In the design process, I find myself wanting to take a pause and/or a rethink as many times as possible in the first stages of design. When we are at the sketching stage....there is no other place in the process where throwing out everything and starting again has lower costs. Once you have CADed up the idea...you have invested many hours and that makes you a wee little tiny bit reluctant to start again. Once there are prototypes, the client will be less than thrilled to hear that all the time and material expenses so far were for naught. Once the factories have begun quoting or packaging has been designed, even more costly in lost time, misspent money, and eroding client confidence.... At the first stages of ideation, when only a quick sketch has been put up on the board....this is when change is the least expensive. When we try to push for as many variations and explorations as possible. When we force ourselves to consider scrapping it all and starting again. There are more than one example when a good idea has been upgraded to a GREAT idea with very little additional costs for us or our clients. The cheapest place to realize that you shoudl alter your direction is at the very begining.
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