How do you design your products?

[ak366]

Hi,

Wanted to start an E-commerce but couldn't spend the time to learn advanced design software.
Outsourced the design process instead and quickly found that creating collections was costly. Also time-consuming to send inspiration, feedback etc.

Don't think I'm alone and would therefore like to hear how you've solved that problem and your thoughts on it!

 

[fisicx]

Don’t design anything.

Most e-commerce platforms come with a range of templates and themes. Just need to choose one you customers like.

 

[ak366]

I meant for the products that you're going to sell, not website templates!

 

[fisicx]

What sort of products? Have you got a design background?

 

[ak366]

No, not at all. I wanted to create designs for physical products like bottles, t-shirts, and so on.
My question is about how you guys solved that part!

 

[pentel]

couldn't spend the time to learn advanced design software

quickly found that creating collections was costly

time-consuming to send inspiration, feedback etc.

Learn both software & design skills. This will give you cheap & good in the long run.

Employ a knowledgeable designer or designs company and throw money at them for a premium service. This will give you quick & good

Use the cheapest designer with immediate availability that you can find. This will give you cheap & quick.

Which would you prefer?

 

[ak366]

I contacted the "the cheapest designer with immediate availability". The problem was that it took time to send them inspiration and then feedback on everything and it still turned out pretty expensive.

My question is more about how you, who perhaps have been in the same situation solved it. It feels like there should be some kind of "Canva for premium design" out there that could save us, people without design knowledge, both money and time. Has anyone found anything?

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

people without design knowledge, both money and time.

So you just want it done for you with no real investment - time or money? The whole selling point of your product is the design on it.

By the way, every man and his dog has started a T shirt print business at this point

 

[ak366]

So you just want it done for you with no real investment - time or money? The whole selling point of your product is the design on it.

By the way, every man and his dog has started a T shirt print business at this point

Hmm, I think you misunderstand me. So, I'm looking for something that saves time and money as much as possible - not something free. The "cheapest" would be if you could design yourself, which is why I was asking about some sort of "canva for premium design". A software where you can create something nice yourself but without the knowledge required to design nicely in e.g. Illustrator/Photoshop. So the question is: Does anyone know such a program?

And then the original question remains: How do you go about creating design today? Pentel gave a constructive answer there. The rest of you?

 

[fisicx]

If you want to create good design you need to have a trained in design on be naturally talented. If you have neither then you pay someone to do it for you.

The software you are looking for doesn't exist because designers with talent don't need it.

 

[ak366]

If you want to create good design you need to have a trained in design on be naturally talented. If you have neither then you pay someone to do it for you.

The software you are looking for doesn't exist because designers with talent don't need it.

That's perhaps the harsh truth I guess...


How long did it take for you to get good at designing?

 

[fisicx]

How long did it take for you to get good at designing?

Around 20 years. And I’m still not very good. I normally just pay someone to do it for me.

But even then you need a really good brief. This means market research which can take months to complete and assess.

And designing bottles is a whole different thing to designing t-shirts. You would need two different design experts as part of design process is costing manufacturing.

 

[pentel]

Product design is a many stranded process.

The physical product is one aspect, form and function considerations and weighting of each can result in a beautiful tactile product that doesn't function very well. Purely functional objects can work extremely well but be very ugly. Getting the balance between the 2 is where the skill comes in. What is beautiful to one person can be ugly to another. Fashion also comes into it. What is great today may be rubbish tomorrow.

The other aspect is asethetics and decoration. Most product designers are not very good at creating wow graphics. This is the area of graphic designers, most of which struggle with product design.

Balancing the 2 is where the skill comes in.

I have sat in many meetings as a manufacturer where these 2 specialities have been at loggerheads, neither of which had truely understood the manufacturing process. This is usually resolved with reference to budget.

 

[ak366]

Around 20 years. And I’m still not very good. I normally just pay someone to do it for me.

But even then you need a really good brief. This means market research which can take months to complete and assess.

And designing bottles is a whole different thing to designing t-shirts. You would need two different design experts as part of design process is costing manufacturing.

Thank you for the answer. Would you mind just elaborating on why I would 2 different design experts ?

 

[ak366]

Product design is a many stranded process.

The physical product is one aspect, form and function considerations and weighting of each can result in a beautiful tactile product that doesn't function very well. Purely functional objects can work extremely well but be very ugly. Getting the balance between the 2 is where the skill comes in. What is beautiful to one person can be ugly to another. Fashion also comes into it. What is great today may be rubbish tomorrow.

The other aspect is asethetics and decoration. Most product designers are not very good at creating wow graphics. This is the area of graphic designers, most of which struggle with product design.

Balancing the 2 is where the skill comes in.

I have sat in many meetings as a manufacturer where these 2 specialities have been at loggerheads, neither of which had truely understood the manufacturing process. This is usually resolved with reference to budget.

Thank you for a very detailed answer regarding the product process! If we assume that the product design itself is like existing products, e.g. an ordinary t-shirt. If there was a simple "Photoshop" or "Canva for premium design" or something like that, would you still outsource the design work? If so, why?

 

[fisicx]

Thank you for the answer. Would you mind just elaborating on why I would 2 different design experts ?

Because the people who know about bottle manufacturing and materials technology are not the same who know about fabrics and garment manufacturing.

It’s like asking an architect to design a car.

 

[pentel]

Thank you for a very detailed answer regarding the product process! If we assume that the product design itself is like existing products, e.g. an ordinary t-shirt.

Are you looking to decorate existing products? For example buy plain tee shirts and have them printed, buy an existing product and add your decoration? In this case you need to either learn graphic design or learn how to brief your designer.

