Industrial Design Services
Design development & DFM expertise, grounded in real-world manufacturing.
Industrial design with manufacturing in mind.
We work at the intersection of design + manufacturing, helping clients refine established ideas into components and products that can be manufactured successfully.
Tektonics’ industrial design work is closely integrated with the advanced manufacturing expertise throughout our shop.
Our clients come to us with projects at different stages of development. We’ve found that conversations can start with sketches, physical prototypes, existing products, technical drawings and CAD models. We work with clients to understand the design intent, resolve what still needs to be worked out and determine how the design will be manufactured in practice.
Industrial design is more than form follows function. In practice, many things can influence how something is designed, including material behavior, manufacturing processes, tooling and fixturing, finish selection, part tolerances, production quantities and projected costs. Our design work directly with our machining and production teams to help evaluate these kinds of factors without losing sight of the client's original design intent.
What we can do for you.
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Design Development
Refine established designs with attention to function, materials, manufacturing requirements and design intent.
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CAD/3D Modeling
Create and refine 3D models for design development, evaluation, documentation & manufacturing.
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Technical Drawings
Develop annotated technical & shop drawings that communicate design intent and manufacturing requirements.
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Mechanical Design
Develop functional components, interfaces & assemblies with attention to how parts are made and work together.
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Design for Manufacturing
Evaluate materials, processes, tooling, fixturing, finishing and to improve manufacturability.
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Prototyping & First Articles
Produce physical parts to evaluate a design, resolve manufacturing details and establish a path to repeat production.
When to bring us into your project.
Our industrial design work is best suited to clients who have established the core idea and requirements for their product or component and are ready to work through the decisions required to manufacture it. While you don’t need to have every detail resolved, we do need an established design intent to work from.
Chassis design for our client Linear Tube Audio.
Closing the loop between design + manufacturing.
Our industrial designers work directly with our in-house machinists and production team, so we’re able to bring real-world manufacturing knowledge into planning and decision making sooner.
“If we’re working through an unfamiliar material or feature, we can bring the people who actually make these parts into the conversation.”
— Kate M., Industrial Designer
“Having an open line of communication with production lets us catch issues and make changes quickly, while preserving the original design intent.”
— Sarah K., Industrial Designer
“Keeping design and manufacturing closely integrated closes the loop. It means fewer handoffs, faster design development, and an easier path into production.”
— Christopher H., Founder
Designing what we manufacture.
Tektonics' industrial design and manufacturing capabilities also come together in our own work. Our sister company Fern & Roby designs and manufactures high-end audio products in the same 20,000 sq ft Richmond manufacturing facility.
Designing real-world products that our own shop has to manufacture keeps us highly tuned to some of the more practical considerations involved with making decisions about materials and processes.
The lessons we’ve learned and continued to learn through that work has become part of the overall experience we bring to our client projects.
Fern & Roby’s Archival Turntable, with a walnut & Richlite plinth and a Technics SP-10R direct drive unit. This product was informed by a contract manufacturing project awarded to Tektonics by the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Our industrial design work brings the most benefit once the core idea and requirements for a product or component have been firmed up. You don’t need to have every detail resolved, but we do need an established design intent to work from.
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Our industrial design and manufacturing capabilities are geared toward products and components intended for production. We work best when we’re partnering with clients who are developing first articles as part of a path toward repeat manufacturing, rather than one-off custom projects. This generally excludes custom automotive projects, including custom engine or vehicle components. Our primary in-house manufacturing capabilities include CNC machining, CNC routing and laser marking; we do not provide 3D printing or plastic injection molding services.
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Our industrial design work is focused on developing and refining established ideas for manufacturing. We aren't generally engaged for open-ended concept exploration, branding or multiple rounds of early-stage product ideation. Our role is most useful once the core concept and requirements are established and the questions become more specific: how something should function, what it should be made from, how components fit together and how it can be manufactured.
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Clients come to us with sketches, physical prototypes, existing products, technical drawings, CAD models, or a combination of these. What’s useful depends on the project and how far the design has already been developed.
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Deliverables depend on the project, but can include CAD models, dimensioned technical or shop drawings, renderings and other documentation developed during the design process. These files will be provided upon request.
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Our preferred model is to be the primary manufacturing partner for clients who come to us for design work. Clients who have contracted us for design work packages may receive CAD models and technical documentation developed for their project and use those files with other manufacturing partners when appropriate.
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Yes. We're happy to review and sign our clients’ nondisclosure agreements when appropriate before discussing confidential project information.