Where are they now?

Zara King, our 2022 winner, is now carving out a career for herself in the world of product design and is gradually moving closer to bringing her DIP-winning product – EasyMode - to market.  EasyMode is a one-piece injection moulded bedpan for a pre-existing pulp liner to sit in. We catch up with her to see what she’s been doing since leaving university in 2023.

 Zara receiving her prize from Mike Birrell (Worshipful Company of Horners), for winning Design Innovation in Plastics, 2022

How did you get on in your final year at University?

My final year of uni was great: winning DIP definitely gave me the confidence boost to go into my third year. Taking into account what learned from developing EasyMode and the expectations from DIP, I knew that I wanted to design another product that could make a difference to people’s lives.

My final major project was RIZE, a leg lifting device for community nurses, which I’d like to bring to market in future. I also focused my dissertation on women and girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and the social difficulties that face them from birth.

I’m very proud to say that I graduated with first class honours and have become the first person in my entire family to graduate from university. 

What did your graduate internship involve?

 My graduate internship through Teesside University was very interesting. It was split into two parts, the first was supporting the associate dean of enterprise to facilitate routes to industry through the University’s resources. This taught me a lot about how a business operates. The second half was spent supporting and teaching the final year of product design students. It was very rewarding to be able to combine my teaching experience and design knowledge to help the students.

You’ve now formed your own company, tell us about that

 When I graduated, I knew I wanted to keep going with EasyMode but I had no idea what to do or how I would support my family. I applied for the Fuel program at Teesside University, which is a business accelerator program with the chance to gain funding at the end.

During the course it became clear that I had the opportunity to produce more than just EasyMode and I had the opportunity to become a more rounded company.

So, I created Zara K Designs (Fixing the Forgotten), the first female-owned product design company in Teesside, focusing on issues that many people feel too uncomfortable to talk about. From healthcare, food insecurity to even end-of-life education. My moto is “No job too small, No challenge too strange”.

I was fortunate enough to get funding which enabled me to buy the necessary equipment to establish the business. 

How has your business evolved since you started it?

 My business has evolved massively. Within the last year I have received over £30k in funding and I have several clients with ongoing projects that I am helping to develop. It is still hard for me to get my head around this as I never thought I would have paying clients so early on.

I have also become an Innovate UK high growth client and even did a schools talk for BBC Bitesize.

I was able to move out of my tiny spare room office and build a fully functional workshop/ studio in my garden. This allowed me to offer so many more services and branch out into more creative work. As a result, I now offer product design services and prop making for theatre and events. This is something that really scratches the fun, creative part of my brain.

How has development of your DIP winning product, EasyMode, been going?

 Although it has been slow at times, one of the most important things with developing EasyMode is to do it right and not cut corners. This product is designed to help as many people as possible and I want to ensure that we never create problems for anybody by rushing it into production before it has been thoroughly tested.

I have had incredible support, in particular from Teesside University for helping me with a commercial CAD redesign and from DIP’s headline industry sponsor, Covestro, and their managing director, Stephen Gormley.

Covestro set me up with Clifton Engineering in Morpeth who have taken on EasyMode on as a sort of passion project. They have helped develop the manufacturing method and have recently produced a silicone mould for the part. After contacting Stephen again this year, Covestro has provided substantial R&D to find the right material for the product and I am extremely proud to say that we now have a fully functional prototype for EasyMode.

With the help of Professor John Young and Teesside University we will be conducting human testing to further refine the product. I also have the support of South Tyneside NHS trust who would like to help in the best way they can. 

Now the challenge is to find the right funding so that we can take the product to market and help millions of people throughout the world regain their dignity.

We can see you’ve worked on all sorts of other products - tell us about some of your favourites.

 This past year has been a real whirlwind, I think my favourite fun thing was an interactive dinosaur poop for a Jurassic take over day, at the Utlita Arena in Newcastle.

Definitely the most rewarding and biggest project has been developing and producing a fully functional 3D printed board game for visually impaired people. To take a client’s product which they have been trying to develop for many years and, by using brand new technology, being able to produce something that not only looks great but will hopefully bring so much joy to people for years to come, was such a rewarding experience. I actually face the prospect of losing my eyesight one day so this is all the more special to me.

What are you working towards now?

 For now, EasyMode is my main focus. I want to keep pushing myself to create products and things that make the world better for people and bring a smile, while keeping my ethics and integrity at the forefront of everything I do. 

Although it’s quite scary sometimes not knowing when the next project will come along, it’s also really exciting. I honestly don’t think that any of this would have happened if I hadn’t decided to enter DIP.