Nearly everyone has had a brilliant idea to solve one of life’s pressing problems. Whether this was adding crimps into a bobby pin to help it stay in your hair or creating a car with better fuel economy, new ideas for product designs are everywhere.
What separates these ideas from becoming real products ready for customers to buy is product design. While you probably have an idea or two to improve on an old product or make an entirely new one, bringing that product into reality is much harder.
That’s why businesses hire freelance product design firms to help them create the new products they want to sell. Hiring a product designer is necessary to get a project closer to completion and successfully bring your product to market. Still, a lack of information on the going rates for freelance designers can slow down the process.
Without knowing the rate, you can let great product designers slip through your fingers by offering a conservative budget or paying more than you should for mediocre service.
This guideline is designed to help you understand the rates for various projects so you can know what to expect when seeking a product designer for your business needs.
A lot more goes into product design than just an idea. Beyond figuring out how to solve a problem the world faces is a range of other issues, from ensuring the product meets safety guidelines and applicable laws to providing an ergonomic design that fits your brand.
A 3D product demo service seeks not only to create a design for your product but to ensure all these conditions are met. Examples of excellent product design include not just the unique flavor of Coca-Cola but the iconic glass bottle designed by Andy Warhol.
At the time, Coca-Cola was having a real problem with imitators usurping sales. In order to resolve the issue, Coca-Cola hired Andy Warhol to design a glass bottle that would be recognizable as a Coca-Cola bottle even if the customer were to feel for it in the dark, or the bottle itself broke. The result is the curvy glass bottle still in use today.
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Product design can help in many different situations, from the branding problem that Coca-Cola struggled with to simply getting an idea off the ground and ready to be made into a valid product. Product designers are an essential part of the process, and one many businesses recognize as a tool they can’t live without.
With product design being such an essential step in product creation, one would think every business would have a team of them on staff. While it is true that many large companies do keep product designers on board year-round, many more opt to hire a team of freelance industrial design services to do the work instead.
This is in part due to cost savings. Product designers are not needed all of the time. Once a product has been designed, it may be months or years before a designer is required again. It makes little sense to maintain the salary of a product designer year-round when they are not needed.
Even if a freelance concept design service charges more upfront, the overall savings is still relatively significant due to not having to pay for downtime and not having to pay the cost of hiring and training them to fit in as a team member.
It also takes more time to hire a team member than it does to hire a freelancer. The position needs to be advertised, resumes need to be taken, interviews need to be conducted, and sometimes, a hiring agent needs to be procured at great expense to find the right person. Even after a person is located, there is no guarantee that the person will fit in with the company.
A 3D product modeling service often already has a team and can begin work quickly. Since they have chosen product design as their firm, they have a passion for design already in place and are ready to work.
Freelance product designers are a great choice, and more companies are choosing them over someone permanently on the payroll.
Now that we understand the need for product designers, it’s time to take a close look at your project. The price of a product design can vary greatly depending on the complexity of your design. The product design for a new type of can opener will cost much less than a design for a motorcycle because there are fewer parts.
In general, anything that uses electronics, mechanical parts, or needs firmware or software will cost more than something that doesn’t. What stage the product is in also matters in terms of how much an end product will cost. If the product is in the preliminary stages, it will cost more to reach design completion than if a product is already been somewhat developed.
The first product design stage is the concept stage, often where CAD drawing takes place. This is where a product goes from merely an idea to an actual example of what the finished product might look like. It may include sketches, a 3D model, or even a list of preliminary materials.
A concept design is not enough to take to a manufacturer for mass manufacturing, but it will give you and investors a clear idea of what will come.
Once the product design has been created, it’s time to turn it into an actual product ready to be manufactured. That means a 3D model that shows every panel and screw, attention to branding and ergonomics need to be paid, and final details.
3D models can even test products from huge buildings all the way down to a child’s toy for safety. When the 3D design service has completed development, it can finally proceed to prototyping.
Prototyping is the phase where the product goes from a design to a physical object that can be shown to investors. A prototype is an example of the actual project but is often made of cheaper materials. A prototype paves the way for testing and gives prototype design services a chance to physically hold and manipulate the product to see if it works as planned.
A prototype is essential not just to show investors or the sales department but also to ensure that there are no obvious or embarrassing mistakes before it is sent to production. It is also used to test the product to make sure it works as it should.
These phases are different product design parts and are seldom rolled into one price tag. Each phase will come with its own pricing.
If you’ve been asking yourself, “What are product design prices in my area?” you’re not alone. There is a considerable variation in product design costs, and these depend a lot on the project and the unique specialization. Here’s a breakdown of the different payment methods and the average starting point for each product.
| Project Type | Hourly | Per Project |
|---|---|---|
| Concept Design | $45–$105 per hour | $100.00 and up |
| Product Design | $45–$105 per hour | $100.00 and up |
| Mechanical Design | $45–$125 | $5,000–$10,000 |
| Industrial Design | $45–$150 | $5,000–$10,000 |
| Prototyping | $50–$120 | $2,000 and up |
| Electronics Design | $100–$150 | $10,000 and up |
| Architectural Design | $35–$75 | 10% of total building cost |
As you can see from the chart above, flat fees aren’t the only way to hire a product designer. If it’s a small project that needs a few hours of their time or you think it will cost less, paying hourly is also an option.
