Product Design — Concept to Factory Floor

Sometimes ideas are right in front of you. You just can't see them yet.

I find ideas by actually doing the thing — training after dark, surfing, standing on a factory floor — not sketching from a desk. The ones that stick are usually the ones people say should already exist: a glow-in-the-dark sportball for clubs training in bad light, an inflatable board cover that protects your board in transit and doubles as a sleeping mat when you're chasing waves somewhere far off the map. I take them from that first moment through to production with manufacturing partners I've built relationships with in China.

-charge+ in market Surfboard cover concept Manufactured in China

Featured Concepts

Three ideas, start to finish

Click into any of them to see how it moved from sketch to a real, made thing.

In market

-charge+

Glow-in-the-dark sportballs

Hand-stitched, water-resistant sportballs that charge in 20 seconds off a powerbank and glow for hours — built for clubs training after dark.

See the concept

Concept

Inflatable Surfboard Cover

Inflatable transit protection & travel sleep mat

A board cover that inflates for air-cushioned protection in transit — and doubles as a sleeping mat when the search for waves takes you somewhere remote.

See the concept

Retail ready

Rod Tip

Reusable glow clips for fishing rods

A reusable clip-on glow light for night fishing, in a category full of throwaway glow sticks — with a brand and mascot built to stand out on the shelf.

See the concept

How It Gets Made

From sketch to factory floor

Years of hands-on work with manufacturing partners in China means a concept can go from drawing to shelf without losing what made it work.

Sketch

Rough concepts explored on paper, dozens of variations at once.

Prototype

Hand-built mock-ups to test form, feel, and function.

Tooling

Sampling and tooling with factory partners in China.

QC

Quality checks against spec before a run ships.

Ship

Into clubs' hands, or onto a shop shelf.

Other work

Brand & Identity

Logo and identity design for local trade and hospitality businesses, from concept marks to finished branding.

Open to new briefs

Let's build something.

nick@martinosteel.com

All work -charge+

Training doesn't stop when the sun goes down.

A range of glow-in-the-dark sportballs, developed to help sporting clubs train and play in poor light — anywhere, anytime. The idea started at my home club in Queenscliff, on a ground with lighting bad enough that training after dark meant playing half-blind.

The Idea

Chargeball was built to solve a simple problem: once the light goes, training stops. Each ball is hand-made and hand-stitched from premium-grade fabric that's both durable and water resistant, so it holds up to real training sessions, not just a backyard kick-around.

How It Charges

The ball reacts to light, and charges through a companion Chargebag that runs off a powerbank for on-the-go charging. Twenty seconds of charge gives hours of glow — enough for a full session or a night match.

In the Field

The range now spans cricket balls, soccer balls and footballs, with a chargeable mug variant built on the same glow technology. Clubs use them for after-dark training, social night games, and anywhere low light would otherwise call time on play.

The Mark

The -charge+ wordmark, the ball's stamped "genuine Chargeball" seal and the packaging graphics are all my own design, built to read clearly at a glance in low light and stay legible printed straight onto the panel of every ball and the navy & green Chargebag.

Wordmark — as printed on the Chargebag

Colourway

Charge navy#171D35

Charge green#8FE24C

Clear space

Minimum size

60px minimum width

Ball & Chargebag, showing the -charge+ mark

A glowing Chargeball and Chargebag beside glowing cricket stumps on an indoor pitch — Chargebag & stumps, pitch-side

A club player holding a glowing green Chargeball at night training — Night training, club colours

Close-up of a glowing football held above the open Chargebag charger — Charging detail

Football club players in the locker room after a match, one holding a football — Club life, on the ground

An early paper pattern folded and held by hand into the panelled shape of a sportball — Early paper pattern, folded to shape

Cutting ball panels from the paper pattern, with a paper prototype ball and a finished black ball on the workbench — Cutting panels from the pattern

Status: In market
Range: Cricket ball, soccer ball, football, mug
Material: Premium-grade, water-resistant fabric, hand-stitched
Charging: Chargebag + powerbank, 20-second charge
Glow time: Hours per charge
Users: Sporting clubs, night training & social play
Brand: Wordmark, ball stamp & packaging — original design

All work Inflatable Surfboard Cover

Inflated Air Protection and Travel Mattress.

