From Concept to Market One Artists Story

by guest blogger Melissa Dowell

What does it take to take a product idea all the way to the mass market? Melissa Dowell shares her experience.

In 2013, I launched a Kickstarter campaign for a product idea I had. The idea was simple: to create a set of barbecue skewers in the shape of adorable narwhals. Starting with a lumpy clay model, the design was eventually refined into its final prototype using a mix of 3D printing in first sandstone, and then stainless steel for the handles, with handmade skewers.

With a great video and a lot of online promotion, the campaign was successfully funded, and I went about finding a factory to produce the first run of 750 pieces. While I researched factories located here in the U.S., and even had a few factories who saw my Kickstarter campaign reach out to me regarding production, it was a factory I found through the Chinese website Alibaba where I found the most success.

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