Why More Manufacturers Need a Designer-in-Residence (and What M4 Did)

M4 was originally founded in 1976 as a design + manufacturing house, with the ability to bring an idea to life from design to final production.

Today, we are dedicated to honoring the intention set 40 years ago, bringing new life, creativity and design thinking to our operation. To make this happen, we knew we needed the best in the business on our team.

Enter M4's first Designer-in-Residence, Kyle Swen—world-renowned designer, creative spark and co-founder of Astro Studios in San Francisco, CA.

Kyle has collaborated on countless projects throughout his career including brands like Nike, HP, Herman Miller, KIA, Callaway Golf and Virgin to name a few. He has produced award-winning work recognized by ID Magazine, IDEA, IDSA, Business Week/IDSA Design of the Decade Awards and the Catalyst Award for Business Impact.

Before Astro Studios, Kyle designed at LUNAR and Tandem Computers (now HP).

Why Bring On a Designer-in-Residence?

Bringing on a Designer-in-Residence is a win-win for both parties. Both sides have knowledge to share and gain in the process.

Initially, I caught up with Kyle to discuss his pain points as he designs products and works with manufacturers during the production phase. It was clear there were frustrations in not having a manufacturing partner—a typical experience is doing the design work on the design side and then having it be manufactured with little or no oversight into the process.

I was excited to explore how we could work together in a partnership to break down silos between design and manufacturing. I wanted to bring in a fresh perspective from the product side to help solve the issues faced by designers and allow for more oversight into the manufacturing process.

This experience will provide valuable insights, allowing us to explore how a design partner fits into our current operations and how we leverage this collaboration to bring value to our clients.

What Does a Designer-in-Residence Do?

1. Experience Something New: It’s an opportunity for the designer to get out of their usual environments and explore new processes, materials, and manufacturing operations up close. And for manufacturing companies, to reap the benefits of their experience in different settings.
2. Company Education: They provide insights and learnings to the host company. They offer an outside perspective steeped in creativity, design and an eye for consumer-centric products. Kyle has helped us understand the issues designers face and how M4 can build better processes and partnerships to make more meaningful products.
3. Knowledge Sharing:  The designer can learn inner workings of a manufacturing company and what the lifecycle looks like from design to final production. M4 has helped Kyle understand the manufacturing world better and what he has a designer can do to help products be designed with both the manufacturer and consumer in mind.
4. Product Testing: It is the perfect time to test new things. We have already performed several beta tests with products, materials and processes to see how we can best utilize a design partnership. And we look forward to more.

In chatting with Kyle about his Designer-in-Residence experience thus far, he shared:

“This experience has been a very positive one. I see huge opportunities to collaborate on a variety of projects. It’s so great to be able to walk out on the factory floor and have access to all the knowledge and expertise at the beginning of a project. It’s also compelling that M4 is progressive and willing to experiment with materials and processes. I’m really looking forward to the innovation and efficiencies we can create here.”

This last month has been pivotal for M4, bringing us yet another step closer to who we want to be. As we continue to grow, we look at who we can surround ourselves with to elevate our services and build a design and manufacturing solution that makes products in a meaningful way.

How do you incorporate design into your manufacturing practices? Drop me a line. I would love to learn more.