CLIPPIES
As part of a design challenge for a Product Development course at the Wharton School of Business, students were tasked with creating a solution to prevent headphone wires from tangling. My teammate, Geoff Johnson, and I created the concept for Clippies, the world’s first magnetic headphone clips. In a design sprint, the product went from concept to production and into user’s hands. Over the 30 days, we designed the product, 3D printed multiple prototype iterations, sourced the magnets, had an injection mold made in Taiwan, and produced, assembled, and packaged over 200 pairs of Clippies. Geoff later went on to crowd fund the project and successfully sold over 1,500 pairs of Clippies.
An early design iteration of Clippies modeled and rendered in CAD.
The first Chippies prototype leveraged 3D printing and rare-earth magnets.
A refined design that allows includes design for manufacturing considerations for injection molding. The clips were also sized to fit a variety of headphone cables.
Assembled production unit of Clippies. Components were sourced and manufactured internationally to reduce cost. - Photo courtesy of Geoff Johnson
A graphic illustrating the functionality of Clippies. - Image courtesy of Geoff Johnson
Photographs of Chippies in use in a variety of situations. - Image courtesy of Geoff Johnson