A board cover that inflates for air-cushioned protection in transit — and doubles as a sleeping mat when the search for waves and fun takes you somewhere far off the beaten track.

The Idea

Standard board bags are bulky and one more thing to check in. This cover flips the trade-off: it inflates into a padded, air-cushioned shell that protects the board through transit — and because it's still a full-size cover once deflated, not a pouch, it doubles as a sleeping mat when you're travelling to far-out locations on the search for waves and fun.

From Sketch to Shape

Early sketches explored dozens of board and bag silhouettes before settling on a pleated inflatable structure — the ridged form seen in the prototypes is what lets the cover fold down compactly while still cushioning the board's rails and nose.

Where It's At

Prototypes were carried on-trail and shown in-store, but the idea stayed a concept — it never made it to market as a standalone product. What it proved turned out to be worth more than one product: it became the starting point for two further ideas, built with the same inflatable-panel suppliers.

Where The Idea Went

There's an old idea in luggage design that the best case is the one you don't feel yourself carrying. That's the thread both of these follow.

Quote slot — Philippe Starck, on luggage carrying itself (drop in the exact wording and I'll set it in here)

Concept

Helium-Float Board Cover

The same cover, filled with helium instead of air, to see how close a board cover could get to carrying itself.

See the concept

An inflatable panel fitted into the back of a hoodie prototype, being measured on the workbench

Concept

Inflatable Travel Hoodie

Borrowing the same inflatable-panel technique to build travel-pillow comfort into the hood and collar of a hoodie.

See the concept

A sheet of concept sketches exploring board and bag silhouettes for the inflatable cover — Concept sketches

A surfboard fitted inside a red version of the cover, shown open and closed — Fitted to a board

An early board bag design in olive and white with a shoulder strap — Early bag design

A surfboard being fitted into the open, pleated inflatable cover — Fitting the board

The board seated inside the open inflatable shell — Board seated inside

Full-length carry profile

The cover being carried by its shoulder strap — Carried by the shoulder strap

Walking with the inflated cover slung over the shoulder — On the move

Close-up detail of the carry handle and pleated panels — Handle & pleat detail

Nicco hand-cutting a curved cover panel from black material, with an inflated prototype visible on the workbench behind him — Hand-cutting a panel, prototype behind

Nicco cutting black and red pattern pieces laid out across two cutting mats — Cutting pattern pieces by hand

Nicco holding a small inflatable valve sample, with a panel CAD drawing on the screen behind him — Checking an inflation valve sample

Status: Concept stage — not brought to market
Structure: Pleated inflatable panels
Deflated: Stays a full-size cover — doubles as a sleeping mat
Tested: On-trail carry, in-store display
Outcome: Forked into two spin-off concepts

All work Rod Tip / Reusable Glow Clips

The bite doesn't wait for daylight.

A friend brought me a problem from the tackle box: the glow lights anglers clip onto rod tips for night fishing are almost all single-use — snap, glow, throw away. I designed a reusable version, then built a brand strong enough to stand out in a category where every product on the shelf looks the same.

The Idea

A clip mechanism holds a replaceable glow insert securely on the rod tip, built to be used trip after trip instead of thrown away after one — the same job as a disposable glow stick, done without the waste.

Prototype to Production

Took the design from concept to a 3D-printed working sample to prove out fit, grip and function, then worked through sourcing and manufacturing to get it into a production-ready version, packaged and ready for retail.

Brand & Character

In a market where every competitor looks interchangeable, the brand became the point of difference. Developed the name, identity and "Rod Tip" — a cartoon angler mascot — to give the product a distinct personality and shelf presence that generic glow-stick competitors don't have, then designed the retail blister-pack packaging around it, leading with the "reusable rod lights" tagline.

