Product development is a big part of what we do at Grove, even though we don’t always get to do it everyday. It’s also a whole lot of fun and a whirlwind of ideas, teamwork, and experimentation. Our latest escapade of designing the new Grovemade Wood Smart Case for iPad Air and iPad Mini was no exception. It’s thrilling, for product design nerds like us! We wanted to give you a little look behind the scenes, straight from some of our product developers.

The Craziness

Barrett: Running around in circles trying to figure out what combination of materials we were going to use!

Sean: The waiting, the wondering. Realizing that, YES, we are going to make an iPad case, and that we are going to make it differently than everything we have made before.

Joe: Sleepless nights thinking through the challenges, and dialing in all the details.

Ken: Having a finished prototype and Max going into his zone and getting all the collateral up online. Boom!  

The Hilarity

Barrett: In a daze, we forgot to turn off the heat press. Joe went back into the shop specifically to turn it off, only to come back out having forgotten again.

Sean: Buying the cutest little drill press you have ever seen, and then discovering it has a whole family of cute little tool brothers and sisters (So little)!

Joe: Super gluing my hand to the case while assembling the frame.

Ken: Barrett and Joe called me in one weekend. They had been staring at the prototype for way too long, but I came in and instantly knew the design was awesome!

The Exhilaration

Barrett: When we made the first prototype and slid the iPad mini in and felt it in our hands. When we knew we had a product.

Sean: Having the lasers be the star of the production process.

Joe: The synergy of working closely with my friends around the clock and the simple act of going from a napkin drawing to a finished product for sale on our website!

Ken: How well the team as a whole worked. The prototypers, of course, but also everyone else on the team -- we were running like a fine swiss watch.

The End Product

In the end, the beautiful and functional Wood Smart Case for iPad Air and iPad Mini was born -- Thanks to Almond Snickers, always smiling at each other, and the lessons we’ve learned on how to work well as a team. Every product developed is a victory for trust!