dop

Overview

Dop is a practical and portable phone suction mount designed to help you watch and create content on your smart device where you want, when you want. The dop phone mount & ring allow you to go hands & frustration-free throughout your day. The suction cup phone holder works on everyday surfaces in everyday places. Plus it's compatible with most Popsocket Popgrips.

Study Highlights

• Reusable suction mount means no sticky adhesive mess on surfaces
• 360° Swivel Base and 180° Pivot Ring
• Easy to use and works with any mobile device and any smooth surface
• Sleek and stylish design
• Doubles as a handheld phone grip and a kickstand when not mounted
• Compatible with competitor products (Popsocket Popgrips)

Problem

Luke Frydenger, founding executive producer of Popsugar Studios, came to us with a very different product idea. In the process of designing and iterating on that product, the need for a simple, removable, mirror-mounted phone holder became particularly evident. Luke created Dop specifically with content creators in mind, even calling it "dop" as a reference to a Director of Photography on set. With a need identified and with Luke's keen insight on use by content creators worldwide, Boulder Engineering Studio got started. 

Solution 

Initial concepts included magnetic attachment, but this limits mounting surfaces to the fridge and microwave, which aren't always ideal for social media content generation. A mountable magnetic disc could be manufactured to adhere to other surfaces, but moving it around with double-sided adhesive might not be ideal either. 

Ultimately inspired by the industrial strength suction cups used for glass panel installation, Dop was designed to easily adhere to many useful surfaces like mirrors for social media, whiteboards for video conferencing, and smooth tile, cabinet, or windows for use around the home. In testing, we even used ours to take video of hummingbirds through a patio window. 

Because this product is produced at volume, we focused on an injection mold friendly design that included a simple but . Our client, a true artist, was responsible for final color choices like rose gold, a trendy aesthetic these days. 

Given the nature of Dop, several different materials were chosen for their durability, strength, and malleability (particularly for the suction component). The ultimate manufacturing process involved a threaded insert mold. 

The time-frame for taking Dop from sketch to manufacture was roughly 6 months, of which a significant portion was manufacture and iterative tool tuning. Although BES often guides clients and products through first article production, our client Luke was largely in charge of vendor management for this one. BES was primarily involved with the manufacture of Dop for tooling review and approval.

Results

Dop has been featured on Wired's "Our Favorite Gadgets and Gizmos for Under $20" and self.com "The Best of Wellness: 13 Products That Made Our Lives Better in Februrary" See all the headlines on dop's press page

Buy yours at thedop.com