The Sunstone of Cortez  was a project that I designed while working at Sisu Devices. The Sunstone was designed for a company called Brain Chase to be used as a buried treasure. Brain Chase is an online summer learning program for kids. The kids were given clues to a riddle over the summer through an animated video series that went along with the curriculum. At the end of the summer whoever solved the riddle first won the chance to go on a treasure hunt to dig up this buried treasure.

The sunstone design features several rotating rings and multiple buttons. The rotating rings are geared internally and counter rotate when the center face is turned. When the rings are positioned correctly and the correct button of the twenty is pressed, the center disc pops open to reveal a hidden cavity. The whole sunstone is covered in engravings and is coated in real gold.

Designing this was one of the must fun projects I have had the opportunity to do. It allowed me to be very creative and to design a beautiful product that was an “Indiana Jones” type of treasure.