prototype design and development
Prototyping is a Cornerstone of Our Industrial Design Process
Prototypes
Prototyping is an essential part of the design and development process. It gives us the opportunity to test, refine, and improve a product before it moves into full-scale production.
We often start creating physical prototypes even before finalizing the CAD, using low-fidelity methods such as carving foam, forming clay, or even cutting and taping cardboard.
These early-stage prototypes allow us to quickly explore form and function, making adjustments and gathering feedback early in the design process. After this, we move on to higher-fidelity prototypes to evaluate functionality, durability, and overall design. This step helps us fine-tune the product for the best user experience while also ensuring it can be manufactured efficiently and cost-effectively.
prototyping methods
Different Products Call for Different Prototyping Methods
low fidelity prototypes
We often begin the prototyping process even before the CAD models are finalized, using low-fidelity techniques to quickly bring design concepts to life.
These initial prototypes are created with materials that are easy to manipulate, allowing us to test and refine ideas early on. Instead of waiting for the final CAD, we might carve foam, shape clay, or even use basic materials like cardboard to build out the design in three dimensions, enabling us to evaluate proportions, scale, and overall form before committing to more detailed prototypes.
3D Printing
Using advanced 3D printing technology, including liquid resin printers and FDM printers, we can efficiently create and test prototype designs.
Our Form 2 and Form 3 printers use liquid resin that cures under UV light, offering high precision and the ability to print with a variety of materials that exhibit different mechanical properties, such as durability, flexibility, and heat resistance. This allows for thorough testing of a product’s form, fit, and function before moving to full-scale production.
In contrast, our FDM printers use a filament-based process, where material is heated and extruded layer by layer, making it ideal for larger, less intricate parts that still require strength and reliability.
These different 3D printing methods allow us to perform rapid iterations, refining every detail of a design and ensuring it meets performance and design expectations. Whether through the high-resolution resin prints or the versatility of FDM, each technology offers unique advantages depending on the project’s requirements.
vacuum casting / silicone molding
Vacuum casting is an ideal solution for low-volume prototype development, providing high detail and precision.
The process begins with creating a master pattern, usually through 3D printing or CNC machining. This pattern is then placed into a silicone mold, which is placed in a vacuum chamber to remove air bubbles and ensure the mold captures fine details. Liquid resin is poured into the mold, and after curing, it forms a detailed, accurate replica of the original part.
This method closely mimics injection-molded parts and is perfect for producing multiple prototypes with complex shapes, while remaining cost-effective for small-batch production.
Bent sheet metal fabrication
Our prototype firm specializes in cutting, bending, and assembling sheet metal to create durable prototypes for structural and functional testing.
We start by selecting the right type of sheet metal and use advanced cutting techniques like laser cutting, water jet cutting, or CNC punching to achieve precise shapes.
Once the parts are cut, we use bending methods such as press brakes or roll forming to shape them into the desired angles or curves. This ensures the prototype matches the design specifications and functionality requirements.
After bending, the parts are assembled using welding, riveting, or bolting.
Additional finishes like powder coating or anodizing may be applied to enhance durability.
This efficient process allows us to quickly test prototypes that can withstand real-world stress and ensure they meet design standards.
Sewn fabric prototypes
For products involving textiles, our team creates sewn fabric prototypes to test ergonomics, aesthetics, and usability.
We work with a variety of fabrics, from lightweight cotton and linen to specialized materials like neoprene and leather, selecting the best for each product’s function.
Using different sewing techniques, such as reinforced seams, overlocking, and topstitching, we ensure the prototype closely matches the final design.
These prototypes help us assess comfort, fit, and performance, allowing for adjustments before moving to production. By using the actual materials and sewing methods that will be in the final product, we ensure the design meets both functional and aesthetic expectations.
CNC Machining parts
We use CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining as a key part of our prototype development to cut and shape plastics and metals with precision.
The process starts by programming the CNC machine with design data from our CAD models, ensuring the prototype matches the final production specifications.
CNC machining allows us to create prototypes with tight tolerances, complex shapes, and intricate details, making it ideal for high-strength, durable parts that require dimensional accuracy. This technology enables rapid iterations, helping us refine designs and test functionality efficiently, ensuring the prototype not only looks like the final product but also performs as intended.
Prototype Development Methods
By employing these advanced prototyping methods, DesignStein Studios stands out among prototype development firms, delivering high-quality, fully tested prototypes ready for mass production. Whether you need rapid prototyping, expert 3D printing, or full-scale prototype design and development, our team ensures your product is meticulously refined for successful market introduction.
