Shark Shock Mount
Radius Windshields
Audio Equipment For Broadcast & Production Sound: Trusted By Sound Professionals
Radius Windshields | Consumer Product | User Centred Design, Material Science, Testing, Design For Manufacture
How (and why) do you launch a new product range to compete against a market leading business that you and your family once owned?
Acoustically Outperforms Competitors
Improved
Usability &
Versatility
Trusted by Leading Audio Experts
Designed For Longevity & Repairability
The journey
Building on 35 years of knowledge in the professional sound industry, Simon Davies sought Realise to create a superior performing and user focused product range available within the commercial sound market. We also created a fresh brand to suit their new company.
Working with specialist vibration dampening polymers, our understanding of user-centred design and manufacture produced a radically improved professional shock-mount system, fully developed in only eight months.
The Result? Radius Windshields successfully launched at The Media Production and Technology Show, London, with excellent reviews from industry professionals stating the shock mounts perform “noticeably better than the market leader.” The new product range is now mass manufactured and shipped to audio stores around the worldwide.
Identified Problem…
Mindset…
From the outset, Simon understood that design was essential to their success. Their mission was clear: provide customers with confidence in their tools, enhanced capabilities, and improved functionality to capture extraordinary sound quality. To achieve this, they needed to design for the user and create a product with exceptional technical and material quality, distinctive branding, and a reliable and cost-effective UK supplier.
Every Identified Problem is Solved…
Solved…
Sound performance
Validated by external test houses, the redesigned shock-mount
system with the brand-new hoop and clip dampens vibrations. It
fits all microphone sizes whilst maintaining audio
Solved…
Usability and Vercitility
Better control of grip angles through the locking mechanism
with one hand means adjustments between takes are quick and
easy.
This quick-release mechanism allows for detachment of the
handle or boom connector from the central mount, without
detaching the cabling, bringing a level of usability that
competitors don’t provide.
As a result, users can mix and match and ultimately carry
fewer components.
Solved…
Reliability & Longevity
We designed every part to maximise its lifecycle and with the end of life in mind, having the entire product deconstruct easily for recycling. We have also stripped the parts down to use a minimal amount of material possible to reduce the environmental impact.
Solved…
Convenience
Creating a mechanism that can be used across the entire range
means users are not just buying today’s products but also able
to integrate with future ones too.
The Client:
Simon’s Story
After 35 years, Simon sold Rycote to Vitec Group plc; this led
to a change in direction, more concerned with the bottom line
than supporting its industry. After leaving Rycote, Simon
became determined to start again for the industry he fell in
love with and to put the customer back at the heart of the
products he developed.
Click here...
My wife Odette & I are the proud founders of Radius Windshields, with everything kicking off in February 2023 in Devon.
Our family has been in the industry for well over 35 years. To summarise a very long & impressive story – my Mum (Vivienne Dyer) began working at Rycote in 1984 at the request of the founder John Gozzard. Mum went on to successfully run and then own Rycote from 1994 until her retirement in 2010.
After being “invited” to leave school early by my headmaster, I followed in my father’s footsteps and joined the Royal Navy as RF engineer. I ended up serving for 8 years on various ships & saw the world. During my naval days I was lucky enough to meet Odette and we married in the early 90’s and had three wonderful children.
In 1997 my Mum offered me a job at Rycote as a Production Engineer, and I stayed there until 2021. My early years at Rycote were all about listening & learning, and then more listening. The staff, suppliers and customers were all so knowledgeable – it was a joy to learn from them.
From 2002 onward, I became the Technical Director managing all product development and customer support. During this time, we developed & patented many broadcast industry products – like Modular & Cyclone windshield kits, LYRE shock mounts, synthetic fur Windjammers, purpose made stickies/fur covers for lav microphones, mic flags, boom poles, PCS quick release systems, innovative sound dampening materials and new designs for stereo suspensions / windshield kits.
Odette joined Rycote in January 1998 and did pretty much every job in the factory – from cleaning, making virtually every product line to ultimately managing all production and warehouse operations. After my Mum’s retirement in 2010, Odette and I took over full ownership and management of the business until we decided to sell Rycote in 2018 to the Vitec Group plc.
Production sound & manufacturing has been in our family for three generations now. In sharing the details of our family’s journey, I hope you can see why we have decided to launch Radius.
For us, sound is not just our business – it’s in our DNA. We enjoy chatting with and helping our customers. We are passionate about designing sound products. Call us crazy, but we actually think making products is fun – even if it entails a lot of hard work and a few headaches.
Throughout the years, we have loved seeing the things that we made right here in the U.K show up all over the world on television, in movies, on set and in the news. We’re now looking forward to seeing where our new Radius gear will end up in the coming years.
Most of all, we are truly looking forward to hearing from boom ops, sound mixers and sound recordists across the globe, reminding us how much they enjoy doing their work and love using what we have made for them.
The User:
Jim’s Story
You are stood in a room filled with people. Head down, you are
listening intently. One of your arms is stuck in the air and its starting to ache.
No one is talking to you. Some have forgotten you are there but you are desperately trying not to bop Tom Cruise on the head with a microphone boom.
Welcome to the world of being an audio engineer.
Audio specialists have a tough job when working on film sets. Often isolated in their own world their reputation hinges on the quality of their work. They are entirely dependant on the quality of their equipment to capture great sound.
Often left frustrated and dissatisfied by bulky equipment, a squeaky connector at the end of the boom isn’t going to cut it.
Restoring confidence and pride in the work of audio engineers is the mission behind Radius.
So how do you go about creating a range of microphone accessories from the ground up?
Our Approach
Bridging the gap between design concepts and design delivery.
This comprehensive design approach took the project from sketches and CAD to realistic renders, prototyping, testing, design sign-off, tooling, and mass manufacture.
Investigated
The Situation…
To create an optimal design that sound recordists want and
need, we immersed ourselves in the industry.
Through interviews with audio professionals, we gained
insights into their likes, dislikes, and pain points related
to existing equipment. Both in-house and external audio
trials were conducted at each design stage, benchmarking the
findings against user requirements and making iterative
enhancements to achieve optimal results.
Designed
The Product…
Armed with the takeaways from our research, we began creating concept sketches, exploring component architecture options, and prototyping an entirely new range of shock mount products.
Testing
Makes Perfect…
Physical prototypes played a pivotal role in the development
process, allowing us to test functionality and usability with
real users. Developing the shark clip strap and testing the
usability of the shark hoops through material and form, check
out the images below for more.
Manufacture
The Product…
From flexing our Positive Products list of UK manufacturers, we found the right partner for Radius, ensuring close collaboration from the start to mitigate risks and meet timelines.
Defined
The Brand Strategy…
Realise ensured consistent branding across all products, giving the range a cohesive feel while setting it apart in a competitive market was applied through out the duration.
Designing Radius
The Result
The Shark Shock Mount is a complete set of UK-manufactured shock mount accessories launched at The Media and Production Technology Show London (2023). Confidently establishing itself amongst the industry’s key players to much applause, the business has created solid foundations of a successful business.
Through a steadfast commitment to collaboration, user-centred design, and rigorous prototyping and testing, Radius successfully addressed the unique pain points faced by audio specialists, surpassing expectations with their comprehensive range of microphone accessories. This project serves as a powerful testament to the value of design thinking in generating innovative solutions and establishing a competitive advantage in crowded markets.
Discover, more than design
Lets get started...
