Evie Tealights for glassybaby
Taking the Healing Power of Candlelight Where Flame Isn’t Allowed
“I could not have created this product on my own. I know because I tried! Product Creation Studio brought a level of professionalism, dedication, enthusiasm, and inspiration that effortlessly carried me through the design process. From early concepts to final manufacturing tweaks, they brought a level of expertise that was amazing. I’ll definitely be hiring Product Creation Studio to help me with Evie 2.0!”
About Evie Tealights
Evie Tealights were developed to provide a realistic candle flame experience for use in places where flame isn’t allowed, is risky, or is inconvenient like hospitals, boats, and nursing homes. The product idea was conceived by Lee Rhodes, the founder of glassybaby, who determined that a high-quality flameless tealight would help them sell their beautiful hand-made votives. Lee asked David Robinson to investigate making such a product. David is a career engineer who was working as the Executive Director of glassybaby’s white light fund, a non-profit created to support organizations that promote hope and healing for cancer patients and people in need of emotional support. Giving is central to glassybaby’s mission, and the company has given over $10 million to charity to give hope and healing to people, animals, and the planet.
Evie tealights leverage a special array of LEDs and complex optics designed to simulate the varying intensity and motion of a real candle while fitting perfectly in a tealight holder such as a glassybaby. They provide the perception of a flame that can be recharged again and again, and they offer the convenience of a remote control — no matches or open flames necessary. Evie tealights will hit the market in mid-December 2019 and will be sold exclusively through glassybaby.
Product Challenge
Our client wanted to bring the glassybaby experience to settings where open flame is risky, inconvenient, or not allowed. The challenge to Product Creation Studio was to deliver a convincing tealight illumination experience without the hazard of an open flame.
Why Evie Tealights Chose Product Creation Studio
In a market segment littered with unsatisfying (but low-cost) solutions, David Robinson wanted his product to express a level of quality worthy of the glassybaby mission which inspired it. He needed a team conversant in user-centered design and technical possibilities with a proven product invention approach. Product Creation Studio offered early-stage proof-of-concept services along with the back-end design-for-manufacture execution to allow David to bring his concept from napkin to market rapidly.
Product Creation Studio’s Role
Product Creation Studio acted as the product invention and design resource for the market need David had identified. Initial phases focused on the feasibility of an illumination effect on par with a real flame. Subsequent iterations moved the winning solution into a product form that would meet processing requirements at an acceptable price point, and into manufacturing. Along the way, Product Creation Studio research, design and test sprints reduced key risk areas and gave David the confidence necessary to build the company to support the product.
Project Results
Getting the experience right is the biggest point of pride. Flame connects with us at a primal level; we are not easily fooled by simulation. Product Creation Studio employees who walk by the Evie Tealight prototypes report a sense that something on the desk is burning. Peering through the glass wall of the holder, the illusion holds up, the motion and intensity of the light behaves as if it were a candle.
Only time will tell if the marketplace will embrace the Evie tealight, but David feels that the product has already succeeded. He has seen the tremendous enthusiasm that the product creates in users, and is excited to meet the challenges ahead.
