Ski Racks
These ski racks came about because I wanted a practical and aesthetic storage solution for my skis. As long as my skis were going to be stored in my apartment I figured they may as well be put on display. I experimented with several approaches and prototypes, eventually deciding to refine a design that allows for the vertical mounting of skis.
This design has a few key features that set it apart from existing products: It works for a wide variety of ski sizes, stores your poles behind the skis, puts the topsheet on display instead of the edge, and is almost invisible when the ski is in the rack. It is easy to slip skis and poles into and out of the racks, and looks a lot better than having them leaning against the wall in the corner of the room.
I listed these ski racks for sale online during 2024/2025 and shipped a few dozen sets to customers across the US, UK, France, and Australia. While I did make a small profit, the main intent was to see if my design stood out amongst the hundreds of other options available on Etsy. People did seem to enjoy them and sales were improving, but my lone 3D printer couldn’t keep up with the demand.
I investigated producing an injection molded version or expanding my printing capabilities, but the payoff was low and I was satisfied with the outcome of this project.
I think good product design is in the details, and going through several iterations with feedback from friends and family helped me improve this design in subtle but significant ways. It reached a level of maturity and quality where I felt content shipping it off to paying customers.
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