Good at designing, no interest in making, any advice?

Oracle

I like to design things, but I've no interest in making them. Is there a way to get things made for me? Or how would I go about making my ideas a reality? The kind of things I mean are jewellery, acccesories, etc... Any ideas appreciated, thanks.

looksee

Until you establish yourself as a designer - which is a vicious circle of a process - the best you could do is hook up with someone who has the making skills but not the design skills.

The other way would be to go into product design where the process is much nearer to what you are describing. You would really have to do a course though as there is a lot of technical knowledge that you would have to have. Even if you are not interested in the making, you still have to have the knowledge of how to 'make' and how to produce mock ups and samples. Certainly at the early stages you will not get very far just on drawing skills.

Oracle

Thanks Looksee, interesting information. Seems like you know a lot about this. When you say establishing yourself as a designer is "a vicious circle of a process" what do you mean?

looksee

The vicious circle is the same as looking for a job. No one wants you till you have experience and you can't get experience until you get a job.

With the kind of design you are talking about, no-one is going to set you on and let you at designing long runs of products until you prove that you can design and make at least accurate mock ups of products, and that involves a lot of training and skill in a lot of areas of materials, processes, costing, etc.

With smaller amounts of say jewellery, you will find it very difficult to find someone who will let you take 50% of a business for doing the design drawings. Most people doing this kind of work do it because they have the design skills themselves. You have to be able to make things in order to know what will work in practical terms as well as looking good. Only when you have proved yourself as a designer/maker are you likely to find someone who will let you just design.

No I am not an authority in this area, though I have some design background, and I know there is no short cut to where you want to be. Have you done a design course? That would be the first step along the way.

Oracle

Interesting, yeah I see your point, kind of chicken and egg situation really ........ I haven't done any design course. Maybe thats something I'll look at, thanks for the help Looksee.

boxercreations

it depends what you want to produce - for goods like t shirt design, bags etc there are a lot of online services like Arts Cow or Zazzle where you upload your design and pay to have it made.

Factories in China and Hong Kong will make almost anything to your design - my brother has has stuff made there but the MOQ's are high and you need to suss out import legalities etc.

Could you actually sell your designs? In template form for personal use or even with commercial licence rights.
Perhaps www.deviantart.com could help they have a jobs and commission section.
Or try Etsy - you can post your requirements and price you are willing to pay and interested "makers" contact you.