General Tools, a century old manufacturer and leader in precision specialty, measuring and inspection tools came to Forge with a concept to combine the old with the new: a 16 ft. tape measure with an integrated 50’ digital readout laser distance measurer.


The design and engineering team worked from a well-defined brief built from General Tool’s user research to guide development. Forge developed the tape’s aesthetic and ergonomics under a Design for Manufacturability framework that included General Tool’s production partner in order to get this first-of-its-kind measuring device to market with no disruption to the aggressive launch timetable.


The final design infused the form factor – overwhelmingly preferred by users – with aesthetic and ergonomic enhancements to highlight the 2-in-1 features and present a distinct character linked to General Tools. Simple and bold product graphics focused on the unique feature combination make for a powerful shelf presentation.

Laser Tape was rolled-out at the National Hardware Show and has been recognized by “This Old House” as a Top 100 Product for 2017.