Alskar Design is a strategic industrial design firm. We are on a mission to help organisations lead the pack with strategic design and create change for the better.
A bit about us
We have been in business as industrial design firm since 2007 and worked on many projects in different sectors. During the years dozens of sports products, medical devices, high quality consumer products and tools for professionals are designed by us, won awards and are successfully deployed worldwide.It’s quite important to understand each others identity when becoming partners in innovation. Therefore we feel free to express what we stand for.
We embrace our responsibility as industrial design firm to co-create a clean world where people live together in peace and health, play together, and flourish. We create products and strategies for companies that lead to meaningful offerings that make a difference, for people and the planet.
Our name
Alskar is an unknown destination. Its sound reminds to regions like the valley of Zanskar, Alaska or Madagaskar. The name of our industrial design firm symbolises going where no one went before. Developing products that have never been made before. Exploring the boundaries of strong innovation and product design. We are well prepared, have the best tools and decades of experience. Our team is ready to lead your expedition.Exploration is wired into our brains. If we can see the horizon, we want to know what's beyond.
Buzz Aldrin
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.
Andre Gide
We shall not cease from exploration.
T. S. Eliot
Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.
Frank Borman
Our beliefs
- We care about people. First of all the products that we design should be beneficial for the well-being of people.
- We believe as industrial design firm in products that bring people together, make them play together, help to create peace and understanding.
- We aim to contribute to a cleaner planet.
- We do not believe that technology or products are the answer to everything, but they might help to do good.
How it all started
The plans for starting the industrial design firm were made in 2006 in Norway where founders Andreas and Maria were invited by a group of Norwegian entrepreneurs in the Nordfjord aera to create an industrial design firm. These plans did not become a reality in Norway, but in the Netherlands.
Right at the beginning of 2007 we started the company as Bluelarix Designworks. In 2017 we changed our name to Alskar Design. We did not merge, we were not taken over, we just felt a new name could better express our identity and story.
Right at the beginning of 2007 we started the company as Bluelarix Designworks. In 2017 we changed our name to Alskar Design. We did not merge, we were not taken over, we just felt a new name could better express our identity and story.
- Right at the start the industrial design firm was founded in a small town in the north of the Netherlands, called Bluelarix Designworks.
- In 2008 we added knowledge in the fields of electronics development and embedded software, apart from concept design, engineering and human factors.
- In 2010 we moved the product design firm to a new facility called the Kauwgomballenfabriek, a refurbised factory in Amsterdam.
- In 2011 a dedicated lab space was added to our product design firm for electronics design, interaction design and prototyping.
- In the beginning of 2013 we moved the design firm into a bigger space in the creative hotspot "De Overkant" an old diesel engine factory in Amsterdam Noord.
- In the beginning of 2014 we added more space to our industrial design firm, as the growing team and bigger projects did not fit anymore.
- In 2015 we added new people to the team and we won two 'best sports products' awards on the ISPO.
- In 2016 we added new people to the team and added a large workshop, right next to our design firm.
- We renamed the design firm to Alskar Design in 2017. The new name better tells the story of who we are: exploring the boundaries of innovation and product design. Leading your expedition.
Facilities and tools
Tools are of course just tools. They do not create the design quality, but having some good tools does help to keep quality up and work more efficient. Apart from a great team of talented industrial designers and product engineers, we also offer the following tools, networks and facilities:- modern industrial design firm, with dedicated spaces for sketching, ideation and 3d cad engineering.
- large workshop for interaction, prototyping and testing.
- Alias Design for class A surface modelling, SolidWorks for 3D CAD product engineering.
- 3D printer for creation of fast mockups, apart from the quick foam based handmade models that we create.
- large network of national and international prototyping manufacturers that create for us high quality parts from rubbers and plastics till aerospace grade aluminum or magnesium and medical titanium parts.
Hospital ship Africa Mercy
We love the work Mercy Ships does.Mercy Ship's hospital ship Africa Mercy provides free lifesaving surgeries for people where medical care is nearly non-existent. It’s the world’s largest civilian hospital ship providing state-of-the-art care to those in desperate need—free of charge.
Many people in Africa have little or no access to healthcare. There are only 2.5 physicians per 10,000 people in Africa, compared to 33.3 physicians per 10,000 in Europe. So the Africa Mercy brings volunteer medical teams and sterile operating rooms directly to people who would otherwise go without care.
We love the way they volunteer to make a positive change. Therefore as industrial design firm we support Mercy Ships.
www.mercyships.org
