What people ask before they send us a file.

Design engineering for physical products. We take an idea from sketch through CAD (computer-aided design), prototypes and the handoff to a manufacturer, mostly in entertainment, automotive, medical and consumer products. One studio for the whole job, so nothing falls through the gap between design and engineering.

Paul Murphy, our founder, does the design and engineering on every project and takes your calls. When a job needs a specialist, we bring in one we’ve worked with, under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). We tell you first, the cost goes in your quote, and we stay answerable for the result.

Yes. We design the award, manage its manufacture and deliver finished pieces. We’ve run the Golden Globe trophy program since the 2018 redesign.

• Print-only jobs. If you only need prints of a finished file, a print shop does it faster and cheaper, and we’ll point you to one.
• Commodity machining.
• Certificated aircraft parts.
• Full medical device development. We take on pieces of it, like ergonomics and internal packaging.
• Copying someone else’s protected product.
• Briefs sent to every studio at once.

Most projects start with a flat-fee review, $295 or $475:

• Rescue File Review, $295, 3 business days. For files or parts nobody can work with. You get a fixed price to finish.
• Manufacturing Path Assessment, $475, 5 business days. For a render or sketch with no engineering behind it. You get a written memo you can take to any shop.

The review fee counts toward ours if the project starts within 60 days. Project pricing depends on the job, and you get the number before any work starts, never after. If your scope is already clear, call and we’ll quote it directly.

A free quote answers one question: can that shop make the file you sent, and for how much. It won’t tell you whether the file is right, or whether a cheaper way to make it exists. The review answers both, and its fee counts toward ours if the project starts within 60 days.

We reply within one to three business days. A 20-minute call settles the fit. Then you order a review, or we quote directly if the scope is clear.

Send whatever you have with your first message: files, sketches, a render, photos of the part, plus what it’s for, how many you need and when. If it’s confidential, ask for our NDA before you send anything.

We can tell you whether it can be made and what it costs at your volume: that’s the Manufacturing Path Assessment. Whether it sells is your market’s call.

Often, and a render is a good place to start. A render made with AI (artificial intelligence) shows what your product could look like. It doesn’t show the parts inside, how thick the walls are, the materials or the cost. The Manufacturing Path Assessment answers those first: whether a manufacturer can make it, how, and what it costs at your volume. Then we design it, prototype it and get it ready for production.

Yes. The reviews are the small first step: a fixed fee, a few days, a clear answer. After that we split the work into phases. Each phase gets a fixed price before it starts, and you can stop after any phase and keep what you’ve paid for.

Each quote says how many revision rounds it includes. Anything beyond that gets a written price first, so nothing lands on your invoice that you didn’t approve. Plan on more than one prototype round: the first shows what the second needs to fix.

A review starts when your payment and files arrive and takes 3 or 5 business days from there. A project gets a real start date on the first call. Prototypes take days to weeks. Production depends on tooling: anywhere from a couple of weeks to a year. If your date means moving other work, we price the rush before you commit.

• Reviews and projects under $1,000: in full at order.
• $1,000 to $5,000: half at order, half on delivery.
• Over $5,000: half of each phase to start, the balance at that phase’s sign-off.

We take bank transfer or Zelle with no fee, or card with a 3% processing fee. Payment details come with each invoice. If a project stops, you pay for the work done to that day and get everything finished so far. We work for a fee, and it’s rare for us to take equity or royalties in place of it.

Your quote lists every deliverable. Every design project ends with the native CAD file and a STEP file any shop can open. Drawings, prototypes and manufacturing packages come when your quote includes them. You own each phase’s work as soon as you pay for it, and the files come to you at each sign-off, so any engineer can pick them up after us.

Yes. We send our mutual NDA before any files move. It runs both ways: what you share with us stays with us, and what we share with you stays with you. Sign it before you send anything confidential, because a website message or an email doesn’t carry one.

We use it to answer you and, if we work together, to do the job. We don’t sell it. Beyond the providers that run our site and email, the only people who see it work on your project: specialists under an NDA, after we tell you; the print provider for your prototypes; and manufacturers, only after you approve them in writing. Our privacy policy has the detail.

No. Files and calls work from anywhere. To send a part, ship it tracked and insured for what it’s worth; we send the address when we confirm the job. Return shipping goes on your final invoice at cost, insured at the value you declared, or send us a prepaid label. In Los Angeles, drop-off and pickup work by appointment.

Yes, and it happens a lot. Send everything: files, drawings, emails, the prototype. We don’t need the previous designer’s help, though their native files make it faster. The Rescue File Review tells you what’s usable and gives you a fixed price to finish.

SolidWorks, Rhino and Fusion natively. Also STEP, IGES, Parasolid, SAT, 3MF, STL, OBJ, FBX, DWG, DXF, PDF and Illustrator. From any other CAD program, send a STEP export.

Yes, in-house. The scanner captures the surface without touching the part, so it’s safe for originals you can’t replace. A scan gives you a mesh: a huge, noisy shell with no dimensions. That works for a display copy. For anything that has to fit or change, we use the scan as reference and build a clean solid model against it.

Yes. We model the original design, not the wear: the mating parts and the unworn surfaces tell us the dimensions it started with. If a piece is missing, we rebuild it from what’s left and what it has to fit, and in an assembly we model the parts together.

If the original cracked in the same spot every time, we fix that spot with a thicker wall or a different material. The rebuilt model is fully editable, so later changes are simple.

A presentation model looks right: the shape and finish, for a pitch, a photo shoot or a sign-off. It doesn’t have to work. A working prototype works: moving parts and real fit, even if it looks rough. The industry calls them looks-like and works-like. They answer different questions and cost different amounts, so we price them separately. Plenty of projects need both.

We design everything physical around the electronics: enclosure, controls, mounting, heat and assembly. For the board and firmware, we work with your engineer or bring in one we trust. We don’t build apps.

We design to the standard your product must meet, whether that’s UL (Underwriters Laboratories), FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or ISO (International Organization for Standardization), and prepare what the test lab asks for. The lab tests, certifies and bills you direct. We don’t take defense work under ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations).

We design for the run and manage it with the right manufacturer. For tens to a few hundred units, printing, machining or urethane casting usually beats injection molding, because none of them needs a steel tool. In urethane casting, a silicone mold copies a master part, and each mold gives around 20 to 25 parts. A small run also tests production before you pay for tooling.

Yes. We pick the tolerances, materials and process for your real volume, then hand the manufacturer a package they can quote and build from without guessing. The manufacturer invoices you direct, and we manage the job.

You should, and we get it in writing before anyone cuts steel. The manufacturer quotes the tool and invoices you direct, because we never own or hold tooling. Before you pay, the quote has to say who owns the tool, where it lives and what it costs to move.

Yes. We draw them from the CAD model, informal figures or a formal US Patent and Trademark Office set, to your attorney’s direction. We also work with your attorney on the filing: technical answers, drawings and the documents it needs. During a project, we flag design changes that may be worth a filing, so you and your attorney can decide. Legal advice stays with your attorney.