With this in mind, the company brought in Smart Design, an award-winning New York-based consumer product design firm, to develop a line of detailing tools that not only look good, but also make sense and perform well. Its goal? To become the first company to introduce a complete detailing solution for car enthusiasts that covered all aspects of the automotive cleaning and maintenance experience. User-friendly design
After research with automotive enthusiasts, from novices to experts, revealed that a series of steps are required to correctly clean a car, the team organized the process into seven steps and developed tools to match each one. The research also showed that most packaging is discarded almost immediately. To help consumers remember what task the tool was meant to perform, the team impressed each tool with the name of car area (such as “tire”) it’s meant to clean. The tools also are color-coded.
To attract consumers’ attention and convey that the products are powerful tools for serious automobiles, the tools were designed with a high-gloss finish and black and bright red bands. Their unique grip not only contributes to the brand identity, but also enables users to grasp them firmly when the tools are wet. In addition, the grips serve as bumpers that prevent the tools from scratching the surface of the car. Each Black Magic Detailing Tool was developed with its end use in mind. The wheel and tire brushes, for example, are designed so that the user intuitively places it brush-side up when it’s not in use, which prevents dirt from getting into the bristles and transferred to the car surface when it’s used again; a rubber strip around the product helps keep the tool from scratching the car’s surface. The spoke brush has plastic-covered bristles to protect the car surface from scratching. The bucket has rests and ledges for sponges and a grate at the bottom that separates the dirt from the water. The sponges come with storage bags so they can be hung and dried without getting dirty. The tools come with a caddy to hold them so they don't have to be rested on the car. A case for the chamois cloth keeps it moist and protects it from dust. One end of the cloth has a round inserted flexible edge for users to grasp as they pull the cloth across the car. The buffing, dusting and glass cloths are color-coded and clearly labeled to prevent cross-contamination of chemicals. A sewn-in corner triangle allows user to reach small spots and also acts as a hook. All of the tools are completely recyclable and are designed for durability. Award-winning products
Introduced earlier this year at Wal-Mart, Pep Boy and Canadian Tire in Canada, the Black Magic Detailing Tools quickly became popular with their target audience. Consumer research showed the tools tested received high scores for purchase intent, brand image, functionality and quality of design. “In fact, consumers gave every tool in the Black Magic line higher purchase intent scores than all major competitors,” Troy Chapman, senior marketing manager-enthusiast brands, reports.
Recently, the Black Magic Detailing Tools earned the highly coveted Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) from Business Week magazine. Each year, thousands of entries representing significant developments in industrial design compete for the award based on the quality of their design and their ability to make things better. The Industrial Designers Society of America, which juried the competition, gave the tools a Silver award in the Consumer Products category. The award confirmed what consumers are quickly discovering – that Shell Lubricants’ line of Black Magic Detailing Tools represents one of the best product designs of the year.
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