Design for the Customer - Be They Human or Animal; Design Edge Wins a Gold IDEA Award for a Dog Toy.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Design Edge wins the 2005 Gold Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) bestowed by the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) for a dog toy developed for their in-house company, Wetnoz International LLC.

If the secret to great design is serving the customer, then how do you determine what the customer wants? The most effective route to customer insight is to walk a mile in their shoes (like Nike), or clean a house with their brooms (like Proctor & Gamble). But how do you design when your customers do not even wear shoes, much less talk?

Design Edge, a strategic branding and product development consultancy, met the challenges of their pet demographic through research, interviews, and the easiest part -- being attentive pet owners. 'Experiential research' was at their fingertips, and playing fetch paid off. They made discoveries such as 'whisker stress,' which inspired elongated bowls to accommodate and relieve cat whiskers. They created 'booster stands' to elevate feeding bowls and alleviate back strain for a more ergonomic experience. These products, along with others, create the Wetnoz line of pet products.

The recent award focuses on Wetnoz's 'Spring Roll,' an 'Interactive Fetch Toy,' whose very name suggests that owners should play more with their dogs, rather than hand them a chew toy. The Spring Roll's hour glass shape is a modern interpretation of a bone, which opportunely conforms to the anatomy of a dog's mouth for easy pick-up and retrieval. Made of natural rubber, the Spring Roll inherently appeals to the senses of any dog and is non-toxic to their system. When thrown, the variable wall thickness creates a soft impact and an unpredictable bounce and roll pattern that keeps dogs guessing. The interior tunnel can hold treats for training or reward purposes.

True to the relationship of animals and their owners, Wetnoz products appeal equally to human use. Wetnoz's tag line 'Pet Products you can live with' was intended to create products to accent the home of the human as well as the well-being of the pet. "We've received feedback that customers are using the dog bowls for things such as salad or fruit due to their unique design," Kimbrough explains. One customer uses her 'Fat Cat' anti-whisker stress bowl as a dish for her jewelry.

Wetnoz was conceived by Design Edge Principals, Mark Kimbrough and Pearce Jones, as a way to showcase the skill set of the company as well as yield a return for the employees. After three years of grass roots marketing, Wetnoz can be found in over 10 different countries, on the shelves of Crate & Barrel's latest venture, CB2, in the permanent collection of the Chicago Museum of Architecture and Design, with 11 awards from design to packaging and now in the IDSA registry of Gold Award winners.

While the power of design is commonly hyped, the realities of how to turn design into a financial success are not well known. How to harness design for tangible benefit is best seen through Design Edge's challenge in assessing animals' needs, developing award winning designs, and creating products that even human owners treasure.

For more information on Design Edge go to www.designedge.com, or for Wetnoz International, www.wetnoz.com.