Eric Boles

Utomic Edge

Role: Senior Industrial Designer | Product Developer

Company: Utomic

Years: 2014 to Present

Industry: Consumer Electronics

Overview

EDGE is Utomic's flagship product—a minimalist corner protection system designed for users who want to preserve the appearance and feel of their smartphone without sacrificing everyday protection.

Originally conceived by an engineering colleague, I was selected as the company's industrial designer and became responsible for transforming the concept into a manufacturable, commercially successful product. Over the following decade, my role expanded to include every stage of product development, from industrial design and prototyping to tooling, materials selection, packaging, manufacturing, quality improvement, and customer support.

Today, EDGE has been sold to customers on every continent except Antarctica and continues to be one of Utomic's best-selling products.

 

Design Challenge

Traditional phone cases provide excellent protection but completely cover the industrial design of the device. The challenge was to create a product that protected the phone's most vulnerable areas while preserving the premium materials, form, and user experience that customers purchased the phone for.

The design needed to:

• Protect the phone during typical drops.
  
• Preserve access to all buttons, ports, speakers, and cameras.
  
• Blend visually with the phone rather than dominate it.
  
• Maintain extremely tight dimensional tolerances.
  
• Be durable enough for years of daily use.
  
• Be practical for mass production.
  

 

My Role

Although the original concept for corner bumpers originated with one of the company's founders, I led the industrial design and product development of every production version of EDGE.

Responsibilities included:

• Industrial design and product refinement.
• CAD development.
• Prototype fabrication and testing.
• Manufacturing design.
• Injection mold development.
• Material selection.
• Adhesive evaluation.
• Packaging design.
• Supplier and manufacturer coordination.
• Quality improvements across multiple product generations.

 

Product Evolution

Over multiple generations, I developed EDGE products for numerous smartphone platforms, including multiple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models.

Each generation typically explored approximately six design directions before selecting and refining the strongest concept.

Design improvements focused on:

• manufacturability
• aesthetics
• installation
• durability
• compatibility
• production efficiency

 

Engineering & Manufacturing

Developing a product this small required extremely tight manufacturing tolerances.

During development I:

• Created numerous 3D printed prototypes to evaluate dimensional changes.
• Designed installation fixtures used during adhesive assembly.
• Designed reshaping fixtures that allowed existing products to be adapted for similar phone models.
• Worked directly with mold manufacturers to reduce tooling costs while improving future modularity.
• Reviewed tooling details including parting lines, gate locations, and ejector pin placement.
• Refined production tooling after discovering dimensional differences between published device specifications and production hardware.

One particularly challenging project involved redesigning tooling after production samples revealed that Apple's published dimensions for the iPhone 12 differed from the manufactured device, requiring modifications to achieve the precision fit expected by customers.

 

Materials Development

After assuming ownership of the company in 2020, I continued improving the product through material and adhesive research.

I evaluated numerous engineering plastics to identify a material that provided:

• excellent impact resistance
• scratch resistance
• long-term color stability
• improved adhesive compatibility

I also tested multiple adhesive systems to balance initial bond strength with long-term durability and impact absorption, ultimately selecting a solution that provided the most reliable long-term performance in real-world use.

 

Packaging Design

Packaging became an extension of the product experience.

Across several generations I developed increasingly refined packaging systems that:

• simplified installation
• reduced shipping costs
• protected the product during international transportation
• standardized packaging across multiple products
• minimized environmental impact through fully recyclable materials

Each packaging revision balanced customer experience, manufacturing efficiency, and sustainability.

 

Results

Successfully launched multiple generations of EDGE across several smartphone platforms.

• Built relationships with suppliers, mold manufacturers, and production partners.
• Established EDGE as Utomic's flagship product.
• Sold products to customers in dozens of countries worldwide.
• Developed a loyal customer base with a high percentage of repeat purchasers.
• Continued improving the product through ongoing customer feedback, manufacturing refinements, and material research.

Skills Demonstrated

Industrial Design • Consumer Electronics • Product Development • Injection Molding • Design for Manufacturing • Materials Selection • Tooling Development • Rapid Prototyping • Packaging Design • Supplier Management • Quality Improvement • Product Commercialization

 

 

 

One suggestion for the EDGE case study: include a simple timeline showing each major generation (iPhone 5 → 6 → X → 12 → 13 → 14, etc.) with one image per generation and a note about what changed. That visual progression reinforces the idea that you didn't just design a single product—you continuously evolved it over many years based on manufacturing experience and customer feedback. I think that will make the depth of your contribution immediately obvious to a hiring manager.