We mix it up on purpose.
Brand-driven
Products are the physical representation of your brand. We help you define an own-able aesthetic that creates distinction while meaningfully connecting with your target audiences and representing your unique values and promises. We understand the deep cuts and the big picture to help you stand out in market while remaining true and unified as a brand.
Innovation Focused
Looks better and IS better. This is how we find whitespace for your brand to create new products that redefine categories. We love working with our partners to create and celebrate performance insights and technical features that progress and actually improve the user experience.
Holistic
Brands come to life for consumers when their professed values show up in every touchpoint. Every design decision is rooted in refined utility, essential forms, and gratifying experiences that all work in concert to drive a deeper level of connection and traction as a brand. Unify, Simplify, clarify.
Authentic
Bespoke solutions for every brand. The diverse audiences our partners are trying to reach crave an original and genuine experience. We stay ahead of the pulse and are in-tune across cultures to infuse fresh insights into each product we design regardless of who it’s for.
Executable
We’re happy to work outside the box but also love to argue over fractions of millimeters and take the Industrial side of Industrial Design seriously. We have a proven history of designing products that resonate with the intended audiences and that don't lead to surprises in development and production. Our collaborative approach extends happily to engineering and factory partnerships.
What we do
Strategic insights
We love workshopping even the loosest ideas and turning them into actionable design briefs and future goals.
• Strategic workshops
• Innovation summits
• Blue sky / white space explorations
• Design brief creation
• Brand / product landscape audit
• Product / brand extension
• Trends forecast and cultural insights
Design language
A good design language is an invaluable tool for keeping internal teams aligned.
• Design language audit
• Design language development & extension
• Exploratory sketch & rendering evolutions
• Guidelines for entering new categories while maintaining brand cohesion
Industrial design
We’ve been refining our process for over 25 years.
• Group brainstorms
• Sketch level ideation
• 3D modeling and ideation
• Physical and virtual prototyping
• Color, material & finish exploration
•. Life-cycle design & sustainability
packaging
• Factory tech packs
• Development support
Innovation
Cutting through the noise with superior functional experiences that can redefine categories.
• Innovation workshops
• Experimenting, field testing & research
• Translating innovation into scaleable & manufacturable product design
Process is the key to facilitating meaningful collaboration.
Our design process has evolved over decades of lasting client relationships to ensure strategic alignment from start to finish. We address client needs at the business level while creating design solutions that inspire audiences. Nearly every product we design at Cinco is on the shelf in 12 to 18 months. We learn your process, and we understand your manufacturing constraints, cost requirements, and timelines. Each engagement is custom tuned but structured around a proven process that consistently enables us to deliver proven designs.
How we do it
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Strategy
Find the opportunity
Collaborative workshops and other tools can be helpful in identifying needs and clarify opportunities to pursue. Maybe you want to enter a new category or target a distinct consumer demographic. Maybe you feel like your offering could use a refresh but aren’t sure what that means or how to approach that. What is the ideal brand trajectory based on all facets; from product offering, design and manufacturing, to marketing and brand positioning.
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Brief
Define the goals
Synthesizing brand and product strategy into actionable design goals and parameters provides a valuable reference for strategic decision making. Stick to the plan or intentionally adjust the strategy together - the brief is a reminder of the destination and helps navigate the inevitable forks in the road. Clarifying a point-of-view and working within these parameters ensures a competitive and compelling product that is justified within business and market needs.
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Concept Exploation
Imagine the possibilities
At this stage, we like to entertain unconventional solutions and gather insights to find the best solution to our needs. There really are no bad ideas as we test the limits of what’s possible within and at the edges of the brief. Try everything and learn how each strategy works with or against the brief and target outcomes. Quick ideas are the catalyst for deeper discussions that yield more valuable insights that inform solutions.
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Initial Refinement
Choose the direction
Editing initial concepts and selectively identifying only a few directions that make the most sense, justify strategic decisions, and align various teams within an organization. There may still be multiple approaches to a problem at this stage, so the refinement in concept execution as well as a higher fidelity visual representation of the concepts helps weight the options and identify hurdles.
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Detail Refinement
Tune the details
With a design direction in place, the details around final form, assembly, and appearance are represented at a higher fidelity for analysis. We can shift our attention to the details that will turn a good functional solution into an exceptional experience and accurate physical representation of brand values. How will parts be manufactured and assembled? What is the best material for the job? How can color be carried with this construction? Every aspect of a design has the potential to elevate the user experience.
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Design Finalization
Document the intent
We carefully create final CAD models and tech packs that provide engineers and development teams the tools they need to realize the design intent. The set of tools are dependent on the unique partners, product type, and manufacturing approach. Tech packs with specifications of material, color, finish, assembly, and key features are typical and created to ensure a clean transition into final development and production.
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Development Support
See it to the finish line
Design efforts aren’t complete until the product is in hand and we love working hand-in-hand with development teams and manufacturing partners to ensure the design intent is maintained through production. Navigating engineering solutions and production realities in a way that honors the strategy and brand values is crucial for launching a product that we can all stand behind.
Every partnership is unique, we’ll tailor the engagement to your needs.
WAYS THAT WE PARTNER
Creative Workshops
Do you have an idea but don’t know next steps? Excited by what you’re seeing and want to work with us - let’s figure that out together!
Personalized Projects
Do you have a project you think we can help with? Let’s collaborate to create a scope of work, timeline, and appropriate budget to bring your design project to life.
Team Integration
We can integrate as part of your team as your dedicated fractional design resource. You get direct access to a team that offers creative direction, ops, and world class execution at for often less than the cost of a single full-time hire.