Custom, player-controlled lighting solutions for brass and percussion instruments. The full line includes props and uniform effects for colourguards.
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The Story
LightEmUp Band was first dreamt up when Logan Poe and his future wife were both staff members at a high school marching band. The idea was to come up with an alternative to the costly convention of custom screen printing bass drum heads. After playing around with some LEDs, they created a lighting device that could fit inside the bell of a brass instrument. The horn light unit would eventually become the first product in the LightEmUp Band line, which would expand to include precussion instruments.
A big part of what makes Logan's story great is the dramatic timing: The decision to devote all his free time to LightEmUp came between getting laid off from his job and his fast-approaching wedding. In order to fulfill the widest orders possible, he upgraded his workflow to Upverter's end-to-end platform, integrating manufacturing and shipping into the cycle. It cut down a board's turnaround time from 40 minutes (which Logan and his wife were doing by hand) to less than 2 minutes. The switch paid off, with the sales from the new LightEmUp products largely funding the wedding.
Anyone would be lying to you if they said that a PCB design program didn't have a learning curve to it. When I was looking through software options to try and get at least an idea put down, I had an idea done with Upverter--parts picked and schematic laid out--faster than I would have ever come close with other programs like Eagle. You can't just jump into other tools like that.
Having done an internship with an EMS provider, Logan was loosely familiar with board manufacturing but had never attempted to develop one himself, from schematic to working prototype. He taught himself board design, mostly from tutorials found online, and tentatively spun his first board before realizing that it wasn't all so hard. It was soon after that he found Upverter and began to iterate on his learnings while developing his designs.
The first 80 or so units were all hand-assembled, becoming a costly time sink in the whole process. Once Logan made the transition to using Upverter's manufacturing options, he drastically cut down on spin time to keep up with the demands.
I'm just so used to Upverter now. I enjoy the interface and pretty much every aspect of it. I always recommend it to my engineering friends and work colleagues who are working on something.
On top of the hardware, Logan also develops the software on which the wireless LightEmUp units are pre-programmed. Currently in development is a static-wireless hybrid product called "Smart Static Boards" which will not only allow the user to select a color but also a visual effect such as fade or slash. Every LightEmUp product is built-to-order, with any adjustment to the board easily tweaked on Upverter before clicking through to manufacturing.
Logan plans to continue expanding the LightEmUp collection, making smarter, more dynamic lighting equipment for customizeable use.
