The Weber Q Grill

Great grilling hits the road

Engineered with an even-heating grill chamber and built of tough injection molded resins, and die-cast aluminum, our successful design has expanded to smaller and larger sizes since its introduction. Weber’s first foray into portable gas grills has turned into a huge business. The Q grill has been awarded “trade dress” status by the US Patent Office, received numerous design awards and has been embraced by consumers around the world, selling millions.

Great industrial design is key to achieving icon status.

 Case Study

The original Weber charcoal grills with their round dome and three-legged tripod base have been icons of grilling since the mid 20th century.

The proposition to expand the Weber line of grills to include a new product category created a new exciting opportunity for the company.

Could Weber market a portable gas grill robust and functional enough to fit the heritage and expectation of the brand and yet be unique and beautiful so as to create a memorable icon of the ultimate portable grill?

M Design and inventor Robert Demars thought so. Bob Demars had conceived a patented folding shelf concept perfect for a portable gas grill and invited M Design to create a jaw-dropping design incorporating that feature. We explored several form concepts and hit upon an elegant design of complementary curves and arcs.

 The design was worked out in 3D CAD and presented to Weber.

The rest is history! Weber Q grills were so successful that the design was scaled into 2 additional sizes as well as an electric version.  M Industrial Design had the opportunity to design a new cart and grilling tools to match the new design.

The Q has been embraced by consumers on every continent, selling millions of grills.  The Q has also received great brand-building press and was rated top of the class by Consumer Reports Magazine. We are constantly amazed at how many people tell us they own one.

Creating a design that becomes an icon, that’s one of the things we aspire to at M Design. The Q was just recently awarded Trade Dress Protection by the U.S. Patent Office, perhaps the ultimate recognition of icon status.