Insights for Designers

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Design FAQs

Key Questions Every Designer Faces

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How To Set Pricing

Too High or Too Low?

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How To Increase Sales

Where to Invest Time?

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How To Expand Globally

Big Risk or Benefit?

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When to Join a Gallery

Exclusivity Agreement?

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How to Launch New Pieces

Soft Launch or Hard Launch?

Setting Prices: A Few Questions To Ask

The Balancing Act: How many units are expected to sell? What is the customer willing to pay? Is it best to hold inventory or make everything to order? Will decreasing the price lead to more sales? Is having a range of prices from low to high across products valuable? Can prices adjust in the future without hurting the brand image?

Macro & Micro Economics: How much time does it take to produce? How much are material costs? How does a change in material cost affect the pricing? Will producing larger quantities reduce costs per unit? How are other similar design items priced? Is this piece seasonal? How strong is my name as a designer?

Increasing Sales: A Few Questions To Ask

Fundamentals: Does offering promotional discounts devalue the brand image? How do limited editions sell compared to open editions? How does lead time affect sales? Is it worth offering customizations? Is professional package design needed? When is the right time to hire help? Is outsourcing production appropriate? Is it better selling directly with customers or only through galleries and platforms?

Time vs Money: How to find new customers? How to encourage return customers? How much time is needed on Social Media? Is a professional photographer needed for all new pieces? Is an external Marketing Agency worth the investment?

Expanding Globally: A Few Questions To Ask

Legitimacy: Are there any technical requirements, certificated, or licenses to sell pieces in other countries? Are there any business registrations that must be completed prior? How to accept international payments?

Logistically: How to deal with shipping, exporting, and importing abroad? Is it best to handle shipments, or for customers to do so? Are there special import / export forms that must be completed? What about packaging and insurance? Who will install? What if a return or refund must be made? How to apply customs duties and taxes?

Joining a Gallery: A Few Questions To Ask

The Reward:  How large is the gallery’s audience? Is it a local or international gallery? Where are the customers located? What are sales expectations? What risks does the gallery cover? Does this gallery have a strong name that can boost credibility?

The Conditions: What is the contract duration? Is exclusivity required? Are there any guaranteed sales? What are the commission percentages? Who is responsible for shipping? When are payouts made? Are marketing and PR opportunities included?

Launching New Pieces: A Few Questions To Ask

Pre Launch: When should launch happen? Is it better to launch individual pieces or entire collections? How much stock should be produced for the launch? Is it worthwhile to do a big launch build up? What type of content should be created? How to price a new piece that has never sold?

Expectations: When should sales gain momentum? When is a piece considered not successful? How is success measured?

The Science Behind Each Question

Data-Driven Decisions

You have found a safe space for designers to share insights into the most difficult questions. Join a network of over 5.000 contemporary designers, from emerging to established, in breaking barriers in order to better understand what separates a successful practice from rest.

A Trusted Space For Designers

Gain insight into the questions often left unspoken. Learn the successes and answers to challenges designers face — all while fostering a more advantageous design community.

Learn About Our Approach

How We Operate

Our 3-Step Process

Data Collection

We gather insights from design practices across regions, disciplines, styles, and career stages. Data security and designer privacy are our biggest priorities!

Analysis & Reporting

We analyze key metrics and data dimensions to identify consistencies across similar practices, transforming these insights into detailed reports.

Free Consultation

Every member has access to scheduling a consultation to receive bespoke feedback and uncover additional insights into their design practice. 

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Real Scenarios

Case Studies

Impact of Social Media

Limited vs Open Editions

Impact of Long Lead Times

Product Pricing Practices

Exclusivity Agreements

Impact of Social Media

Scenario: A ceramicist from Brussels, Belgium with 3 years of experience has 800 social media followers across all platforms. They are trying to understand if it is worth investing additional time and money in content creation and post scheduling in order to increase followers, with the goal of increasing sales.

Questions:

  1. What is the average sales revenue for early career ceramicists with less than 1000 followers vs more than 1000 followers?
  2. What social media platform shows the most success for ceramicists?
  3. Do designers who post more frequently have more followers and more sales?
  4. Does investing in professional imagery have a positive impact, or is phone footage sufficient?
  5. What type of content format works best for ceramicists?

