Hardgoods Kayak & Components | Hobie

Industrial Design

Contributing designers. William Broadway, Jason Kardas, Jim Czarnowski, Shane Yellin, Philip Dow, Elizabeth Sexton, Greg Ketterman, and myself.

Professional shots and studios, by Jeffery Fortuna.

Mirage Lynx Kayak

Contributions

  • Brainstorming

  • Concept and form development of hull

  • Prototyping

  • Usability testing

Lead designer

  • Seating

  • Steering system

  • Mirage Well

Mirage Outback Kayak

Contributions

  • Brainstorming

  • Concept and form development of hull

  • Usability testing

Lead designer

  • Seating

Mirage Compass Kayak

Contributions

  • Brainstorming

  • Concept and form development of hull

  • Usability testing

Lead designer

  • Seating

Mirage Passport Kayak

Contributions

  • Brainstorming

  • Concept and form development of hull

  • Usability testing

Lead designer

  • Seating

  • Mirage Well

Mirage Well

The Mirage Well is Hobie’s proprietary injection molded part for holding and locking the MirageDrive propulsion system to the hull of our Thermo-formed and Inflatable kayak models.

I was responsible for this part's form development, 3d modeling, and prototyping/testing utilizing SLS 3d printing. I designed eight variations of the Mirage well during my time at Hobie.

Seating

I designed six seats during my time at Hobie. I help drive initiatives to use more sustainable materials.

  • Moved away from glass-filled nylon frames to CNC-bent, anodized aluminum frames.

  • Moved away from PVC-coated meshes to non-virgin, polyester/nylon meshes and fabrics.

  • See more details on the process here!

Track Steering

Co-Lead designer with Will Broadway

The track steering system was developed for the iTrek inflatable line and Lynx kayak model. Designed to be removable from the kayak and modular to fit across our new “minimalist” line of kayaks.