Industrial designer Joe Casale has been creating products for decades. His Koku cutting board landed him on the first season of the PBS series Everyday Edisons.
When you walk into Joe Casale's design studio in Cary, N.C., one of the first things you notice is a bulletin board filled with sketches.
"When I get an idea for a new product, I do a concept sketch and post it on my bulletin board," he says, "so I can think about it and let it stew."
For nearly 30 years, since graduating from Pratt Institute with a degree in industrial design, Casale has worked as a professional designer, first for toy and cosmetic product companies and then he launched his own company, Design Group Associates (www.designgroup1.com).
"In 1987, I decided to be a freelance designer, which would give me the freedom to work on my own ideas," he says.
As a freelancer, Casale saw more than 200 of the consumer products he was contracted to design wind up on store shelves nationwide. He also licensed several of his own inventions, including the toy Breakout from Bad City and office products Slick Clips and Slick Pins.
A consummate problem solver, Casale recalls one holiday several years ago when his parents, siblings and their families gathered at his home.
"We all love to cook," he says, "and we were in the kitchen preparing a big meal. As I watched my brother chop vegetables, I thought there should be a way to get skins and peelings out of the way of the vegetables. The idea stuck with me."
A few days later, still thinking about the problem, he drew up a cutting board concept that featured hideaway measuring trays, and posted it on the bulletin board. Intrigued by the possibilities, he did some preliminary market research at kitchen stores.
"I have seen so many ideas over the years and I am very self-critical," Casale says. "I didn't see anything like my board concept. I seemed to have a niche."
In late 2005, Casale learned about a casting call for a new TV show, Everyday Edisons. The PBS series, now in its third season, chronicles the development of new products and the stories of their mom-and-pop inventors. He had missed the local tryouts. But one was coming up in Nashville, Tenn.
"My wife said, 'Go,' so I booked a ticket then went to my bulletin board to see what I should present."
Of all his ideas, he thought the cutting board concept was best for this opportunity. He mounted the sketch on foam board and headed to the airport.
Casale's cutting board made the final cut, and it was one of 14 inventions featured on the first season of Everyday Edisons.
"It was the easiest concept I've ever licensed," he laughs. "I didn't have to present it to anyone else and I didn't have to do any redesigns. They did everything: patent work, engineering, prototypes, market research, packaging. I felt comfortable working with them because they are affiliated with PBS, and they required many documents that had to be submitted in order to be able to present your idea."
The development teams at Enventys and Bouncing Brain Productions (the company that produces Everyday Edisons) enhanced Casale's original concept by adding a grating surface.
"It was a great addition," he says. "Also, naming the product was fun."
The team presented several name ideas, and the one that stuck was Koku.
"In ancient Japan, Koku meant one measure of rice that would feed one person for one year. With the explosion of fusion recipes and restaurants, it seemed like the perfect name for my product since the product also measures food amounts."
The Koku cutting board is now in Bed, Bath & Beyond stores throughout the country. Inspired by his most recent success, Casale's bulletin board is filling with designs of more problem-solving kitchen products that he envisions will bear the brand name Koku.
