Lock Shield

Project Brief

To design an affordable product that reduces the vulnerability of existing garage lock handles. The Lock Shield was a solo venture which came about as a response to the increased amount of garage break ins in my local area. My goal was to not only manufacture the sollution, but also distribute it, run the business, and generate a profit. ‍

Final Product 

The product was created from folded 2.5mm sheet metal that did not require welding (to keep costs down). All branding and assets were also created by myself.

Early Designs and Prototypes

To keep costs low, before ordering any sheet metal fabricated parts from my manufacturere of choice, I created sketch prototypes from card and wood, and installed these prototypes on multiple garage lock types.

Outcome

Although some Lockshields were sold and the feedback was generally positive, the business ultimately failed to generate sufficient profit. The advertising costs were too high to sustain. This experience taught me a valuable lesson about consumer demand: no matter how strong you believe an idea is, if there isn’t clear market demand, it can become extremely expensive to promote and sell. I also learnt the importance of defining a consumer size demographic. The demographic of garage owners concerned about a break in is rather small. I took the knowledge from the venture to build a second product - The Student Lock.