Update 023.

"Sundoko" V2

This is our last update before we hit update 024… two full years of monthly updates! Two years ago I started this as a means to hold myself to account, thinking that in reality it may last a few months. But here we are — two years in — and I just want to say a heartfelt thank you for being here. Whether you've read every update or just dip in now and then, your time and attention in a world full of digital noise truly means a lot. .

🎁 A Giveaway to Celebrate Update 024!

To mark the occasion, I’m launching a special giveaway — starting today and closing the night before Update 024 goes live! The winner takes it all:

• 1 set of Mμ (finish of your choice)

• 1 set of Laminar (finish of your choice)

• 1x Loop

• 1x IKIGAI (finish of your choice)

👉 Enter the Giveaway Here

Don't miss it — it's my way of giving something back for all your support over the past 23 months.

Your ID Origin Story ✍️

It still baffles me how unknown the world of industrial design (product design) is to the outside world. What baffles me even more is how industrial designers discover this world to become a part of it. I’ve spoken to lots of industrial designers over the years and I love hearing their origin stories - the moment they discovered you could design physical products for a living.

For me, I always loved to make things and had a fascination with how “things” worked. Whether it was getting lost in building worlds from Lego, sketching out dream homes so real in my mind and so extravagant they should have belonged on MTV cribs or learning to use just about every piece of kit in Design & Technology I could get my hands on - designing and making was my flow state, my happy place as a kid. I also enjoyed maths and physics and assumed my only path forward was some form of engineering. I was lucky to have a good careers advisor at school and they told me I should look into Product Design and a light bulb went off in my head - Of course there has to be someone that actually designs the products we use everyday?!

As Design & Technology subjects continue to disappear from schools in the UK, it’s becoming harder for the next generation to discover this path. So next month, I want to celebrate our incredible industry.

📣 I’d love to feature your story.
I want to feature your story next month. I want next month to be a celebration of Product Design. Drop your story in the comments or reply directly — I’d love to include a few community origin stories next month.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year

now and it keeps getting better.

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Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

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My Products, My philosophy

With what seems like an infinite number of forces at play making it harder than ever for small, thoughtful product companies to survive, never mind thrive - I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few months reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

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Last months most clicked link: Brief's are dying: Morama

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Has the design industry become too enamoured by the hype culture of the fashion world? Another Milan Design Week has come and gone - one day I will make it! This article really resonated with me as the maximalist trend really takes hold. For me this ties to the escapism trend that has been on the periphery for the last number of years as we seek refuge from the deluge of real world problems. There was a moment 4+ years ago where it felt as though there was a real energy around leveraging the power of design to tackle some of these big problems. This seems to have subsided somewhat and it saddens me not to see the climate crisis take more centre stage at key moments in our calendar like Milan Design Week.

2. 

Tariffs Effect on the Design Industry. This has been a month of doomsday articles and posts on LinkedIn in relation to the impact of both tariffs and AI on the design industry. Where there are threats - there are also opportunities.

3. 

Owning and Maintaining your Design Identity. Brilliant talk. Let this be the video you watch today to inspire you.

4. 

Fellow’s first Espresso Machine. This was the article that stole Fellow’s thunder. After weeks of teasing us about their upcoming launch, Bon Appetite released their review early and gave the game away. An exciting looking espresso machine by Fellow that seems to combine the visual appeal of a La Marzocco Linea Mini with the brains of a decent espresso machine. It’s a beautiful looking setup but It’s still a single boiler machine though which worries me.

5.

China: How to maximise your factory visit. We have some fantastic design consultancies in Scotland and Filament are right up there. This is a brilliant article with some quick tips.

Design is Iterative

Last month, I asked you to help me choose which of my four unreleased products to develop next. It was a close call, but Sundoku (a bedside lamp that encourages reading) came out on top. I was pretty chuffed! I have been playing with countless iterations of this design since introducing this back in update 012, with one version or another having been on my bedside for nearly a year now.

Sundoko (積ん読): The phenomenon of acquiring books but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them.

Sometimes the concept itself is the easy part: a reading light that turns on when you lift your book — replacing that guilt-inducing pile you keep meaning to read. But as with most designs, the magic lies in the details, and getting them right has taken countless iterations.

Designing for Habit

Back in update 012, I talked about a lightbulb moment I had when reading Atomic Habits by James Clear when he talks about creating an environment where doing the right things is easy - for example, “Put a book on your pillow to read more before bed”. This really resonated with me. What if your book was the first thing you saw by your bedside each evening?

This product is built around a single magical interaction. One you want to repeat. By making it sticky, we’re borrowing the same habit-forming principles that big tech uses to pull our attention, but flipping them for good: to encourage regular reading.

For me, the magic happens when the tech disappears — like a well-executed magic trick. From the start, the ambition was simple: a light that turns on when you lift your book. I tested countless mechanisms, and after more prototypes than I care to admit, I landed on the humble microswitch.

To get this made at an accessible price point, I need to optimise for cost without losing the soul of the design. Microswitches are reliable, built for repetition, and perfect for a product that needs to just work — every single time.

Solving the Switch

One of the biggest design challenges was activating the switch reliably. The switch is mounted on the angled back of the housing, but the book presses down vertically — and that mismatch caused jamming.

After a lot of iterations, I landed on the hinged design you see above. It’s simple, clean, and lets me keep the button small and mostly hidden. Best of all, it just works… every time. It’s always a good feeling when things finally click into place.

The Power of Small Changes

Refining this product has been all about small, incremental shifts. From adjusting the blue metal housing to let more light through, to fine-tuning internal snap fits for a perfect assembly — every detail matters. This phase is where the vision is either realised or lost, and getting it right is what brings the whole thing to life.

Final Touches

Here it is — the latest Sundoku prototype, fully assembled and finally coming together. I’d love to hear what you think. Would having this on your bedside nudge you to read more often? And where can you imagine seeing something like this for sale?