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DesignStein FAQs
The Industrial Designers Society of America defines industrial design as “…the professional practice of designing products, devices, objects, and services used by millions of people around the world every day.” This definition goes on to say that “industrial designers typically focus on the physical appearance, functionality and manufacturability of a product, though they are often involved in far more during a development cycle.” (you can see their full definition here).
While this is an accurate description of what industrial design is, for obvious reasons it does not address the deeper element of successful industrial design: The Industrial Design Process. This is what DesignStein excels at. We adhere to what we consider the Three Pillars for successful product design: Communication, Constructive Feedback, and Industry Expertise. We have nearly two decades of experience designing products across multiple industries. Our multi-industry experience gives us broader design perspectives, allowing us to think outside the box and apply creative solutions that ‘specialty’ design companies may not consider for your product. We execute an established methodology that ensures your product design goals are achieved, and combine it with a collaborative approach that ensures we are in lockstep with our clients from beginning to end.
To reference the definition from our friends at The Industrial Designers Society of America, who classify the industrial design process as follows: “Every object that you interact with on a daily basis in your home, office, school, or public setting is the result of a design process. During this process, myriad decisions are made by an industrial designer (and their team) that are aimed at improving your life through well-executed design.” The difference in design companies lie with the decisions that are made during the process of industrial design, from how sketches are created to thinking through the engineering and manufacturing considerations during CAD design, considering whether the product will stand up to the real world during the 3D modeling process, looking beyond aesthetics during prototyping, and even how to scale for lean, repeatable manufacturing and distribution.
This is where DesignStein provides the best value for our clients. We follow to our Three Pillars for successful product design: Communication, Constructive Feedback, and Industry Expertise. Our established industrial product design process is summarized as a combination of research, sketches, 3D CAD, 3D Renderings, prototyping, specifications, IP strategy, manufacturing and quality control, which you can learn more about in detail on our Services page. Want more? Check out our YouTube channel for videos that highlight our processes using specific case studies!
DesignStein Studios assists companies with applying, filing, and ultimately obtaining patents for your product design through consultation or recommending attorneys who we trust that specialize in Intellectual Property (we’re really good at this). To mitigate the risk of product counterfeits or stolen IP, we can help you execute a supplier diversification strategy that separates various manufacturing and distribution responsibilities across multiple production groups. This is a difficult strategy to execute, but we are experts at it, and it is worth the effort if you want to mitigate the risk of someone counterfeiting your product design.
The short answer is yes, we do. We don’t simply make your product look pretty, we get inside of it and thoughtfully position internal components, mechanical systems, or whatever else make up the ‘guts’ of your product to ensure reliability and manufacturability. When we combine your industry expertise with our vast expertise in product design across virtually every industry from mechanical devices to electronics to soft goods, the result is not simply a beautiful product that improves lives, but one that is also easily manufacturable at the best possible cost.
DesignStein has helped many of its clients’ secure reliable manufacturers who have integrity and keep your IP private to prevent counterfeiting. We do much more than simply provide a manufacturing resource, though.
To ensure your products are made right and work as intended, DesignStein creates your product specifications for dimensions, material types, best practices for manufacturing, and components specs before any manufacturing commitments are made. This process ensures that manufacturers have everything they need to provide accurate tooling estimates. We are prepared to go where you need us to go, anywhere in the world, to make sure the standards that we set to manufacture your product are met. We perform live inspections, ensure pre-established quality control processes are executed, and review the process of shipping to your distribution channels, all of which validate that your products are produced properly, and get where they need to go on time and on budget.
We further protect your IP through a sophisticated process of supplier diversification. Our approach to selecting a manufacturer and suppliers for our clients creates peace of mind on two fronts; It protects the intellectual property inside your product, and delivers confidence that your product will be manufactured on time to an exacting standard.
DesignStein can help you source component suppliers. We have an established process for helping our clients’ secure component suppliers that promises long term component availability, and protects the intellectual property behind your product to prevent counterfeiting. We diversify our clients’ supply chain and create distinct component supply channels so that your IP remains discrete. This complex process of eliminating component supplier amalgamation is proven to safeguard your products from copycats.
DesignStein uses SOLIDWORKS to create 3D CAD (Computer-Aided Design) models of your product. We have decades of experience with CAD, which when combined with our background designing products in multiple industries, allows us to consider your product’s design beyond the aesthetic. We factor in all the things that will improve the lives of your customers, and all the elements that are required to make the product manufacturable at scale.
DesignStein has deep experience in consumer electronics, mechanical products, military and self defense products, personal products, healthcare products, cut-and-sew soft goods, children’s toys, and pet products. We have experience designing products for multiple industries, which sets our product design firm apart from other industrial design companies. Our expertise designing products across multiple industries allows us to think outside of the box, enabling us to provide product design concepts that exceed many of our clients’ expectations.