Today we’d like to introduce you to Ar Brown
AR, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
This year I founded a hobby business to explore my own inventions and art as I continue my 30-year professional career in product development. I’m particularly attracted to the intersection of art and technology which is a result of my two parents having these two areas of talent and raising me with a balance of both worlds. I have degrees in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA. My professional career started in robotics and automation and progressed to consumer products for the past 16 years. I started my first business after being let go from my first job to develop a small wind turbine with colorful flexible blades and was able to sell some products before shelving it in favor of going back to the corporate world.
I’ve been fortunate to have a career that gave me so much experience for my current hobby endeavor. My first product line is a laptop organizer system I invented for myself years ago and finally decided this year to mature it for commercial sales. Attending meetings in an office setting means taking your laptop, computer mouse, mobile phone, and other items from meeting-to-meeting. My mother taught me how to sew so my first prototype was made from elastic and fabric which worked for many years but kept wearing out. Once I decided to mature the design I taught myself how to 3D print high-quality parts and now I’m making the products in my small apartment. I filed for 2 patents on the novel parts of the designs and am looking to let someone else manufacture and sell it as I move onto other things.
My main interest in this side-quest called Gadget Fantastic LLC is to pursue kinetic art ideas I’ve had for many years. I’ve had exposure in my professional life to all the technology I need so now it’s a matter of using all the making skills I taught myself to bring the art to life. Anything that moves in a beautiful way is fair-game. One kinetic art item I’ve developed is trademarked and called ChronoZen. It’s a piece of kinetic art that’s based around a clock and continually rotates once-per-minute to make liquid and mechanisms move in random ways. I have several prototypes of a small version but now I’m working on a larger one to give more space for the moving parts. I really like art that gives a random on-going performance so that’s what I’m pursuing with ChronoZen.
Finally I’ve been experimenting on the side with robot painting. It involves laying a canvas on the floor and letting floor cleaning robots create interesting patterns with paint. This type of art is much easier than my kinetic art but the video of the painting process lets the viewer see the motion of creating the painting and the results can be surprising! Plus the videos help to build a following on social media which has been harder than I expected as an older person just getting started on the platforms.
Working on my art and inventions gives me a mental balance that I need to be happy. I recently learned about my own neurodiversity and how I need these projects as a positive outlet for the way my brain wants to work. At this point in my life I have my share of mistakes and regrets as a result of that neurodiversity which can easily consume my thoughts unless I channel it all toward problem-solving and creativity. So far it’s been pretty fun but I’m just getting started.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I started a business in 2008 and sold products online so I expected the same challenges which I’d already overcome but now in 2024 it’s been a completely different set of challenges. Establishing yourself as a legitimate business with the social media platforms has been very frustrating as someone who’s been on the sidelines for years. Now that I have products available it’s been very difficult to connect them with customers because people are getting overwhelmed in their feeds with louder voices than mine. It’s very different from 2008 when it was just a matter of getting good search rankings.
I also had product development challenges but those were just solved with time and iterations on the design. Many, many prototypes and lots of testing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I prefer to avoid much discussion about my professional career as I need to build presence as an independent artist and inventor.
My professional career started in robotics and automation and progressed to consumer products. I’ve been working for about 30-years.
What sets me apart from others? I think differently about problems and bias toward action and results. I prefer to avoid socializing in my professional career in the interest of doing my job the best I can. As I’m an older worker this approach is often misinterpreted by those earlier in their career where social interaction is much more important.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
As a medium-sized city I think Grand Rapids has a lot to offer in a location that’s central to lots of resources and recreation. Perhaps the best part is being able to access those resources but to drive 15 minutes for wide-open rural areas and nature. I didn’t grow up in a city so I probably don’t take advantage of what Grand Rapids can offer and prefer to be in nature.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gadgetfantastic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arbrown99/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567664211928
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GadgetFantasticLLC
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GadgetFantasticLLC
