Ann Arbor, MI, November 17, 2006 — Ask Bruce Baker, President of Radius Garden, LLC, what makes him proudest of his almost three-year-old ergonomic garden tool company, and he’ll answer that he’s “most proud of getting thank you notes from people who really need help.” People who, like many of his gardening friends, were aging or complained of gardening-induced carpal tunnel syndrome, muscle and joint weakness, or arthritis symptoms.
In October 2003, Baker was traveling by car during a business trip to China in his role as president of Giddy Up, a children’s activity-book company. With him was a co-worker who was also an avid gardener. Observing that her right hand was blistered and “torn up,” Baker asked what had caused her injuries. It turned out that she had recently set in dozens of bedding plants with a conventional trowel and suffered minor wrist pain in addition to her blisters. Baker, a life-long gardener and landscaper himself, couldn’t stop thinking about “how stupid it was that an able-bodied, fit young woman should be hurting herself using a tool as it was intended to be used.”
After further reflection, on Thanksgiving Day, 2003, Baker drew a rough sketch of an innovative shape for the handle of a trowel. Ensuing research on ergonomic tool design and the mechanics of wrist movement reinforced and refined his thinking. Looking into the martial arts and methods of delivering force with the hand provided further confirmation. Baker came to the conclusion that “all the information was there, but no one had put it to use.”
Certain that existing “ergonomic” garden tools missed the mark, he knew that the only way to prove his theory was to create a product that was “right.” He asked friend and designer David Follin to help by making some better sketches of the new tool. Follin doubted that Baker’s design would work, but took it upon himself to build a prototype following Baker’s crude drawing and basic specs. By the time the prototype was made, winter had arrived in Michigan. Follin and Baker met and tested the tool in a snow bank. A surprised Follin said, “This thing really works; it really does feel different.” According to Baker, “David was really skeptical . . . I think he built the thing to prove to me that it wouldn’t work.”
Now that Radius Garden’s NRG line has succeeded in the market for a season, and Baker has received dozens of thank you notes for his design, he knows his team “got it right.” And as he says, “When you get it right, it doesn’t just mean that it’s right for people who have hand or wrist problems—it’s also right for everyone else.”
Contact: Bruce Baker, Radius Garden, 734-222-8044 or Bruce@radiusgarden.com for photos and/or further information.
