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Interviews with Aldis Blicsons
Designer profileDesign Interview
1 November 2022 · Choppy La Bici Senza Pedali In Legno Per Bambini
Balance bike Choppy is the second product of an enthusiastic and friendly design and engineering team. After the success of our first balance bike - the award-winning Brum Brum Bike - we took up the challenge of making our next bike lighter, more nature-friendly, comfortable, and better suited for kids up to 4 years of age.
To build this bike as eco-friendly as possible. Less metal (no metal screws or bearings), tool-less assembling and 2nd life for packaging.
We are now approaching the point when Choppy will begin commercial production and set off to conquer the world.
First sketches came out in 2017. Industrial prototyping ended just in 2021.
We just had an idea to create a balance bike for kids without any screws and it all began by itself.
All parts are produced, packed and sent out by outsource companies. We have a back office to manage it.
We have huge knowledge of how to design and produce a wooden balance bike for kids and this was the next step with better solutions.
Predecessor wooden balance bikes for kids and some unrealistic design concepts from several designers.
Choppy is the perfect first bike for 1-4 year-olds. Main customers are parents who care about sustainability and are eco-friendly minded.
Choppy is probably the lightest wooden balance bike for kids in the world. It can be assembled as a construction game or building blocks without using any tools. Its packaging box has a board game printed on it, making Choppy even more fun.
It looks like chopper motorcycle on lowest position of assembly for the smallest drivers. We made the word "Chopper" more playful.
Everything happens in my head and I use paper or software just to understand, if it works or not.
The balance bike features an innovative design without a single screw. Any adult can assemble the Choppy bike and adjust its height without using any tools.
We worked together with Riga Technical University Science and Innovation Center on prototyping and best material research. Industrial prototyping happened in factories where we are producing the bike - Daiļrade koks (wood), Rumba-V (plastic) and Stora Enso (packaging).
Knowledge about plywood bending techologies and possibility of machines being able to cut out very precise details had a big role. Special type of polymers helped use plastic bearings instead of metal and made tubeless tires of wheels.
We collected all the measurements and weights of our friends toddlers to calculate the correct shape of bike.
Industrial prototyping. Every single change took months. There are big machines with big forms that you need disassemble, change shape of the form and then assemble. Then try again.
We had many awards with our first product - Brum Brum bike. Submission of Choppy bike to the competition was logical.
Design studio STUM was born during this process. Now we have a place to design, prototype and have fun.
Designer Interview
1 November 2022
During childhood, while others dreamed of becoming astronauts, policemen or cowboys, I knew I was going to be an architect. At age 5 I was drawing intricate designs of building facades and interiors. Then I became one and it wasn't enough.
Our company is a recent creation, that grew while designing our first product. A need for a company came with the development of new designs.
Human-made things and interactions with them and between them.
In architecture I enjoy reconstructing old buildings, while giving them a new life and keeping as much of its heritage as possible. Within architecture and design alike I'm a minimalist.
Alvar Aalto, Chair number 41. Latvians have a very close relationship with forests and everything made from wood. Here in Latvia we have a long history of producing plywood. Also, of making things from bended plywood.
My first product was the Brum Brum bike, which we made in a team, that is part of the design studio STUM crew now.
Bended plywood is my favorite material. If we're talking about technology, then it's 3D modeling and augmented reality.
At night.
Less details and clear shapes.
I don’t design by sitting and doing it. Everything happens in my head. Also 3D, detail connections and materials. Paper or laptop are just tools to show and explain how it will work.
It is always a lengthy way from sketch to ready product. It's like "Yes, we did it!".
If you can interact with it without any special knowledge.
Usability. Design needs to work for you, not you for the design.
Sustainability. Transportation and packaging are the biggest mess in consumer society. Use of local materials and technology is necessary for me.
Bigger population, additional tasks to resolve. In the future I see more useful design solutions and less "brand" or "rockstar" designs to make more money.
I haven’t had any exhibitions yet. I don’t think about it.
Science. You can create something new only when all the parts are connected - materials, technology, needs.
Minimalism.
Latvia. Small country in the North of Europe. We have a long sea coastline with white sand. We collect mushrooms and berries in the woods, celebrate ancient festivals at countryside. Connection with nature is very close.
Problem. Conversation. Sketches. Solution. Prototyping. Result.
There is not a perfect formula for it. First conversation will tell you to chose this or the other designer. You can find solutions for your problems together but not ask to just realize your tasks.
Everything happens in my head and I use paper or software just to understand, if it works or not.
My 3 sofas, electric kettle and our design lamp prototype I have in my room.
Lazy morning. E-mails. Some outdoor work. Evening with friends or some musical event. Night at home watching movies or working. Radio broadcasts (I'm a radio DJ) every sunday.
Design for real needs, not for yourself.
Only positives :)
Less is more.
All. You need to know something about everything.
ArchiCAD, SketchUP, Lumion, Photoshop.
First prototypes come quickly, but sometimes it takes a few years till the end result.
How much does it cost to....
Industrial prototyping of Choppy bike.
Mostly we are our clients but sometimes friends who ask for a solution or just help to finish their ideas.
I enjoy all parts of my job. It's necessary to love what you are doing.
Build STUM design studio to make new designs, prototyping and enjoy time with friends which are involved in processes.
We are a team of approximately 10 people who do some work time from time.
We are working on a ceiling light object. Two types of prototypes are built already, but it’s still in progress.
You can write a private message on the most popular social networking places.
Think global, do local.