Fit For Every Rod

Tested and sized to sit securely across the board — from a 6.6" Shimano Aqua Tip to a 14.6"+ Penn Prevail — so the glow reads clearly whichever rod it's clipped to.

The Rod Tip mascot

Five Rod Tip blister packs on a table with the cartoon angler mascot artwork, beside one lit, glowing green clip — Retail packaging, ready for shelf

Two rods planted in the sand at night, their Rod Tip clips glowing green against a dark sky — Planted on the sand, lit for the night

Rod Tip clips glowing green on a row of different rod models in the dark, each labelled by make and size — Fitted across the range, glowing

Rod Tip clips fitted to a row of different rod models in daylight, each labelled by make and size — Sized to fit rod tips from 6.6" to 14.6"+

Status: Retail ready
Mechanism: Reusable clip, replaceable glow insert
Fit range: 6.6"–14.6"+ rod tips
Packaging: Retail blister pack
Brand: Name, identity & mascot design
Role: Product design, prototyping, manufacturing sourcing, brand & packaging

Back to Surfboard Cover Inflatable Surfboard Cover / Helium-Float Concept

What if the board cover carried itself?

A further experiment on the inflatable surfboard cover: filling the same pleated panels with helium instead of air, to see how close a board cover could get to weighing nothing at all while you carry it.

The Idea

The same inflatable-panel suppliers behind the base cover were used to test a helium-filled version. If the cover inflates either way, the question became: why not go one step further and let it help carry itself?

Quote slot — Philippe Starck, on luggage carrying itself (drop in the exact wording and I'll set it in here)

Why It Matters

A board cover is already one more thing to carry to the beach or through an airport. A helium fill means the cover is pulling its own weight, literally — so the effort goes into carrying the board, not the case around it.

Where It's At

Concept-stage exploration, tested and photographed on-trail. It hasn't gone into production — parked alongside the base inflatable cover as an idea worth coming back to.

More photos coming

Status: Concept exploration
Fill: Helium, vs. standard air in the base cover
Goal: Near-zero carry weight
Built from: Same inflatable-panel supplier as the base cover
Tested: On-trail carry test

Back to Surfboard Cover Surfboard Cover Spin-off / Travel Comfort

A pillow you wear, not one you pack.

Working with the same inflatable-panel suppliers behind the board cover, we explored building small inflatable panels into the hood and collar of a hoodie — built for better sleep on a plane, train or long drive, without carrying a separate travel pillow.

The Idea

A standard travel pillow is one more thing to pack and forget. This concept builds the same air-panel construction developed for the board cover into the neck and hood of a hoodie you're already wearing — support inflates when you need it, and packs flat into the garment when you don't.

Borrowed From The Board Cover

The pleated inflatable-panel technique built for the surfboard cover became the starting point here — proof that a manufacturing relationship built for one product can seed ideas well outside the original brief.

Where It's At

Early-stage concept, now in prototyping — inflatable panel samples have been fitted and measured into hoodie mock-ups to test placement and feel. It sits alongside the Helium-Float cover as one of two directions the original inflatable surfboard cover idea grew into.

Reviewing a clear inflatable panel sample against the hoodie concept boards, mannequins with early hoodie prototypes behind — Reviewing an inflatable panel sample

Measuring an inflatable panel fitted into the back of a hoodie prototype — Fitting & measuring the panel

Wearing the hoodie prototype with the inflatable hood and collar panels inflated around the neck, concept sketches on the wall behind — Wearing the inflated hood & collar

Measuring the hoodie prototype on a mannequin, referencing the inflatable panel construction sketch — Sizing the prototype against the sketch

Status: Early concept, in development
Built on: Inflatable-panel technique from the board cover
Use case: In-transit comfort — planes, trains, long drives
Next step: Prototype fitting & sizing