How Long Does It Take to Go from Design to Delivery?

Bringing a new handle to market takes about eight months. Not because any single step is slow, but because there are six of them and skipping one shows up in the finished piece.

The process

Concept and design. Sketches, research and digital modelling, working out whether an idea holds up as an object someone will touch every day.

Initial moulding. A prototype is made so the design can be tested in the hand rather than on a screen.

Review and refinement. Prototypes get handled, pulled and lived with. Adjustments come out of that, not out of the drawing.

Redesign and further moulding. A second round of tooling to take up the changes.

Final approval. Once we are satisfied, the design is signed off for production.

Manufacture and delivery. Made at scale and shipped to us, ready to release.

Some designs move faster

The OK.2 Half Moon was finished in six months. It is a simpler form, which meant fewer revisions between the first prototype and the last one.

The OK.5 Moonbeam took longer, largely because it comes in six sizes and the chamfer had to work at 64mm and at 452mm without looking like two different handles.

Why we take the time

A handle is one of the few parts of a kitchen that gets touched thousands of times a year. Getting the proportion, the edge and the weight right is worth another round of prototyping, and it is not something you can shortcut and hope nobody notices.