Limited Editions vs Open Editions

Scenario: A woodworker from California, USA with 5 years experience has been creatively unmotivated due to repeatedly producing the same pieces. In the past year, the studio has not released a single new piece because they have not had time. They want to understand if producing larger collections of limited edition pieces will have any negative impact on their revenue, or if outsourcing production of established pieces is the better choice.

Questions:

  1. What is the average earnings for woodworkers with similar experience who have limited edition collections vs those who only do open editions?
  2. What is the average earnings for woodworkers with similar experience who outsource part of their manufacturing?

The Impact of Longer Lead Times

Scenario: A multidisciplinary designer from Berlin, Germany has a been given an offer to customize a large interior project. However, if accepting this project, they will not have enough time in the studio to fulfil orders for individual pieces in a timely manner. How badly will an increase in lead time affect sales of their Lamps and Tables, and is this decrease in sales worth the revenue from accepting the larger interior project?

Questions:

  1. How do longer lead times in those categories impact sales?
  2. What is the maximum lead time imposed in order to avoid losing sales revenue while also accepting this project?

Product Pricing Best Practices

Scenario: An emerging conceptual designer based in London, England is releasing their first collection and, since their pieces are so unique, figuring a price point has been a challenge. They are wondering how to best choose a price point that would simultaneously allow for their pieces to enter the public, be profitable to sustain a living as a designer, all while keeping a respectable valued price that does not diminish the brand equity from the beginning.

Questions:

  1. What is the average price point for emerging conceptual design pieces from England and other western regions?
  2. What is the average time it takes for new conceptual collections to sell?
  3. How does price affect the time it takes to sell?

Signing Exclusivity Agreements

Scenario: An emerging glassworks designer from Paris, France who has recently exhibited their new collection in Milan has been approached by a gallery who wishes to host their work in exchange for 2 years exclusivity for all sales throughout the United States.

Questions:

  1. What is the average time it takes to make sales from a new collection after exhibiting for the first time?
  2. How often are exclusivity agreements beneficial and produce a positive return?
  3. What is the average sales that have resulted when signing exclusivity?
  4. How big of a market is the United States for purchasing glassworks from Europe?
  5. Does gallery representation justify an increase in brand value and ultimately pricing of pieces?

Next Steps

How To Join Design FAQs

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Step 1. Complete the Survey

This survey takes 30 minutes and will ask detailed questions about your design practice.

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Step 2. Schedule Your Free Consultation

We will have a discussion about your practice, areas you wish to improve, and possible next steps to take.

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Step 3. Take Action

Scale your design practice with data-backed insights, reports, and our team on your side.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Learn More About Our Process

Is my data confidential and secure?

Absolutely! We take great steps in ensuring that no single input can be traced back to it’s original source. We do not share your data with any third parties. Click here to learn more about our privacy policy.

What is the fee to join Design FAQs?

Joining and accessing the reports is free, as well as the initial consultation. We offer additional services to select design practices for a price, none of which you are obligated to use.

When will I receive the first report?

The first report is scheduled to be sent between May 1 – 15.

What design disciplines are represented?

We represent designers across various disciplines. The most common are: Ceramics & stoneware, metalwork, woodwork, 3D printing, stonework, glasswork, textiles & weaving. These disciplines can be combined to showcase multidisciplinary studios as well as narrowed to show exact piece types (i.e. chairs) that studios produce. This is just a start, to understand the extent of all our subniches, please take the survey to learn more.

What countries are represented in the report?

We represent designers from more than 60 countries – throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East and a small part of Africa.

How many years of design experience do I need to join?

We have data from both established studios with over 20 years experience, and emerging designers who have less than 1 year. From part time designers to full time design studios. All of which can be segmented to narrow in your exact data needs.

What is the process of collecting & processing data?

Design FAQs is a community that thrives off contribution. Each designer who wishes to benefit from the community insights must first submit the survey and contribute to the network. Once this is met – each designer will be given access to incoming reports, consultations, and insights. Twice per year, we compile the data and build comprehensive reports to send throughout our entire network.

Data-Driven Decisions

Design FAQs

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