Janco - Grip & Tipe

Company Description

Products to make life easier.

The Problem

Painting your nails is not easy, as you need one hand to hold the bottle, the other to hold the paintbrush and one to be painted – yet you only have two hands.

Jan Johannsen, owner and founder of Janco says, "The idea was born out of frustration. I like to paint my own nails at home, but I like them to look as if they've been professionally painted. One evening in the summer of 2004, I found I was unable to achieve that look and knew that if I had something that would hold the bottle and have the capability to tilt it, I could achieve the desired effect, no matter how full the bottle was. There was nothing available in the marketplace, so I decided to pursue the matter myself".

The Challenge

Jan approached MotionTouch in September 2004 and asked them to help create the ‘third hand’ required. It needed to be a sturdy plastic holder that would sit on a tabletop and tilt the lacquer bottle at such an angle that it was easy to use.

The Process

In the design stage it was necessary to ensure that the device would be able to hold any lacquer bottle on the market and be fully flexible, this meant that after the initial design stage, a series of tests would need to be performed using the prototype.

MotionTouch worked closely with Jan to ensure that the design met all of her requirements and that the prototype passed all necessary tests.

The Solution

The design proved to be extremely effective. With two screws / hinges, one at bottom of stem and one on neck, the product was fully flexible, yet sturdy. The grip section of the device was coated in rubber that meant that it would hold any bottle - over 70 different lacquer bottles were tested. Another feature of the product is that you can adjust the screws on the stem and neck, so that they are as rigid or soft as you want them to be.

It was decided that the best material for the product was ABC plastic. This lightweight and cost-effective material allows the product to be sold at a competitive price with a good amount of room for profit.

The Product

A multi-functional holder called the Grip & Tip. The product was originally designed for lacquer bottles, but due to its amazing flexibility you can adjust the Grip & Tip to hold other objects too, such as, craft bottles, mp3 players or mobile phones. The product can also be easily folded for travel usage and is available in a wide variety of colours.

The Outcome

The Grip & Tip has been very well received in the Salon/Spa/Beauty industry. Janco is currently launching into the mail order and retail markets. There have been thousands of Grip & Tips sold throughout the world and orders are still rolling in on a daily basis. The PR coverage in magazines has been outstanding and a great support to sales.

Once a part-time florist, Jan is now devoting 110% of her time to the success of Grip & Tip and Janco, she receives a lot of support from her husband Rich. "My husband and I feel blessed to be the stewards of this project", states Jan, "We invested all of the money to create the product and set up the company ourselves, which was a gamble, but one we had to make. In the future we hope to create a whole range of products to help make people’s lives easier, so watch this space!".

Jan goes on to say "Our ongoing relationship with MotionTouch will be strong for years to come. Anyone that works with MotionTouch can feel their level of experience, knowledge and caring. Everyone involved at MotionTouch has a special quality and gives you the feeling your project is the only one they are working on and the two owners, Henry and William are the base of the foundation that everyone builds from. It didn't take me long to decided that they were the company I wanted to be on my side for this project. Together we have successfully created a great product and we all have an overwhelming pride for the result!".