Last month I wrote an article talking about work process in the shop. This month I want to take it all the way back to the blank paper and your pencil (or computer mouse/stylus). 

I’m not interested in covering elements of design for the sake of form. I am interested in talking about the elements of design from the perspective of running a business. 

I break it down into three categories of tools, technique, and time. I am a huge fan of good form and design for the sake of beauty. However, if the building of a piece that executes beautiful form cannot be replicated or built in a timely fashion leading to profit, then you are really just a hobbyist. 

Tools
It's important for me as a shop owner also to be mindful of how to keep the doors open when I’m drawing a piece up for a client or developing a prototype. First let’s talk about tools. 

Some tools I choose to be mindful of in my design work because they allow me the advantage of building a piece in a way that is timely and profitable. I encourage you to look around your shop at the tools you have and think about which ones give you an advantage in your design work preemptively to set you up to be successful. Obviously the larger your capabilities in machinery the larger your scope of design can be. However, there are a lot of smaller power tools and other little shop set ups that can come in to play in your design work. 

One example I would give would be a Domino joiner. The Domino joiner is a portable power tool developed by Festool for efficiently cutting loose-tenon joinery. This tool allows me to make chairs in a timely fashion where I can profit. Before that tool was created, the idea of building chairs in a profitable time frame had become a running joke. I am very mindful of this tool’s capabilities when designing chairs. 

If you take a look around your shop and you're having a hard time finding tools that maybe you could home in on to help you design work to be more successful for your business, I also encourage you to look at the market or go to some trade shows to discover some smaller tooling that can help you open up some new doors.

Technique
Technique is also a really important factor when I’m designing pieces for clients or prototyping. When I say technique, it’s about what skills do I have that play to my strengths. It’s important to look at where your skill set is with rigorous honesty.

If you’re having a hard time figuring out what your strengths are, I recommend looking at the pieces you’ve made that have sold. See if there’s a common theme in the buyer’s preferences. Have another more experienced woodworker critique a piece. I also encourage you to take an honest look at your skill set for areas where you can improve because that is also important. 

One suggestion I would offer is for you to play to your strengths when designing for clients. Meanwhile, you can improve your weaknesses by using prototypes as an opportunity to practice. You can also view your strengths and technique as something you do well that is not easily copied or is not as available to the public. 

Here’s an example I would give from my experience: I do a lot of sculptural work. There are people out there that can do it but not as many, so that is a technique that I choose to home in on when designing for clients because I consider it a strength. Also, it’s important that I continually look for new tooling that helps me best execute this technique (see how the different three principles can work together?).

Time
Last, let’s talk about time regarding designing a piece. When I mention time what I’m really talking about is the spirit of efficiency and profit. 

I’m trying to be mindful when designing a piece of what time is going to be invested into it. I always ask myself can I build this in a timeframe that allows me to keep my doors open and feed my daughter or am I getting carried away and prideful (yes this happens to all of us). 

Obviously, some of your time will be determined by your skill set and how advanced you are. For recommendations there, go back to the section on technique. 

Another example of how I use time in my design work relates to a lot of the console tables and side boards I build that are very shallow depth (around 12 inches). As much as I love the way long and lean looks, it's also about time. I have a 12-inch jointer, meaning I glue the boards up once, run it on the jointer, planer, and table saw once and it is off to casework quickly. 

This is especially important with a prototype because the goal there is to communicate a visual idea to see if people are drawn to it to purchase. If they are, I always expand the concept to various depth options. Think about time and how you use it in the shop and how you can better work that thinking in the design work. It is ok to benefit from designing with your profit in mind as long as you’re not abandoning solid woodworking principles and ethics.

If you haven’t noticed, the three main principles I’m discussing here can overlap each other but they all serve a great purpose for designing pieces. These three principles will lead to more profitable designs that allow for repeatability or a buildable timeframe that allows you to run a successful business.

#YoungWoodPro is a contest and an educational program sponsored by Grizzly Industrial to help novice professionals improve their skills in business and woodworking.