We don’t have to be a magician to realise that we all associate design with art. We can all equally see that art is a long way from the technological three dimensional goods that we crave to buy. Although it is the artistic attributes of a product that lures us all, it is the combination of art, science and technology that enables product designers to visualise, analyse and ultimately create an idea. Thus, we at Jamhoq strive to combine practical applications, ergonomic function and aesthetic form in product design.
Our first advice is that you should not be looking for an artist but a partner who has the ability to apply technical knowledge creatively. You need to find innovators who have business sense, and engineers with the fashionable awareness to do it with style.
Please don’t read this as “how little can I get away with”. If you do, we have to advise caution. Product design is a process. Every decision that is made along the way has an impact somewhere else. The choice of colour and type of plastic may get defined for two wholly different reasons; one because of aesthetic need and the other due to strength of component issues. At every stage choices will make impacts on downstream events; there are risk assessments, there are conformity standards, and there are economic factors relating to the final build cost. If this sounds like a lot to undertake then maybe you need not be thinking in terms of buying a bit of design but buying a whole production team.
If you fancy yourself as bit of a DIY enthusiast or, you are already supported in managing the process yourself. Of course, then you need to be able to buy the skills as and when you need them.
Don’t be too rigid in your mindset; the product design process, by its nature, is vulnerable to change as soon as it begins. By this we mean that you may not know you need patent drawings when you started because the idea originally had no novelty.
Once we get going on it, we may offer options you never even thought of. Or maybe, you may make the decision to reduce material cost by optimising some components. If this was not included in the original scope of work then be prepared to pay for the analysis in order to save money later on.
If we agree that your motivation to start the process of design is money. The business justification can be as simple as calculating the number of units that could be sold less the cost of producing. The more that value is, the greater the urgency. After all, we know that the window of opportunity is closing as soon as the idea is conceived. Naturally this alludes to the first set of questions how quickly can I have a design and how much will it cost.
The first problem is that although you think you have offered the same brief, the way that companies go about their work varies. Business models will be as different as their abilities. Individual interpretation is at play and in order for others to understand it you need to do more than look at the bottom line. Having a structured model reduces ambiguity in the idea and creates a path to success.
Only you know how much value there is in the business model. Only you know what value there is in getting the design you need. I often ask what the budget is only to be met with a look that seems to suggest that I am naïve asking. The honest matter is that design needs to be tailored to suit the business needs. If you are not going to divulge the development budget then you have to expect the designer to guess how valuable it is to you. If the quote looks too heavy then they probably felt that to do the product proud they needed to do so much more than you were prepared to pay for.
For the individual working from a site with limited overheads there is no reason for him not to be charging less. This you might think is a very attractive solution and be wondering why is there any business case for product design companies with larger overheads? The benefits in paying for design teams are very straight forward. Creativity is healthiest when ideas are debated and alternative knowledge is shared. The individual working on their own is unwittingly starved of the variety that feeds the creative mind with new thought.
Teams not only offer a greater diversity of knowledge and opinion but they also offer you the security of numbers to keep a project going when an individual may be having an off day. At Jamhoq, we have a dynamic work ethic, which brings creative talents to you. Involving you through each phase and advising you in the best interest of the product and you, our client.