“We are called upon regularly not to just make something pretty, but to help a company arrive at a solution.”
By Ron Jr. (Reg) Gustafson, Project Manager, Clinkenbeard
Walking through the Paris Air Show and seeing all of the breathtaking booths full of product models and mock-ups, I wondered how a company could possibly communicate a product design to visitors from 48 countries, using only words, without a physical prototype or mock-up available.
What struck me was how physical prototypes can effectively bridge the gap between languages and communicate in a way which would be difficult and in some cases impossible, using only words, due principally to the complexity of most products.
Sure we have CAD drawings and language interpreters, but nothing says “reality” like an outstanding design, properly machined and exquisitely painted final mock-up. Those who were at the show know what I mean. . .especially those who were able to take a walk through the long nose and fuselage of the Airbus A350 fuselage mock-up, which was exhibited at the show.
Now I know this is an exaggeration. Ninety-five percent of the mock-ups at the show were not as massive as the Airbus 350 fuselage mock-up. My point is this: We sometimes overlook the fact that even people who speak the same language and work in the same office have a much different vision of a final product or prototype, notwithstanding the fact that each of them may have just spoken with the same customer contact.
Enter our key language as rapid manufacturers: the mock-up. I am so pleased to be working in rapid manufacturing for Clinkenbeard and addressing the day-to-day challenge of producing first-class show quality mockups that can accurately convey a product or prototype’s message and, if properly produced, say things about the product or prototype that words could never express. We are called upon regularly not to just make something pretty, but to help a company arrive at a solution...and do it in the Fasterestest (our slogan) way possible.
Finally, and ideally, our mock-ups are multi-linguistic, speaking several languages simultaneously – one that designers can understand, one that customers can understand, and one that the primary audience for which the mockup was created hears plainly, clearly and unmistakably.
What are your thoughts? Post your comments below.