Industrial design that makes sense
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Our aim is simple: to make our clients happy.
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We develop products that address pain points through thoughtful design and strategic insight, accelerating your return on investment.
LINES
MB01
FOLIUM
MEMPHIS
LED SNAP
KAHUNA
ALPHABET FOCUS
TRANSPARENCY
SORAA DOWNLIGHT
UV AIR PURIFIER
MUSKETEER
BELT
PLA PENDANT
INSAVER LED
DL-X
TULIP
ALPHABET ZONO OPTICS
PS01
KAHUNA GSB
CLUSTER
XENOMORPH
SIRO
We balance form and function to create products ready for real world use.
From concept to production, our industrial design approach balances aesthetics, usability, manufacturability, and the circular economy to bring creative and inspiring solutions to life.
Don't just take our word for it...
"Murray [MATT BLACK] successfully translated my thoughts and materialised them into the multi-award-winning Alphabet Focus product range"โโ
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Andreas Henrich: Owner/MD, Wila Lichttechnik
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"It was no surprise that Kahuna's aesthetics and anthropometrics helped push the one million dollar order over the line"โโ
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David Bingham: Product director: Kahuna. Snell & Wilcox
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"The product concepts were so well received that they were met with a standing ovation"
Richard Turner: VP R&D, Havells Sylvania
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"This is a completely new approach to design, I'm really excited about these new product concepts"โโ
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Rulli Stuifzand:MD, Schmitz Leuchten
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"With his eye for detail, along with a great understanding of the market, Murray [MATT BLACK] is able to introduce new ideas through his creative thinking"โ
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Carsten Schäfer: PM, Wila Lichttechnik
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"I required data sheets and installation manuals for our 'Chil- LED' product line in a pinch. MATT BLACK delivered with effortless communication and professionalism"โ
Simon Leggett: MD, Olivewood Technologies
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Awards.
Happy clients (the ones we can talk about).
Case studies.
Alphabet Focus: Red Dot and iF award winner
Alphabet Focus is without doubt, the most complex product range Murray has had the pleasure of working on. The brief was to design a modular downlight / adjustable downlight with the ability to easily manipulate the beam angle while insuring UGR 19 compliance. The product should be easy to assemble, disassemble and maintain. Oh, and the design has to be 'filigran/delicate' to ensure the least amount of material used, not to mention the 50W actively cooled version!
The ceiling mount frame is still the base that all new Wila products are built upon. Not bad for a design that was conceptualised in 2012โโ
WILA alphabet focus - adjustable spotlight
PLA Pendant
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Winner of the 2023 Circular Lighting Live "Dragons' Den"
The development of the PLA Pendant was the result of a collaboration between MATT BLACK and LumiAdd. Visit www.lumiadd.com to discover more about their 3D printed lighting products and processes.
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MATT BLACK aimed to simplify the construction methodology typically used in architectural pendant luminaires. For those unfamiliar, a pendant luminaire is usually made from a fabricated chassis that contains the electronics, all enclosed within an aluminum extruded profile. While these extruded profiles are relatively modular, the sheet metal chassis is not as flexible. Additionally, shipping extruded tubes often means you're also shipping a lot of air.
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The initial solution was to die-cast one half of the housing and use two identical components to sandwich the electronics in between. This would not only make assembly significantly easier - since it provides full access to the product’s internals - but also reduces transportation costs. Two halve housings stacked together occupy less space than a tube with the same outer diameter. However, the die-casting approach wasn’t modular due to its fixed size, and components would still likely need to be shipped from China.
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We needed a more circular solution and the answer lay in the prototypes we had created - 3D printing!
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By switching to 3D printing, we were able to simplify the assembly process even further and create a design that was 100% modular, using only a very small number of non 3D-printed components.โโ
Xenomorph: Build Back Better Gold Award winner
Inspired by all the talk around modularity and the circular economy, we were curious to see what would be the outcome if, instead of creating a plethora of modular products, we just focussed on the main runners therefore reducing complexity.
We opted to run with a round downlight with cut-out size of 120mm to fit a ceiling thickness of 12.5 mm. If a solution for a 25mm ceiling thickness is required, we can simply machine the heatsink to accommodate this.
The thermal management system also holds the product in the ceiling, no springs here, saving component costs and assembly time. The heatsink is also stackable, saving space and costs when being shipped.
