first sketch to a manufacturable product is longer and rougher than most founders expect. It’s not a straight line. It’s a terrain of trade-offs: performance vs cost, beauty vs assembly, speed vs certainty. At WOWME, I’ve learned that the most

Bringing Back Art and Sculpture into Industrial Design — Why It Matters Now More Than Ever in the Age of AI Throughout the 20th century,...

I must confess I was wrong It sounds so obvious in hindsight, but sometimes we get so focused on our  ideas, our  process, and yes— our...

Lost in Translation: Why So Many Great Ideas Die in Offshore Manufacturing Over the years, I’ve seen promising product ideas lose their...

Rethinking Our Titles: Why I Use “Object Designer” In recent years, the term Product Designer  has become something of a catch-all—so...

Exploring the Emotional Future of Robotics Through Design and CMF We’re excited to share a significant academic and design initiative...