Deconstructing Product Design

Titanium Series Padlock

Design Continuum for Master Lock, 2002

1. Prior to the Titanium Series, the Master Lock padlock had not been significantly redesigned for more than fifty years. Copied and commoditized by competitors, Master Lock decided it was time to create a padlock design for the twenty-first century, one that could be easily adapted to meet the varying needs and aesthetic tastes of consumers. John Heppner, Master Lock president and CEO, comments: “Padlocks have customarily been approached from a utilitarian standpoint. If you make the assumption that one size fits all, you can achieve efficiencies in manufacturing. But that is a very cost-focused path. I think we’ve proven that consumers will pay for design. They’ll pay for innovation, ...