Jim Wagner Designs
It's always been a noun and a verb.
Design
This means creating something new from blank paper. I will take a concept and make drawings to illustrate the client’s thoughts into realities that can be looked at, discussed, and changed until they fit the dream he or she has so it can be seen before them– helping them apply the additions and proportions to hone the vision before a sample is made. This saves time and money, as I can apply my 30 years plus experience in building products for many different markets to help work out possible kinks together.
This deliverable is done fairly quickly with the client in regular contact so we get the basics on paper within a few weeks - then details are added and colored into life like images of their future.
Once this is done, these drawings belong to the customer. Sometimes this is enough and the ‘dreamer’ content just seeing a more tangible form and the project goes to rest - but more often the drawings invigorate the dreamer and he or she can’t wait to hold the real thing in their hands.
From many single product ideas, the customer and I may work out a line of products with a similar theme and we draw a ‘collection’ as possible offering to the market.
If the client wants to move forward with the product into sampling, he or she can take these concept drawings to the next stage with a company of their choice.
Because of this, design is done at a flat price pay rate. We agree on the scope and set the rate before the work is started. Most is paid in advance.
Development
More often the customer uses me as both the designer and developer for a product. Developing might be a new word for many of the readers. It refers to the selection of materials that make up the product and to the construction engineering when putting the layers together and making the products samples.
You can liken Designer to an Architect and a Developer to a Contractor. One makes the pretty pictures; the other makes sure that the rafters all go together so the roof stays on.
Development also is the major factor in hitting a quality expectation and price point. I can do this with the factory of your choice, or we can use my Vietnam based sample house to build you the first physical samples to hold and test. We use materials that we have on hand to build the first samples quickly and get something in your hands to touch and make changes to.
The sample house changes a very low rate to get this work done– from $300 to $800 per sample- and at the end you will have samples, patterns and a Bill of Materials that you can take to the factory of your choice in the country of your choice. Many people use us to do design and development work for US manufacture, as we can do it quickly and at a reasonable cost and then move the product into the preproduction sampling decision process so you have something to put out to bidding.
We also have the capacity to move the sample into production in Vietnam, a country with good pricing, good duty values, and excellent labor pricing and quality. Some of the highest quality products in the world come from Vietnamese factories.
Sourcing
This is not just selecting the factory but also creating the relationship with the material suppliers and handling all of the logistics for incoming import of fabrics and the exporting of finished goods- and all the paper work that goes with the process.
We will also handle the packaging of the product the making of packaging and hangtags, applying bar codes, and setting up case lots for shipping to distribution centers in the US or Europe.
We also handle the quality assurance and quality control of the manufacturing process, as well as do the inspections of factories and subcontracting in order to ensure workers’ rights and addressing and labor concerns you and your customers may have.
As your product grows and needs more supervision perhaps several factories to meet the sales demand we can add for you dedicated staff to our office in HCMC that we will manage, ensuring that their work place and government regulations are taken care of properly. The advantage here is that you are getting dedicated staff without the overhead of maintaining and the challenges of management. As we have done this for many companies who are starting that have later taken the core groups and eventually opened their own offices. We have been the helpful hands with many startups.
And more
We can also assist with pioneering new manufacturing opportunities in different parts of the world, including Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and most recently South America, and have access to a guild of experienced colleagues who can take care of everything from package design and marketing, website building, and order fulfillment.