Hyphen have developed a framework for our projects that experience has taught us will produce the best results most efficiently.

There are broadly two elements to most new product developments; the aesthetic and the functional. Due to the mix of skills in our design team, we are able to offer the best of both, with a unique ability to maintain harmony between form and function.

To make the most of this, we use teamwork and regular project meetings to keep a high level of cross-fertilisation, checking, questioning and re-assessing.

When it comes to planning a project, it is the functional development that makes product design rather more complex to quote for than with other design disciplines. Here are some points about functional development, and our approach to it:

• The process is iterative. A new design concept is proposed, assessed theoretically, detailed, and then tested using a prototype or test rig.
• For a functionally simple product, or one based closely on an existing format, a single level of design, prototyping and testing might be sufficient.
• For a complex product, or one incorporating very innovative features, several iterations may be needed. The first model will be evaluated, and the next level of design based on the results. This is how great products are created – it is almost impossible to get to the ultimate solution first time round.

So, the relative cost of a project will be largely dependant on:

• How functionally complex the product is.
• How innovative it is. We think innovation is essential to anyone wanting to lead their market, and we will usually base a proposal on achieving this. This may involve two or three iterations of design, resulting in a functional test rig, detailed model and pre-production prototype.

When we produce a quote for a new project, it takes the form of a detailed proposal describing the stages of work we suggest, what the deliverables will be, how much it will cost, and a timescale.

For a typical product (lets say a toaster), the project might breakdown like this:

• Concept design. The result of this stage is to have agreement with our client about the general direction of the design, both aesthetic and functional. This stage may take as little as one or two weeks, and generally accounts for 10 - 20% of time and cost of the project.
• Embodiment and detail design. This stage results in the assesment of a fully defined functional and easthetic design, usually presented as a combination of computer renderings, visual models and functional prototypes. This stage might take 3 - 8 weeks, and account for 30 - 60% of the time and cost of the project.
• Production engineering. This stage results in us taking the new product smoothly through production with a chosen manufacturer. This may take 3 - 8 weeks, and account for 30 - 60% of the time and cost of the project.
  

If you are interested in outscourcing some or all of a design project, we would be happy to talk through it with you. The first step is often to sign a non disclosure agreement (NDA), enabling you to tell us the nature of the new product. We would then suggest an initial meeting (for which there would be no charge) in order to discuss your requirements, so that we have all the information we need to put a proposal together.