Project Overview

The idea to design MaCO (magnetic cable organiser) was came from the frustration of the creator on the tangled and unorganised cables. MaCO (magnetic cable organiser) is simple, elegant, practical and clever designed to keep cables organised and tangle-free. MaCO fits well for both travelling and stationary purpose.

Organisation

Three1Design Pty Ltd

Team

We launched a project on Kickstarter in July 2014 and got successfully funded over 30 days campaign. This helped us to bring MaCO from prototyping to a commercial product.

As a start-up in Melbourne, we are committed to deliver good products to people. We value good products that something are:
CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE, QUALITY, SIMPLE YET PRACTICAL USEFUL.

Project Brief

By inserting one end of the cable/headphones into the slots of MaCO, the secure locking stays tight incorporating the both cable and MaCO into one. There are no worries of losing it.

Users can secure the cable by rolling it into a bundle and lock it with the magnets on both ends of MaCO. MaCO is specifically designed to swiftly attach and detach. Just pull the two ends of a cable, MaCO will be released and user can use the cables right away without any tangling problems.

The magnets on MaCO allow users clip the headphones onto their shirt when they are walking or jogging, so that it will not swing around. MaCO also keep the headphones from falling when the earpieces come off from ears.

MaCO Platform allows users attach multiple cables with MaCOs onto it, keep cables from falling. Users can place the MaCO Platform on the desk, or attach it to the wall. Consolidating all the cables onto one platform allows users to pick the cables they need easily as opposed to finding each one on the floor.

Project Innovation/Need

The idea of MaCO is to offer people to use their headphones/cables easier and hassle free.

The unique and innovation of MaCO is the use of magnets. We designed MaCO to be small, light and also a beautiful accessories to carry with users wherever they go. It is simple, but offers many features.

For travelling application, user can rolls the cable into a bundle and lock it with the magnets on both ends of MaCO. It is easy to carry, and offer quick detach and tangle-free when user wants to use. It saves time for people to untangle their tangled cable.

For stationary application such as at home or in office, the combination of MaCO and Platforms will organise the cables neatly and allow users to pick the cables they need easily as they can color coding the cables with 7 color options of MaCO. The micro-suction sticky material on the back of Platforms allow user to remove and replace the platform wherever they like to without leaving any residual mark on surface.

Design Challenge

The design challenge of MaCO is we want MaCO to be as small and simple as possible, but also looks great and durable for daily usage.

MaCO is produced by double over-moulding processes. The magnet we used is custom-made, it has a groove in the middle section. The first over-moulding process is for the magnet with the thermoplastic, the thermoplastic material goes into the groove of magnet and so to make a strong mechanical locking to secure the magnet. The second over-moulding process is for the TPU Elastomer to overmould together with the thermoplastic and magnet. We designed mechanical locking features on the thermoplastic geometry in order for the TPU Elastomer to be securely bonded with the plastic.

The design of MaCO has been improved and refined through few rounds of prototyping and tooling changes until we are happy with the final product.

Sustainability

We aim to revolutionize the way people carry and interact with their cables. By creating MaCO which offers a lot more value and functionality, we hope to prolong the lifetime of the cables by minimising the wear (inside pocket or storage) and tangling problem.

In regards to the packagings of MaCO products, we printed the "how-to-use" guide on the back of packaging itself which avoid to have another printed user guide menu. There is also a QR code printed on the back of packaging, user can quickly links to the video from our website to see the guide in action. The packagings are made out of paper, and it is recyclable.