This last spring I set out to develop a piece of merchandise for the Renton Sailing Center (RSC). To make things fun, I self-imposed a constraint to use my 3D printer. The final product found its way into classes, races, and outreach, connecting with sailors new and old.

The product is just a branded whistle on a lanyard. While simple in appearance, this product took a few wrong turns in development before ending up where it needed to be.

What To Make

I settled on whistles since they’re both useful to sailors and cheap to make. As an added bonus, there’s already countless open-source whistle designs to build off of. After a bit of research, I found a model that would be perfect for adding my own graphics onto: The Flat Pocket Whistle by Jonas Daehnert.

The First Prototype And Feedback

I made a little vector graphics sailboat and embossed it alongside the RSC initials.

Then I collected feedback from members about the design. Responses were mixed:

• Members felt no connection to graphics and colors used.
• Sailors struggled to find storage for a loose whistle on their sailing outfit.
• Leadership was unsure how to dispense the merchandise.

The New Design

Back to the drawing board! First to get fixed was the graphics and colors. I was sad to see my little sailboat drawing go, but a much better graphic was clear to me now. I vectorized the Renton Sailing Center’s Burgee and updated the colors to match.

Using an established symbol increased people’s connection with the whistle.

I addressed the issue of storage by adding a cheap lanyard to each whistle. While I was disappointed that my product was no longer 100% 3D printed, this change was necessary to unlock the full utility of the whistle. I was surprised by how readily people accepted the whistle on a lanyard compared to the confusion that came without one.

I also came up with a plan to disperse the whistles. The RCS doesn’t maintain its own merch shop, so there was no way to sell the whistles to members. Instead, I invited the RSC’s Activities Coordinators (called Dock Masters) to give away the whistles at their discretion. Whistles could be given out to anyone who participates in club activates like volunteering or taking a class.

Conclusion

Over this last summer about 100 of these whistles went out to the community. They went to kids at outreach events, students who completed classes, members who volunteered their time, and a myriad of others.

This simple design is both useful and put smiles on faces.