Frequently
Asked
Questions
Clients come to us at very different points. Some have an idea. Others have an internal team, existing CAD, a prototype, or a product already selling. What they share is a decision that's gotten too expensive to make casually. These are the questions worth settling before we work together.
SECTION 01
Getting started
Can I keep doing this myself?
Sometimes, yes. If you're early, testing whether anyone wants this, and you can sketch well enough to think out loud, keep going. You'll learn things doing it yourself that you can't buy.
It stops working once you commit to tooling, certification, inventory, or a production supplier. After that, changes get slow and expensive. Those decisions get made either way.
The question isn't whether you're capable. It's whether you want to make those calls for the firsttime on your own money
Can my engineer figure this out?
Usually yes, and on plenty of our programs that's exactly the setup. Engineering decides how a product works and how it can be built. Industrial design decides how someone understands it, hold sit, and lives with it. Good engineers contribute to both.
We agree upfront on who owns which decisions, then work alongside your team rather than over them
Should I just hire someone on Upwork?
For a contained task, yes. If you know what you need, can specify the inputs, and can judge the output, hire a specialist and pay a fair rate.
A firm earns its cost when the problem is still being defined, when it crosses disciplines, or when somebody has to own decisions across the whole program.
Plenty of our clients use both. That's a sensible way to spend money
Am I even ready to talk to a firm?
Yes. If you can describe what you want to sell and who buys it, that's enough. You don't need CAD, a prototype, a patent, or a deck. An idea is a normal starting point and so is a product already selling.
What you don't need to do is get further along first so you'll seem more prepared. People spend four months pushing something forward alone so the first call goes better. It goes the same, except now there's sunk work that's harder to walk away from.
SECTION 02
What it costs
THE ONE EVERYONE SCROLLS FOR
Is this going to cost $20k or $200k?
Either is realistic. What moves it is scope.
Projects still being defined start with a project scoping first phase, typically $1,500 to $6,000. That gets you a written product definition, requirements, and a target cost.
Most complete product development programs fall between $20,000 and $70,000, but we don’t quote a full program until we understand what you’re building and where it stands today.
That’s why many projects begin with a project scoping first phase. We use it to answer the unknowns before asking you to commit to a much larger engagement.
SECTION 03
Already underway
We already have an internal team. Where do you fit?
Wherever your team is stretched. Some clients have engineering but no industrial design. Some have design but nobody who has taken a product to a factory. We've been all three of those.
We can lead a program, own one discipline inside yours, or sit at the direction level while your team executes. We work to make your team look good, not to become indispensable.
Can you take over a project that's stalled?
Yes, and it's a normal way we start. Something usually broke in one of three places. The definition was never settled. The design was never made manufacturable. Or nobody owned the decisions.
First step is a review to find out which. We'll say so if the answer is that you don't need us
Yes. Packaging alone, CMF alone, a manufacturability pass on an existing design, supplier support during a launch. Contained scopes are fine.
We'll tell you if a piece can't be done well in isolation. That's money spent twice
Can you work on one part without owning the whole program?
I already have CAD. Can you pick up from there?
Yes, often. Send us what you have. Usually one of three things is true. The CAD is solid and we take it into manufacturability. It works but the design underneath needs another pass. Or it was built without a factory in mind and needs rework before it can be tooled.
A first look tells you which. A full engineering audit is its own paid phase.
Do I need engineering done before we talk?
No, and it's often better if you haven't. Engineering locks decisions. Once the board is laid out, the enclosure gets built around it, and that closes off options. If it's already done, that's fine too.
SECTION 04
Timing
How long does a typical project take?
Focused definition and design phases usually run two to eight weeks. Prototyping, engineering, and production preparation vary more and overlap.
Getting made is the one nobody can promise. Tooling, certification, component lead times, and factory capacity drive it. Step-by-step timing is on the Services page.
Do you help find manufacturers?
Yes. We help identify and evaluate manufacturing partners, coordinate quotes, review tooling proposals and first articles, and work with the supplier to resolve what comes back wrong.
We don't take commissions from factories.
SECTION 05
Good fit
QUALIFIER
What's not a good fit?
Software with no physical product. We're not the right firm.
A fully specified brief where the only variable is price. Hire a freelancer and keep the difference.
A program where the budget covers design but not tooling, certification, and first inventory. We'drather tell you that on the first call than halfway through.
Anyone wanting concepts before there's an agreement. We don't do unpaid pitching, and any firmthat does is charging their paying clients for it.
SECTION 06
IP & contracts
Do I keep my IP?
Yes. Whatever you bring into the project stays yours. Ownership of what we create for you is defined in the agreement and transfers on those terms. Crafted by keeps its own pre-existing tools and methods, which is standard and doesn't touch your product. All of it goes in writing before paid work
Will you take equity?
No. We're a service business, not a bet on your outcome. Equity puts us in a position where we'd have opinions about your company rather than your product.
Will you sign an NDA?
Yes. We read them before signing, and we can provide ours if you don't have one.
SECTION 07
First Call
What's the first call like?
Thirty minutes, no deck, no pitch. You tell us what you're building, where it stands, and what's stopping progress. We ask questions. By the end you'll know whether we're useful to you, and if we're not, we'll say so and point you somewhere better when we can.
We use that call to understand the project, not to sell a package. If there's a clear next step, we scope it afterward and send it
Still have a question?
Ask it directly. We'd rather answer it than have you guess.