Featured Cooper: Carl Boyd
Name:
Mr. Carl Boyd
Day job:
Industrial Design Professor + Founder of Toynbee Carriage Co.
With us since:
February 2012
status update that best describes Carl:
"Woman just got on train with double-wide, extra-long stroller. I don't ever wanna hear someone complain about my bike again."
Those of us in The Coop have often wondered if Carl is as quiet in the classroom as he is at our place. This soft spoken, coffee-drinking cyclist turns out to be pretty dang good at his design work, too. In May Carl let us in on a bike accessory he'd conceived and began designing while coworking here - he called his creation the Spokebug. This month we touched base with Carl to catchup on his progress.
Q: First off, what's your favorite thing about The Coop? A: I like the people here and the great location. And most importantly, that it's not in my apartment.
Q: What’d you think of The Coop when you first toured? A: I could get stuff done here! I joined so I could begin work on launching a new design, and develop my first products.
Q: Right. So how's that been going now that you have a place to focus on your own ideas? A: (He laughs) Well, I launched a 34-day Kickstarter campaign for the Spokebug, which reached full funding in under 5 days!
Q: What?! That's awesome! Tell me more, we want to know everything... A: The company I started is called Toynbee Carriage Co, and we design products to assist people in the city with the task of carrying goods while on foot, bike or transit. My first product is Spokebug, a clever device that is easy to attach to the front fork of your bike. It engages with a flick of the finger, grabbing a spoke, which prevents the front wheel from moving, thus immobilizing the whole bike. This allows you to lean it against anything without falling down. You can find out more on our Facebook page, the Toynbee site and on Cool Materials.
Q: Congrats, Carl we're really impressed. Didn't you film part of your promotional video here, too? A: I did and thanks again for that. You can watch the video on our Kickstarter page still.