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To help our community grow we have set up Rock Pool, which is a place for all things techy,
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OWOW – A new breed of musical instruments.
July 3rd 2015
Kickstarter is a global crowdfunding platform based in the United States. It is a platform used by makers, entrepreneurs and businesses to fund projects and ideas that they believe to be innovative and exciting.
Pieter Jan-Pieters from OWOW is just one of the many inventors who have seized this online opportunity. We are fortunate enough to have had the chance to interview this amazing man. Take a look below to find out more about OWOW and the team behind it.
A bit more about Pieter
Pieter graduated cum laude from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2011.
His final year project was “Sound on Intuition” and consisted of five instruments that translated people’s movement into sound. This has progressed hugely from this time and is what you see today in their Kickstarter project.
In 2012 he founded OWOW (theomnipresentworldofwizkids); a studio focussed on innovation, design, technology, engineering and fun. OWOW is about being as “free and untamed as a child in a grownup and mature world”.
What attracted you to a career in tech?
It wasn’t my goal to start in tech but I wanted to create and develop my new ideas and concepts; for this I needed technology. To me tech has something magical about it and is super interesting as it develops so fast.
There are so many new possibilities that are still out there to be discovered within the world of tech. Further to this there is so much “old’ tech that hasn’t reached its full potential yet. Upcycling older tech is just as interesting, giving old technology new purposes.
What has been your proudest achievement?
Getting the final PCB’s in for the first time from the factory
What has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Building a product from scratch for the first time. To overcome this challenge I had to grab the bull by the horns, face my fears and worries and move forward.
What skills have proven most valuable to get you where you are today?
Trusting your instinct, don’t give up and just work hard.
At this point in your career, if you were given the chance to do anything differently, would you and what would it be?
Be a little more organized and less forgetful This would save me so much time!
What’s next for you and your company? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Our focus at this point is the musical instruments that we are currently launching on Kickstarter. In addition to this we are also working on projects for our clients and brands ranging from web design, Apps, products etc…
There are a lot of ideas and directions we still want to explore. OWOW is something we stand for and does not have to focus on just one subject.
We do what we love and in our own way! In answer to the last bit of your question; World domination in 5 years of course!
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
Dieter Rams – The German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun and the Functionalist school of industrial design. Dieter is known for his commitment to design and his belief that good design can only come from understanding people.
Jesper Kouthoofd – Jesper started out in Sweden as one of the founding members of creative collective ACNE. After going solo in 2004, he has gone on to become a highly respected talent in a variety of areas. He is also the leading man behind Teenage Electronics.
Thomas Pieters – Belgian professional golfer who currently plays on the European Tour.
Why did you choose to launch your new project on Kickstarter?
We needed a platform to showcase our work. Kickstarter is great for this.
For 3years we’ve been working hard for clients but also on our own instruments. This part of our business has never really been shown to the world. After making this decision the next stage was to decide how we were going to get it out there. Kickstarter has a great audience of people that want to support new concepts and ideas!
The Kickstarter community is full of early adopters willing to trust their instinct and support new concepts. These are the exact people we are looking to attract to our product.
Who is the team behind the project? Could you tell us a bit about them?
Robin Dolmen: Communication
We studied, played music and have DJ’d together for years. In addition to this we have been working together on projects for clients on and off officially for years, so it felt natural to partner up and continue under the same name, OWOW. Robin’s key role within the company is communication and organisation.
Alex Tsamakos: Engineer
Alex is our Greek Wizkid. He has been working for us from almost from the beginning. Alex’s key role within the organisation is working on the hardware projects as well as developing software.
Generally speaking he creates magical technological awesomeness
Iosif Macesanu: Engineer
The Yugoslavian Wizkid,
He is responsible for working on the programming of our instruments, development of apps and has the best sense of humour you can imagine! He keeps the team smiling and laughing in times of design distress!
Pieter-Jan Pieters: Design
I do the designing part of things and organisation. (Pieter obviously is not somebody who likes to give himself a lot of credit. You only have to spend a little time looking around the wonderful world of the web to find out just how much he has achieved. Here at Ragworm we cannot wait to see how this project progresses under Pieter’s experienced guidance and leadership)
What are your top tips that you could give to anyone thinking of doing a Kickstarter?
Be prepared for all types of scenarios.
Don’t panic when things don’t go according to plan.
This company has a bright and promising future ahead of them. Help them today by funding their amazing Kickstarter and be involved with the growth of this innovative project. What are you waiting for?!
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