Gekko's are an ancient group of reptiles. The New Latin 'gekko' and English 'gecko' stem from the Malay 'gēkoq', which is imitative of the sound the animals make. Gekko's are the most species rich group of lizards and belong to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world.
The "house gekko" in particular are much appreciated and found useful in warm climates, because they don't care about humans and clean up enormous quantities of insects.
In some countries, like China, medicinal properties are attributed to gekko's and some species are even seen as bringers of luck.
Sticky Business
Gekko's are known for their ability to climb any smooth surface, even vertical and upside-down glass.
This is because the spatulae tipped setae on gekko footpads facilitate attractive forces called van der Waals forces to arise between the spatulae structures and the surface.
However, a gekko can't turn these adhesive powers 'on' and 'off'. A gekko sticks immediately to a surface when it's toes make contact and can only come loose when the toes are under an angle. Their toes therefore bend in the opposite direction from human fingers and toes.
Studio Gekko is a design agency that specializes in industrial product design. We stand out from other design agencies by the way we look at products and combine multiple fields of expertise to make our designs technically feasible. Though we, at Studio Gekko, can cover the entire design process, we can also offer assistance in parts of a project.
Whether you are in need of a fresh concept, or want to go to market with an existing idea but need to have it fully detailed into a production feasible design, we can help you!
The Studio Gekko process cycle, according to which we work on projects, shows the different phases of any design project. We offer these design phases as separate modules. It's up to you to decide in which part of your project you want to make use of our services. For more information about each module and the corresponding services of Studio Gekko, you can hoover your mouse over the specific phase within the depicted process cycle.
If you are interested in making use of our services or don't know yet what we could mean for you, please do not hesitate to contact us and/or make a non-committal appointment.
AssignmentEvery design project starts with an Assignment. This Assignment is provided by the client and can be placed before any module. The Assignment at the beginning of the process cycle could be a problem that needs a solution or a discovery of a market opportunity.Exploration-ModuleAfter receiving a general Assignment from the client, the request needs further Exploration. When all related fields are researched, a detailed Design Brief can be formulated which can be used as a solid starting point for a continuation of the project.Analysis-ModuleWith a detailed Design Brief, more in depth literature- and field research can be conducted to determine a List of Criteria and the main functionalities of the to be designed product. Further Synthesis will be based on these requirement.Optimisation-ModuleAn existing Design may need to be optimised, for instance as a result of Simulation studies. The production methods and working principle will be reviewed, after which an optimised Design can be developed. This Design is ready to be Realised and for market implementation.FeedbackThis step of the process cycle is actually part of the Simulation-Module. The results of the simulation will be compared with the prior determined List of Criteria. During this Evaluation, the design can be validated in its functionality and requirements.Synthesis-ModuleThe Synthesis phase will be started off with an extensive ideation. By the use of different selection methods a few ideas will be selected to be further detailed, turning them into Concepts. Again a selection procedure will be applied, providing the client with the most successful Concept.Simulation-ModuleWith a "Mock-up" or Prototype, Simulations can be performed (with or without users) to test the functionalities and working principles. With the Feedback from the prior set Criteria, the requirements can be Validated and possibly some points for optimisation can be discovered.Modelling-ModuleBefore using the design for mass-production, it could be best to first make a Prototype in the Modelling phase. This Prototype can be used for presentation purposes and can also be used for Simulation purposes in the next phase of the design process cycle. Embodiment-ModuleWithin the Embodiment Design phase, the selected Concept will be detailed further until a technical feasible Design has been developed. All functionalities, working principles and production methods are determined, because of which the design is ready for manufacturing.
Today our society is strongly influenced by consumerism. And even now we know that materials, and energy resources are not infinite, it takes a lot of time and effort to change our throw-away-mentality.
At Studio Gekko we design products to fulfil consumer needs and contribute to a matching desired behaviour, with an eye on the consequences.
Our designs are based on our "minimum waste" and "maximum usage fit" philosophy.
We design from a material- and production efficient perspective and translate a consumer need into an innovative, easy-to-use product and corresponding social responsible behaviour.
