A design duo in Ireland’s Midlands have designed a simple but ground-breaking accessory for the iPad 2 and are in the midst of crowdfunding to bring the device to market.
Offaly design duo ‘Applydea’ are seeking to raise €15,000 to get the product manufactured, through new Irish crowdfunding website Fundit.ie.
Inspired by the new smart cover and the fact Apple has incorporated magnets into the product, industrial designers Andy Shaw and Noel Joyce have conceived the Maglus magnetic stylus, which handily magnetises onto either the iPad 2 or the new smartcover accessory.
Sales of the iPad 2 have outstripped demand and the product has sold out all over the world. With more than 2.9m units sold to date, projections indicate that Apple will have sold at least 30m units by Christmas. Apple simply cannot keep up with demand. Applydea hopes to gain access to some of these users.
Shaw and Joyce have been busy sourcing components and developing the product and are ready to set the wheels of production into motion if they reach their funding target by the close of their funding period on 25 May.
They will keep constant updates on their site during the development process, which can be followed at Fundit.ie or applydea.com.
Although they have already attracted pledges to the site of more than €2,000 already, the nature of Fundit is that they cannot draw down any of the money pledged unless 100pc of the €15,000 target is reached by the close of their campaign.
In return for pledging €15, the first 2,000 funders on the site will be the first to receive the Maglus stylus, which when produced, will retail at €24.99 (excluding post and packaging), so people supporting the production are getting a great deal.
Having already attracted more than €40,000 in funding from the general public for a range of creative ideas in its first month, Fundit.ie is growing in stature and is coming to the notice of the creative industries as an alternative funding resource.
Fundit.ie allows people to share their ideas for creative projects with their online and offline communities, offering unique rewards for different sums pledged.
Projects can come from any creative process, including art, architecture, craft, design, events, festivals, fashion, film, TV, food, games, media, literature, publishing, music, performance, theatre, opera, dance, science or technology.
Applydea’s credentials include a James Dyson Award
Joyce is involved in new product development, including the Ergostop wheelchair braking system, and has won a number of awards, including the James Dyson Award 2009 Irish winner; finalist in the global James Dyson Award 2009; 2010 Chairman’s Award for Innovation from Offaly County Council; and Junior Chamber International 2010 outstanding young person of the year award.
Both Shaw and Joyce are active in promoting design and innovation as an asset that can help create new business.
They believe that new product design and development will be a key component in economic recovery. They hope one day to see Ireland have a design-driven and manufacture-based industry developing new products for export.
“We work to an ethos of problem solving on the fly,” Joyce explained.
“Hence the name Applydea. We come across problems, develop a solution and then apply the idea.”
