Car Air Freshener

The client was well known in the automotive accessory market as a supplier of in car air fresheners. The client had previously undertaken their own market research and identified the target buyer as mid twenty something single male and females. Various fragrances were evaluated in group testing to finalise the range of fragrances.

The brief was to design and develop a new style of in car air freshener that could be fitted over an air vent and would evaporate a liquid fragrance from an absorbent pad. The air flow through the product had to be easily adjusted and the reservoir had to be visible. The market was thought to have significant potential and the brief included designing for high volume manufacture within strict component costs.

The initial tasks were to prepare mood boards to help focus thinking on the user and their lifestyle and establish common features for air vents. There was also a risk that the fragrances and carrier liquids could adversely affect any plastics that were used in manufacturing the product and suitable plastics were identified. A sketchbook of concepts was prepared and this was shortlisted to six concepts. These were developed in CAD to colour renderings showing general views and air flow adjustment from which the client chose one concept. The concept was developed using CAD and refined with working prototypes. The components were finalised and CAD data issued.