There’s Silicon Valley in San Francisco and Silicon Alley in New York City, but tucked away in the Pacific Northwest, Portland’s Silicon Forest draws its own oddball collection of makers, tinkerers and visionaries. In our new video series, Got it Made, join host Ezra Cimino-Hurt as he meets some of the unique people who marry cutting edge tech with innovative ideas in the city “where young people go to retire.” And believe us, they’re doing Portland proud.
Meet Cera Crockett of DevisePDX, a concept development firm that does everything from prototyping, to pattern engineering, to global material sourcing, to hosting hands-on workshops. Their clients are just as diverse, with representation from Fortune 500 companies, local designers, and first-time entrepreneurs.
So what exactly is a concept development company? In essence, Cera told us, her clients come to DevisePDX with an end product in mind, and her team has the thrilling job of reverse-engineering a solution. “Every single product is so new and so different that I get to be putting a puzzle together backwards,” she said.
One of her most recent projects comes from Nike, which charged DevisePDX with the task of creating an action figure sporting one of the company’s signature Dri-FIT jackets. Not only did Crockett create a miniature Dri-FIT hoodie, but she also took tiny details into consideration — everything from the color to the seam tape in the hood — to ensure that her product was absolutely perfect.
She also told us about a project from Gatorade in 2014, which involved an insulated soccer training bag. DevisePDX took this concept from illustration to a prototype, and finally, to physical samples, which were tested in the 2015 World Cup by both the Brazil and U.S. national soccer teams.
How’s that for creative problem solving?
