Blog post 20 Invent

INSIGHT 16 | REALITY MATTERS

Ideas behave impeccably in your head.

They’re far less cooperative once you try to make them.

That’s when you really understand what’s working and what’s not.

Even if it’s rough, unfinished, or held together with tape.

in¹⁶ | Reality Matters 

Clarity through conflict

In a world of contrast and conflicting advice there’s plenty of store to be taken in contrasting idioms that have stood the test of time.

“Measure twice, cut once” vs “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”

Be cautious vs be brave

Opposing messages when combined read with clarity to the innovator in the room as…

‘Prepare thoroughly and be prepared to fail’.

now your idea is taking shape and failure’s not on your mind, not even an option after all the hard work that has been invested. The focus at this stage is making your product come alive.

It’s important to recognise that any product development will be a conundrum of conflicts. Contrasting quandaries to ponder and resolve.

It’s easy to breed doubt if you overthink. My advice don’t be an overthinker be an over-doer, it’s time to get physical. Another duel meaning, intimacy vs aggression, but here we are lovers not fighters that comes next under in¹⁷.

The task is simple; move from thought, to sketch, to the palm of your hand by any means possible. Awaken your inner child. Fabricating your idea can take any form. The aim is simple, interact with others, listen and apply feedback.

Fulfilling this sense of immediacy, satisfying the urgent desire of having something physical in hand, drove me to invest in 3D printing. Technology that is incredibly accurate and in recent times has become significantly more affordable and therefore far more accessible. For me it’s an integral part of my tool kit and my service. If I can model it, I can print it. Most importantly in materials and at tolerances that simulate the finished product.

As designers we are limited only by our imagination, our modelling skills and the brief we’ve been set, or have set for ourselves. Yet it’s important to remain grounded, have in mind early on how to make, and which materials to select.

So have fun building and constructing until you’re clear on what matters, what good looks like. Physical reality, your prototype, your first tangible output, will always prove more valuable than conceptual possibility.