The Story

Maria Lopez, CEO of Idaho’s Iron Pine LLC, has an eye for detail and design. She noticed that the state of Idaho was shaped just like an axe; thin at the top and broad at the bottom.  The shape stuck with Maria, who leads a brand that celebrates Idaho Life with unique Modern Idaho-Inspired designs inspired by the Idaho Outdoors, history, culture, and art. An axe in the shape of Idaho looked like a branding bull’s eye to Maria. 

Maria connected with the New Product Development Lab (NPD) at Boise State to see if she could bring her Idaho-shaped axe idea to life. Led by Lab Manager, Grey Beaudry, the NPD team and extended studio\Blu team sprang into action across several fronts including:

• Product Design
• Market Research
• Packaging
• Graphic Design
• Supply Chain Issues

The Players

• • Quim Vallvé Tomàs is the Business Graduate Assistant of studio\Blu. 
  • Grey Beaudry is the Manager of the New Product Development Lab. 
  • Nic Kawaguchi is the COO and Co-Founder of Vessel. 

The Rest of the Story

Today, the Iron Pine Idaho Axe is an actual product that works as well as it looks. Maria sells the axe on the Iron Pine website and is working on developing additional distribution channels.  Maria unveiled the Idaho Axe publicly for the first time at the Manly Man’s Father’s day Celebration at Boise’s Western Collective on Father’s Day 2022.  Maria pitched the Axe as the perfect gift for Idaho Fathers looking for something that is both functional and a work of art.