About Us
Founded in 2012, Cardboard Helicopter is a boutique industrial design and innovation studio located in Cleveland, Ohio.
We provide a wide variety of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs with comprehensive product design assistance from concept to launch. Our small but mighty team of designers and engineers have the creative vision and manufacturing expertise to explore new levels of product design to help you dominate your competition.
We can operate as a complete turnkey solution, or can work at any independent stage of the product development process.
Our Name
“As a child, I always used my imagination to create things like helicopters, castles and rocketships using empty cardboard boxes. I truly believed that I could actually take off and fly. Our name is a reminder that even as adults, we can still dream big and have that same limitless imagination if we strive to unlock it."
- Tim Hayes
Co-Founder and Designer
Our Values
Marketplace Success Over Awards We care more about our clients’ success and the customer’s buying habits than trying to win design awards. Creating a product that increases brand loyalty and something that the customer chooses over your competition is what drives us everyday.
Outside-the-Box Mentality The Cardboard Helicopter story is a persistent reminder that with the right design vision, virtually anything is possible. Our mild-to-wild ideation process keeps us receptive to new ideas that translate into extraordinary concepts for our clients.
Small but Mighty Our small size gives us a distinct competitive edge, enabling us to be more flexible and allowing us to sharpen our focus at every stage of the project. We can tailor our process to your needs and work directly with your product developers, corporate in-house teams or manufacturing facilities to ensure a triumphant product launch.
Our Co-Founders
Being close friends for over twenty years, we know what it takes to build long-lasting relationships. Our love for design and creating things brought us together as kids, and decades later remain at the core of Cardboard Helicopter.
Carlo Russo
Director of Business Development
Background My marketing experience and unique creative sensibility help reinforce a deep understanding of customer behavior and trend-driven buyer habits.
Favorite Product The bicycle offers countless benefits, and I love the art of maintaining my mountain bike and outfitting it with interesting and accessories from some of my favorite brands.
Hobbies Hiking, biking, camping, and good friends, food and music.
Tim Hayes
CEO
Background I’ve developed hundreds of products ranging from children’s toys and health & beauty products to military Humvees and lawn & garden power tools.
Favorite Product The seemingly ordinary ball point pen symbolizes communication and the ability to share ideas, and has helped me create many products that began with a simple sketch.
Hobbies MMA, jiu-jitsu, fine arts, the outdoors, golf and doing fun things with my family.
Our Studio
We are a team of dreamers, designers, marketers, engineers, thinkers and tinkerers, and we combine creativity and innovation to design exciting products that ensure a successful launch. Each team member brings something highly valuable to the table, consistently providing great value at remarkable new levels of product design.
Our eclectic Cleveland studio fosters creativity and provides us with the necessary tools to help your product and brand take flight.
@CardboardHelicopter