Briefing a designer well can result in you getting close to what you want first time. Mood boards, colour pallet, style examples, etc etc. The tighter you define what is wanted the more likely you are to get something suitable. If you want a consistent brand look across various products you need to consider need for the branding to work well with different sized products. A thing to be wary of when looking at designs is that different computer screens can often render colours differently. Be prepared for the "it's not how it looks on screen" discussion.

There are lots of T shirt companies which have websites where you can design your own decoration on line. A lot of product suppliers will also work with you to define your design.

 

[HFE Signs]

How about something like this https://fpd-demo-store-v2.myshopify.com/products/shirts

 

[fisicx]

And this discussion really sums up the issues when using words like ‘design’. They mean different things to different people.

I assumed the OP wanted to start from scratch and create a brand new product. But it seems they just want to design something that can be printed on existing products. But even then there is a whole world of complexity.

 

[HFE Signs]

And this discussion really sums up the issues when using words like ‘design’. They mean different things to different people.

I assumed the OP wanted to start from scratch and create a brand new product. But it seems they just want to design something that can be printed on existing products. But even then there is a whole world of complexity.

Totally agree, a problem we face daily

 

[Stuart2022]

Hmm, I think you misunderstand me. So, I'm looking for something that saves time and money as much as possible - not something free. The "cheapest" would be if you could design yourself, which is why I was asking about some sort of "canva for premium design". A software where you can create something nice yourself but without the knowledge required to design nicely in e.g. Illustrator/Photoshop. So the question is: Does anyone know such a program?

And then the original question remains: How do you go about creating design today? Pentel gave a constructive answer there. The rest of you?

Can I suggest this is like buying a new set of paint brushes and then hoping 'somehow' they will guide you to paint the Mona Lisa.

There are two aspects to design- the technical bit, whether it is CAD, web or physical. I know that if I press a pen down on a piece of paper and move it, I will draw something. But then there's the presentation, the ability to turn thoughts into art and that's something that not everybody can do.

I recently had to teach myself all aspects of web from HTML to PHP, via Java, Javascript and even Delphi for the back end servers. I learned all that by study and a bit of trial and error.

But I still had to trawl the internet looking for several other actual presentations and pick bits I liked in order to come up with an artistic approach I liked. If you can't design your own then you'll need to find someone who can do it for you.

 

[ak366]

Are you looking to decorate existing products? For example buy plain tee shirts and have them printed, buy an existing product and add your decoration? In this case you need to either learn graphic design or learn how to brief your designer.

Briefing a designer well can result in you getting close to what you want first time. Mood boards, colour pallet, style examples, etc etc. The tighter you define what is wanted the more likely you are to get something suitable. If you want a consistent brand look across various products you need to consider need for the branding to work well with different sized products. A thing to be wary of when looking at designs is that different computer screens can often render colours differently. Be prepared for the "it's not how it looks on screen" discussion.

There are lots of T shirt companies which have websites where you can design your own decoration on line. A lot of product suppliers will also work with you to define your design.

Yes exactly, thank you for the detailed reply. Briefing is a process in itself and if you don't even know what you want it becomes difficult. Have seen that many T-shirt companies etc have their own software you can design in but it's not that good enough. You only make designs that look like they come from Microsoft word and there is not much freedom to design but very strict objects etc...

 

[ak366]

And this discussion really sums up the issues when using words like ‘design’. They mean different things to different people.

I assumed the OP wanted to start from scratch and create a brand new product. But it seems they just want to design something that can be printed on existing products. But even then there is a whole world of complexity.

Yes that's what I want, sorry for the confusion. Has anyone actually designed something through such companies' own web-based software and thought it looked good? Just as I wrote to Pentel, the result looks like it was taken from Microsoft Word on such websites...

 

[ak366]

Ok everyone, What do you think about blankt[dot]com? You only seem to be able to create posters there but check their "object" tab in their software, it's something like that I'm looking for.

 

[fisicx]

Ok everyone, What do you think about blankt[dot]com? You only seem to be able to create posters there but check their "object" tab in their software, it's something like that I'm looking for.

That’s not design software. If you want to create good image design invest in professional tools like illustrator, then learn the basics of design then practice your techniques.

Or pay a professional designer.

 

[WebshopMechanic]

If you are just testing the water, my suggestion would be to mock up a design to the best you can get it and then pay a designer to create that one design. It may take a while to get there. You may even go through a few designers until you get one on your wavelength. This is the same for me with copywriters. You need the right fit.

Next, you need to decide on the product you are selling. Like everyone has said, T-shirts have been done to death and they are a very tough sell. Quite often, you need to think less emotionally (i.e not what you want or would buy) and use your brain to find an opportunity.

For example:

T-shirts, iPhone cases, Flasks, Backpacks, Coasters, Posters, etc. - All are common. Al are commodities. All have little value so you will make low profit margins.

Baby clothes, Dog clothes, Cat clothes - These are products where people will spend more because of the emotional attachment to the recipient. You can even drill down to a dog type. For example, I know quite a few people with Pugs and they would spend a fortune on Pug branded clobber! It's like their baby. People are also loyal to breeds like they are to brands.

Go niche!

When selecting products, you need to think about the audience and how you create 'that hook' and that emotional demand (a.k.a the must-have-it factor).

Hope that helps.

Matt

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

As someone who was involved in designing and developing some of the best selling consumer electronics/electrical products in the UK, there are many strands to what the OP is after.

• Knowledge of the basic product
• Knowledge of markets
• Understanding consumer needs
• Being able to describe/illustrate what you are trying to achieve.

I was not an artist or designer (although I am a bit better now) however, I could draw on a napkin or fag packet and describe what a wanted in a few sentences. I also had a great pool of suppliers who could help visualise what I wanted, as well as taking into consideration production limitations. Where I was after something radical or unique, design/development companies were used!