Recorded March 20, 2017 in the Orwig Music Building at Brown University in Providence, RI ~ I talk about my design process in creating my line of effects, and reveal the cautionary tale of the first Frantone pedal that never got off the ground.
- Music by Fran Blanche -
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By Fran

16 thoughts on “Effects design colloquium at brown university”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars James Sisson says:

    I just learnt a tremendous amount about design and marketing from this. Thanks for the insights

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Andy lebbon says:

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars j p says:

    Fantastic presentation Fran!

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jamie N says:

    I saw some copyright infringement of your fuzzywuzzy at the woman’s march 🙃

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars sguttag says:

    Just WOW! Fran. What an excellent presentation that is just so on point about most everything. Everything you talked about should be required learning by anyone that wants to go into manufacturing.

    I don't know how I stumbled upon this video. I found your channel via electronics and Heathkit. But somehow, this video came up.

    My own electronics journey and "manufacturing" had some overlap with yours in both timeline and challenges though I never went for producing finished goods but more so adapters/interfaces for other people's products so the form factor was "by others." I think the biggest thing I learned in those days was things I thought may be neat others may not see the value and the other big one was "single-source" supply where if a manufacturer discontinued a part you relied on, you were stuck with a re-design. My first "product" was using a part that went through probably 4 or 5 of my prototype boards before I really had the product dialed in. I was ready to go to production and that is when a key part went EOL! So back to a redesign/prototype again. The whole process took so long that it actually caused the value of the product to go down because the product it was to improve had also aged in that time and fallen out of favor so who would want an upgrade to a device they were already getting rid of?

    On key difference in my early years from yours was that I DID have an E-CAD program in the early '90s, DC-CAD (ran on DOS) so I could do decent schematics and PCB layouts with a good auto router.

    Again, really nice video/presentation and I'm glad I got a chance to see it.

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars janet westwood says:

    🤔👍🇬🇧

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Sebastian Hammer says:

    Fantastic presentation!

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars michalrz michalrz says:

    Brilliant lecture, I loved it, thanks for linking to it on your latest vid.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars jmiskinis says:

    An interesting product with certainly a unique name. 🙂 John

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Bob Darlington says:

    Very cool. I liked the detail you went into for manufacturability of designs as well as signature looks of products.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Vinicius C. Zanini says:

    What an amazing presentation… The story of your company is very interesting , it would be very cool if you make that one first pedal and turn it into a product today, maybe with today’s technology it will cost way less to manufacture it. Maybe a limited edition… I liked the marketing part a lot, with all the changes that you mentioned, manufacturing and selling wise, a beautiful picture of your product still makes people interested. Thank you very much for the recommendation Fran! This video is exactly what I was looking for… I had lots of insights watching it!

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Silas Marner says:

    I use Express PCB. They're in Mulino OR. Cheap, GENUINELY local, great help.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jack Plaggenberg says:

    I went to Marketing school in the mid 70s you are right it's changed.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jack Plaggenberg says:

    Not hitting on you Fran, but you are not only hot, you are smart 😉

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ross Knowles says:

    very nicely done.

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars jlucasound says:

    What do you mean, you "were" a guitar player? 🙂

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