Dalanda Cobb: A Pharmacist’s Approach to Creative Problem-Solving Designs

Hi! I'm Dalanda Cobb. My background is a Doctor of Pharmacy, and I use the best science to solve problems that are presented to me, especially problems that I know I can achieve a good resolution. Even as a child, I daydreamed about how things worked, and my mother would have me write letters with my questions to companies and wait for the answers.

I never decided to become a designer or artist. I've always had abilities and a skill set that made design possible.

Our company came to be for the purpose of bringing everyday life improvements into existence. I spend my time creating products that are meant to be brought onto the marketplace.

Design means to transform an idea into a useful concept or product.

My favourite kind of design is a very useful one because then the design has an ultimate purpose.

What makes a good design is when different populations of people recognise your work and appreciate the style or function.

The idea for the Adjustable Mail Slot Insulator came from an exterior door that I had installed at my home. The mail slot was cut with the wrong dimensions leaving an extra-large mail slot cut-out. I lived in the city where many people walked by my door each day and I had a hole in my door that needed to be filled.

The inspiration for this design came out of a need to solve a problem with my exterior door. The idea has now carried over, so that many mail slot users are now able to insulate their mail slot cut-out, which is internal to their exterior door, without having to change their mail slot hardware on their home.

Yes. The US has specific problems that need specific answers solved through the design process.

The London Design Awards elevates the company by bringing pride to the team for all of their hard work and attention to detail.

I chose to enter this project because it was a personal problem that I had and wanted to solve. The design is also the oldest project that I have been working on for over a decade.

The main challenge was making the design product to be efficiently manufactured, and I was able to overcome this challenge by constantly improving components and parts of the design with slow evolutions.

This award is very motivating, and I will continue to try to achieve great product designs.

My top three favourite things are:

1. Design changes as society evolves.

2. As technology advances, your mind is freer to create designs with fewer constraints.

3. Anyone can have a good design idea.

I'm not about the specifics of other designs. I just know that the adjustable mail slot insulator was unique enough to get a couple of utility patents.

I think counter-artificial intelligence tools will be needed to detect if a creator's work is copied or manipulated.

Design for problems in need of design solutions.

I would recommend getting advice from a good engineer to lead you in a productive direction.

The original picture of this design came to me in a dream. I woke up from the dream and drew the design on a piece of paper. I would close my eyes to remember and visualise the details until the entire design was drawn.

Dr. George Washington Carver was an inspiration because he used his scientific background and create a laboratory at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute from items found in a junkyard. He created flowers from genetic engineering that was grown in the laboratory and for over 100 years, he's affected our culture.

The best key to success is to never give up on good ideas.