Don’t let the title fool you. Product Design Fails is not just about a design that maybe didn’t work. Read on. Maybe you can help us figure it out.
Product Design Fails
So, we haven’t had that many of them. And, we pride ourselves in being able to create a product out of someone’s vision. We subscribe to the “if at first you don’t succeed, try try again” saying. But sometimes, it’s more than that.
The Spanish Cross
We received a contact from a man who had recently lost his wife. He wanted to create a Spanish cross wall art. She was from Spain. Could we figure out how to superimpose Spain on the piece? We searched for and sent several images to him. Finally, success! After the design deposit was paid, Mike worked up a design.
Success again! Now, on to Spain.
How Best to Add Spain
Mike tried several options. Option 1 – Cut Spain separate and weld it to the cross.
No. That wasn’t the one…
Option 2 – Cut Spain out of the center of the cross.
No. That wasn’t it either.
Option 3 – Create an outline of Spain and cut it out of the center of the cross.
This one looked like it would work. And, you could clearly see Spain as the heart of the cross.
And The Answer
No.
Well, the answer was a little more than that. “honestly did not get a prototype that matched what I was looking for….no worries, thanks”
We responded that we prided ourselves on meeting or exceeding customer expectations. Could we try another design? No response.
Product Design Fail, Lost Interest, or ???
Since we never received another email and he didn’t ask us to return the deposit, we’re stumped. We use our judgment when creating the design. Did he want Spain as a solid piece within the cross? We felt you would lose Spain within the flower design. We used our judgment to create a design that made Spain stand out. Since he wanted a 3 ft wide x 4 ft high cross, we could have added more detail to the design. We will never know.
Perhaps he lost interest. He really wasn’t sure what he wanted. Emotions are hard when dealing with the death of your spouse.
At any rate, we tried. But, we either couldn’t get his vision or he really didn’t know.
We’ll never know. Out of 800+/- custom designs, this has happened less than five times. Sometimes, you just have to move on…