The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
A real scream
Chelsea man designs the perfect companion for the sports fan
By Edward Freundl, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 31, 2008
Sports fans show their team loyalty in lots of ways, but a Chelsea man used his automotive design background to come up with something that should really turn some heads.
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Todd Kauranen refers to his creation, The Screaming Fan, as "aesthetic automotive art."
"I had been joking around with guys at work and molded this thing, and the guys responded to it really well," said Kauranen, who owns TEK Design Studios in Chelsea.
His "day job," however, is a preproduction prototype product designer for Ford Motor Co., which he has done for almost 20 years.
The Screaming Fan is a three-dimensional molded plastic figure of a man's head and shoulders, with his mouth open wide to cheer his team to victory.
A bracket on the back attaches to the top of a car window, giving the visual effect of a head sticking out the window as the car goes down the road.
Kauranen came up with the idea in 2003, and has spent been working to come up with different color schemes to appeal to different markets as well as finding a way to manufacture and market the devices.
"After developing a few prototypes and testing out material to see if I could produce these myself I realized that I had to source it from somebody else," he said.
There are four color schemes available:
— "Blue Spirit" and "Green Spirit" are compelling to any sports team from Little League to professionals. The blue is matched with yellow, so it could appeal to either Michigan Wolverine or Chelsea Bulldog fans; the green is offset with white, the colors of Michigan State or Eastern Michigan University.
— "Redline, " with its checkered flag, speedometer and flames, is directed toward the motorsports fan base.
— "The American" has a red, white and blue, stars-and-stripes pattern.
That particular model is Kauranen's favorite for a very personal reason.
"It's about supporting our troops and country," he said.
His stepbrother, U.S. Marine Sgt. Brian Burgess, was killed by a sniper in Iraq on Nov. 10, 2006.
"That's why 'The American' is so much more meaningful to me," he said.
Kauranen's initial production volume is 1,000 units of each of the four models, but hopes to expand to World Cup soccer and many other possibilities to reach as wide a market as possible.
He is selling them direct for $15 plus shipping and handling through his Web site, Thescreamingfan.com.
Kauranen said with the outlook being gloomy for the automotive industry, he needed to look seriously at his alternatives.
"Since the auto industry has been on a downward spiral, and I don't like having all my eggs in one basket, I started quoting jobs for after-hours work," he said.
"After a few years of doing this I decided to start my own business, and in July 2005, TEK Design Studios LLC was born."
He has used his creative talents for a number of non-automotive ventures as well.
"I also do commissioned art for clients, such as furniture, paintings, etc." he said, "and I have also created sculptures for a number of charities."
But The Screaming Fan got its start "as a gag," Kauranen said.
He started a sculpture of a man hanging out of a window screaming at his colleagues and put on the side of a full-size clay model at Ford.
He then cast the sculpture in plastic and put it on his own car window, and response to it as he drove around was unexpectedly strong.
"People would be doing double-takes all the time," he said. "(They) would come up and ask where I got this thing. I would tell them that I made it, and they would ask me how much it would cost if they wanted to purchase one."
That gave him the idea to produce these for the public.
"Knowing that sports are one of America's favorite activities, and playing on the vanity of car owners, I thought that combining these two would be a safe bet," Kauranen said.
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