Space Hog Ltd

Nature of business:
Directors Andrew and Derek Jones have devised a way to discourage able- bodied motorists from parking in spaces allocated to disabled drivers.

Their 'intelligent' bollards contain sensors and radio transmitters which can communicate information to electronics in nearby audio signs.

Driver who attempt to misuse a disabled space will be met with a spoken announcement, broadcast from the audio sign, asking the driver if they have permission to use that parking bay.

The product can log vehicle arrival and departure information for each space so management reports can be produced on car park usage.

The device is a cost-effective alternative to paying for monitoring, which must be observed by law, through means such as clamping or human observation.

Purpose of design4...advantage:
As the company was keen to diversify, assistance was needed for the development of new Spacehog products.
With potential large contracts to be won, presentation materials were needed that gave a visual representation of how the products would look in real life.

And, in order to cope with an influx of orders from retail giants such as ASDA, Sainsbury's and Tesco, the company needed advice on how to tackle it's rapid expansion.

How assistance helped:
The design4...advantage team provided essential assistance in the creation of the new low-cost disabled parking bollard conversion kits. They produced both illustrative and physical models and technical drawings of the bollards and conducted research into the working of the new products.

They also secured funding from Advantage West Midlands to pay for the PR photograph and press release to gain coverage in the local media. Derek said "We were delighted when our story featured in the Birmingham Post and other regional papers.

The design team were really helpful - sometimes they worked beyond normal hours to finish the model"

The result:
The work completed by design4...advantage and Spacehog was so unique that it has been awarded design protection throughout Europe under the European Design Registry based in Valencia.

In addition to their existing contracts, Andrew and Derek to continue their links with Coventry University and forge new business contracts through this collaboration.