Before agreeing to hourly rates, it’s helpful to ask a product designer or 3D furniture modeling service what counts as a working hour. Some designers have software that tracks their work, helping to ensure you’re not paying for Facebook time or small talk while also ensuring they get paid a fair wage for their work.
Hourly and fee-based services are the primary payment methods for product designers, but one isn’t necessarily better. When searching for a product designer, you should be focused mainly on the quality of the product designer and how closely they fit your needs rather than the payment method.
A product design company or firm will likely have the same prices as a pet product and toy design service or perhaps be a little higher if an individual has a slightly lower price to be more competitive. The advantage of a company, however, is that you have access to more expertise and can often get the project done faster as more people are available to do it.
What you need ultimately boils down to who you like to work with, how fast you need it done, and what quality you expect. If you need a large team to help you complete a project, a firm may be a better choice than a single product designer.
Although there is a lot to gain from outsourcing your project, there are also many things you can do to make a project more likely to be successful. Finding the right project designer can help the process along and also help with future projects because you’ve already laid the groundwork for a great relationship.
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To find the right person, however, you need to interview potential firms and individual product designers to ensure they are the right person for you. Although you may only need the product designer temporarily, you will still be working with them for some months, and their work will stay with you for as long as the product is in production. That means a significant impact overall.
If you want to ensure the product designer is the right choice for you and your business, here are a few tips for a speedy and smooth project.
Hundreds of product designers are out there waiting to help you from all over the world. Freelance product design can be done from anywhere, which means you have a vast pool of product designers available to search through. The problem is that they come with varying talents, and their claims can’t always be trusted.
Luckily, there are a few high-quality places you can look to find a professional product designer who can get the job done. Here are just a couple of them:
Cad Crowd
Cad Crowd was born out of the need for high-quality computer-augmented design, which includes product design. Their designers are already carefully screened to ensure they are of high quality, so you won’t end up paying for work you can’t use.
They can also help by hand-selecting the best designer for your purposes, making it easier to narrow your selection from hundreds of potential candidates to a few most likely to serve your needs.
Upwork
Upwork has many freelance electronic product design services, with hourly rates available if that is how you prefer to pay. The candidates are not curated, but they do offer paid monthly plans that give you project managers to help source the people you need.
While you can find product designers in many other places, these two sources are your best bet for finding a good quality candidate.
As you have seen throughout this article, there are a great many specializations within the product design field. Knowing what you need will help you narrow down the candidates to those with the most relative experience.
You may know you need a product designer or that it will need some mechanical engineering service, but other details are also important. Will you need illustrations to go with it? Do you want a 3D model built? Will you need an industrial design as well?
This can also help speed the design process up. While you may have sensitive information you can’t share with every candidate, being able to provide as many specific details as possible can aid the project process once you have selected someone.
If your product must be red for branding purposes or it will have to operate in a particular fashion, letting the product designer know these limitations beforehand is helpful.
Every designer will have a slightly different artistic style, which will appear in the work. Some product designers also specialize in specific areas, such as automotive design services or toys. A quick glance at the portfolio is a great way to see what they focus on and if it matches your company’s needs.
This is also a way to gauge the quality of work, especially if they don’t have much experience yet.
Although recommendations from other companies, reviews, and a portfolio can tell you a lot about a potential product designer. The fastest way to learn whether they will work for your project is to first test the product designer’s skills with a smaller project.
This will show you much more than whether they have the skills needed. It will also show you if an expert can complete timely modifications, large workloads, how pleasant they are to deal with, and other critical performance metrics.
Suppose you are looking for a new freelance exercise equipment designer because your current one can’t keep up with the work or because they are unfamiliar with the particular area you need a job done in. In that case, you can also ask them for recommendations.
A recommendation from a fellow freelancer is very useful because they already know what you want and who you will work well with.
Call any references your candidate offers and ask them about the project. In particular, how did the freelancer handle it when things didn’t go wrong? Did they face challenges well? Did they finish in a timely manner? Were they satisfied with the quality of the work?
A freelancer who can handle problems that crop up well can make a project go much more smoothly, as every project inevitably faces some challenge.
Freelancing is generally conducted online, and there is little in the way of face-to-face communication. Communicating effectively is possibly the most crucial skill your product designer can have.
When speaking with your homeware product designer, ensure you understand entirely and regularly keep tabs on what they are doing. The end design will be your product, so it is also essential to keep your hands on the project at all times.
By communicating back and forth effectively, you are helping to ensure the product is close to what you and your company envisioned.
A lot goes into a successful product design project, but the good news is that you can take steps to make your project go as smoothly as possible. By carefully selecting your product designer, having all the data needed before you begin working with them, and understanding the pricing, you can ensure that your project will be successful.
At Cad Crowd, we have the privilege of working with some of the best freelance CAD designers in the world. If you want help designing your product, contact us today for a free quote.
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