The light source, lens and control system are from Optoga, meaning there is no external driver along with all the cables and other components that go along with it.
This concept was presented during a webinar run by Recolight. If you wish to know more about the finer details, please watch the webinar below, or get in touch. The presentation starts at 27:22
Innovations in sustainability: Six lights for a circular future
Do you want to know more?
Hold on to your hats, this is quite text heavy. If you don't wish to read it (and who could blame you), feel free to give us a call on +49 (0) 1727 842 015 and we can discuss how we would go about easing your pain points, no more scrolling required.
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Why MATT BLACK?
We strive to create a risk and stress free service which enables our clients to quickly and efficiently develop amazing new products.
We design because we have a passion to create, overcome obstacles and succeed. Our hearts and talent drive innovation to create desirable solutions that inspire.โโ
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Our Services
Our aim is to be with our clients all the way through the development process, however it may be that you only require a certain segment of our expertise. We are happy to help as much or as little as is required. What’s important is that we are flexible, as we all know that requirements and deadlines can change on a daily basis.โ
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The Value Proposition Canvas
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Probably the most important part of the design process. Before we put pen to paper, we need to have a clear understanding of your customers' pains and gains. This research stage drastically reduces risks and costs when implemented correctly.
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Product conceptualisation and product development
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Turning a product brief into tangible ideas starts with concept generation: transforming written goals into 3D sketches and models. As the saying goes, there’s more than one way to cook an egg, so we typically explore multiple design solutions tailored to your specific needs.
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To aid in this process we utilise the following tools. โ
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Brainstorming
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Brainstorming is a powerful tool that should never be underestimated. It not only deepens our understanding of the challenges within a product brief, but often sparks unexpected innovation. Throughout this process, one question remains at the core: How does this benefit the customer?
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Moodboards
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The creation of ‘mood boards’ helps clarify the direction of a product's mechanics and aesthetics, not only by showing colours, forms and textures, but also moods and emotions.
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Sketching
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2D and 3D sketching along with 3D prints transform the data acquired from the mood boards into more meaningful visuals that give a clear understanding of the design direction.
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CAD
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The conduit for turning sketches into files that can be used for 3D printing and generating quick product visualsโโ.
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Product Development
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With a clear understanding of the product’s direction, it’s time to dive into the details that can make or break its success. Selecting the right manufacturing methods to align with sales targets is crucial, as is designing the assembly process carefully. We also focus on ease of disassembly, maintenance and consider the product’s end-of-life impact.
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Light quality and understanding the product's thermal requirements are naturally always in our thoughts.
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CAD is the weapon of choice for product development as it allows for the fine detailing of components creating a solid basis for any simulations that need to be conducted.
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We’ll also assist you in selecting the best suppliers for manufacturing components and support you every step of the way until all new parts and pre-production samples are approved.
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Technical documentation
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New products require technical documentation, be it assembly or installation instructions. As we already have the parts in the CAD system, any supporting images can be created with the minimum of effort.
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Product Visuals
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3D renderings can either be used for marketing purposes or for sales support. At MATT BLACK we use Keyshot Pro, allowing us to create excellent product images quickly, helping you portray the correct message to your customers.
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And that's it! โ(in a nutshell).โโ
Are you ready to start your next product development? โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
The Go Team!
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At its core, MATT BLACK is Murray Ward, however, depending on the scale and complexity of the project, Murray collaborates with a trusted network of specialists to ensure every detail is covered.
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Murray’s journey into the lighting industry began back in 1996 with a year-long placement at Whitecroft Lighting. After graduating in 1998 with a First-Class Honours degree in Product Design, Murray worked within many other aspects of the design industry and eventually found himself drawn back into the world of lighting in 2008 after relocating to Germany from England, a career path he’s followed passionately ever since.
Based just outside Frankfurt, Germany, Murray founded MATT BLACK in the summer of 2021 to share his expertise and passion with a broader audience. He excels in helping clients release products that ease their customers' pain points, contributing to numerous award-winning products along the way. Murray also holds multiple patents across lighting and other industries and is a proud, recognised member of the Society of Light and Lighting.
With over 25 years of experience immersed in design, Murray not only understands what makes products aesthetically pleasing, but also how to engineer them to be market-ready whilst ensuring they align with the principles of a circular economy.
When Murray’s not designing or spending time with family, you’ll likely find him on the golf course :-)