What this covers
You’ll walk into leadership review with one clear direction, backed by CAD and a manufacturing plan that matches your target cost and your factory’s reality.
When you have loose direction and a few competitor samples, the risk is walking into review with something that looks right but won’t tool, won’t hit cost, or won’t run on your factory’s process. I’ll take you from rough brief to one buildable direction you can defend, with CAD and manufacturing notes your vendors can use.
I start wide with fast form studies, then tighten the work around the manufacturing route you’re likely to use. As soon as a direction is clear, I build the CAD the way a factory reads it, then I pressure-test the part split, drafts, shutoffs, fasteners, and cosmetic surfaces before you spend on tooling.
A bit about me
I’m Hannah Ravenel, an industrial designer focused on consumer product development. I’ve spent my career in the part of the process where a sketch becomes a toolable part, and I do the unglamorous checks early: draft, wall, shutoffs, assembly order, and how finishes behave once the part is molded or cast.
Clients bring me in when they need a single direction that survives contact with manufacturing. I don’t disappear into styling loops. I put constraints on the page, I choose forms that can be held at tolerance, and I hand over CAD and notes that a vendor can quote and cut from, without guesswork.
Recent work
A few recent product development projects where the goal was a buildable direction, not just a good-looking concept.
Portfolio
Injection-molded handheld housing. Took three rough form cues and competitor samples into a final housing with a clean part split, draft-ready surfaces, and a fastening plan that avoided side actions while keeping cosmetics on the front faces.
Die-cast hardware assembly. Converted an over-sculpted concept into die-castable geometry, then detailed bosses, ribs, and post-machined faces so the assembly held alignment without hand-fitting. The vendor quote came back without tooling change notes.
Sheet-metal bracket and fasteners. Redesigned a bracket set to reduce unique parts and simplify assembly. Standardized fasteners and hole patterns, added bend reliefs and access clearances, and documented the install order so production didn’t need rework.
“The CAD was shop-ready, and the factory quoted it without a week of questions.”
Brand manager, a small consumer-goods company
Concept board
A tight set of concept directions with sketches and form studies, so you can review range quickly and pick a lane with a clear reason for the choice.
CMF CALLOUTS
Finish, texture, and color notes tied to the geometry, including where cosmetic surfaces stop, where parting lines can live, and what needs to be protected from wear.
MANUFACTURABLE 3D CAD
Tooling-aware CAD built for the chosen process, with clean surfaces and part geometry your factory can use to quote, program, and build from.
Part breakdown and assembly plan
A part split that matches how the product goes together, with fastening strategy, service access, and the basic stack-up logic called out so tolerances land where they matter.
PROTOTYPE PLAN AND VENDOR NOTES
A practical path to a functional prototype, with what to prototype first, what can wait, and vendor-facing notes that prevent the usual avoidable misunderstandings.
MANUFACTURING CONSTRAINTS CHECK
A written pass on draft, walls, ribs, shutoffs, undercuts, and risk areas that usually trigger tooling rework, so you can go into tooling with eyes open.
Pricing
These are starting points. The right tier depends on how far you need to go before leadership approves a direction and you start quoting tooling.
Priced items
Get started
If you’re ready to lock a direction and make sure it will build, you can start product development here.
1. Sign this proposal to book time on my calendar. 2. Pay the 30% booking invoice within 14 days. 3. Send your brief, competitor references, and vendor constraints so I can start concepts.
CAN YOU WORK FROM A ROUGH BRIEF AND A FEW COMPETITOR PRODUCTS?
Yes. A rough brief is enough if I also have your target price, the likely manufacturing route, and what you want to win on. Competitor samples help because I can measure what they did, then design around the same constraints.
WHAT CAD ARE YOU DELIVERING, AND WILL MY FACTORY BE ABLE TO USE IT?
I deliver manufacturing-ready 3D CAD in the native format we agree on, plus neutral exports for quoting. If you tell me what your factory uses, I’ll match it and include the export your quoting team actually opens.
BEFORE WE SPEND ON TOOLING, WHAT ARE THE LIKELY MANUFACTURING GOTCHAS?
The usual triggers are draft misses on cosmetic faces, parting lines in the wrong places, shutoffs that can’t be held, walls that sink or warp, and fasteners that force awkward assembly. I call these out early, while shape changes are cheap.
HOW MANY CONCEPTS DO WE LOOK AT BEFORE WE PICK A DIRECTION?
I plan for three concept directions, then a tighter round that combines the best parts into one. If you want a bigger search, I can extend the concept phase, but I’ll still steer toward one direction you can brief and defend.
Signature
Fee summary
Payment
To book the work, I invoice 30% when you sign. The remaining 70% is invoiced when I hand over the finished work. Each invoice is payable within 14 days of its date.
What I need from you. I’ll ask for your rough brief, target price, likely manufacturing route, and what you want to win on, plus any competitor samples or links. Delays in getting these items move the schedule.
Changes. If the scope changes, I’ll describe the change in writing with the added cost and timing before I do the extra work. That way you can approve it, pause it, or adjust the ask.
Factory CAD formats. I deliver manufacturing-ready 3D CAD in the native format we agree on, plus neutral exports for quoting. You’ll tell me what your factory can open so I can match it before I start CAD build.
Concept rounds
Pricing includes three concept directions and one tighter round that combines the strongest parts into a single direction. If you want a broader search, I can extend the concept phase as an added scope.
Vendor and build assumptions. My constraints check is based on the manufacturing route and vendor capabilities you share. If the factory, process, or target cost changes after CAD is underway, I may need to rework parting, draft, walls, or assembly.
Handoff and file delivery. Final handoff happens when I deliver the agreed CAD files and the supporting documents listed in your selected tier. I’ll keep a copy for my records, and you should back up the files on your side.
Ownership. Once the final invoice is paid, you own the final concept and the CAD I deliver for this project. I keep ownership of my working files, templates, and methods used to produce them.
