Prototyping is the process around making mock-ups and tests of your idea. With physical objects, it can include sampling materials, testing patterns, experimenting with forms - and can involve a lot of trial and error until you get it right.

There’s a huge amount of confusion around prototypes. Enquiries to Scottish manufacturers about prototypes can either be quickly discarded or heartily taken on. Each factory, fabricator and facility will have their own rules around them, and vary in their capacity and overhead costs to produce them. This is likely to come down to the type of manufacturing process and both the availability and finish of materials. Commissioning a prototype can also involve tooling costs - and bear in mind that you are making a one-off each time.

In an attempt to de-mystify the murky waters of prototyping in Scotland here is a list of manufacturers, suppliers, makers and workshops listed on Make Works that can help.

Note - Scotland has a strong selection of workshops and maker spaces, with access to tools and equipment. If you are looking to make a prototype yourself, read our Guide to workshop and fabrication facilities in Scotland. 

Textiles

Where can I get a garment prototype made? eg T-shirts, bags, or jackets

Prototype bags and accessories

If you’re still in the experimental stage, or you’re not sure if you want to produce a production run yet, then get in touch with Kalopsia Collective in Edinburgh who offer seamstressing, pattern cutting, garment construction and garment finishing. They’ve recently worked on bags, purses and cushions for a number of designers and small businesses.

One-off fashion pieces

Totty Rocks are bespoke seamstresses and are also based in Edinburgh. They offer custom seamstressing and pattern cutting. They are best to speak to for fashion items such as shirts, jackets or dresses. In addition we have a number of tailors listed on Make Works who are happy to work with one-offs and prototypes – Betty Spoke in Glasgow, Emily Millichip in Edinburgh and Kaja Wilson in Orkney. We haven’t listed her yet, but you might also want to speak to Iona in MAKLab, who has made one-off pieces for the likes of Red Dwarf and Beyonce.

Bespoke Knitwear

If you’re working with knitwear, you’ll find that as with general garment construction, companies like  ESK Knitwear, Eribe Knitwear, Johnston’s and Jamieson’s are happy to produce a prototype for you as part of the preparation for a production run. If you’re just looking to produce a one off piece you can get in touch with Di Gilpin who produces hand-knitted bespoke commissions for clients including TopShop and Hancock VA.

Strange shapes and forms

For textile construction projects that are a bit out of the ordinary - like making a textile-based sculpture, small scale architecture, film props, or an outdoor covering speak to Montrose Rope and Sail. They specialise in tarpaulin, but have a digital pattern cutting machine and are experts in understanding shapes and forms. They also happily produce one-offs.

Where can I sample a piece of textile fabric?

Woven Cloth

You will be surprised to find that a lot of the well known and established mills such as Halley Stevensons, Alex Begg & Co and Peter Greig and Co. have minimum orders of just 4-10 metres - through bear in mind this works best for them when you have a larger order (around 150m) to follow in the future. There are also a number of individual bespoke weavers who are happy to work with one-off pieces and prototypes including Araminta Campbell, Woven In The Bone and Skye Weavers. These companies and individuals will all work with and specialise in different materials so you’re best to check their listings for more detail before getting in touch. If you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for you can read our Guide to Weaving.

Short runs of digitally printed fabric

The nature of digital fabric printing makes producing small quantities of bespoke printed textiles really achievable. BeFab Be Creative in Edinburgh specialise in small, one-off orders and CAT Centre in Glasgow will produce anything from a 10cm length piece and upwards. For tips on how to make the most out of Digital Fabric Printing read our Guide here.

Ceramics

Who will make me a ceramics prototype?

Ceramicists will be accustomed to receiving enquiries for one-offs and prototypes. On Make Works Kevin Andrew Morris in Glasgow and Julia Smith in Skye are both happy to produce prototype pieces. You can read about Kevin’s experience of producing one off slipcast pieces for clients in this Made Works blog. Artist James Rigler at The Whisky Bond will also undertake bespoke ceramics commissions.

You can also find Ceramics studios on Make Works that take commissions, such as Cyan Clayworks (Edinburgh) or Glasgow Ceramics Studio. Larger companies like Highland Stoneware will take on bespoke orders for handpainting services.

Glass

Where can I get bespoke pieces of glassware manufactured?

Glass in Scotland, is another industry that is pretty accommodating of prototypes and one-offs. All of the glass fabricators that Make Works have listed can produce prototypes. We would particularly recommend Glasstorm in Tain who produce commissions for the drinks industry alongside commissions for artists and designers. AM Glassware in Aberdeen also offer a bespoke service, and Northlands Creative Glass will sometimes fabricate bespoke commissions. 

Furniture

Who will make me a one-off piece of furniture?

How you should go about producing a prototype for a piece of furniture will depend largely on the materials and processes involved. We have a number of listings on Make Works who produce furniture and are open to interesting and challenging briefs with a variety of different materials and processes. In Glasgow there’s West End Cabinet Makers (specialising in Wood) and Silo Design & Build. In Edinburgh, SPLINTR, B Scenic Construction, Old School Fabrications and Sharon Kirby will produce one-offs and prototypes. Glasgow Sculpture Studios also offer a bespoke fabrication service, and might be able to help. 

Upholstery

If you are in need of upholstery services in Scotland, speak to Glasgow based 10kH, or in Edinburgh Eve Hynd at Native Flok. We recommend that you keep in mind your finishing processes, using french polishes like Gabriel Polishing in Edinburgh, and suppliers like Smith and Rodger in Glasgow.

Digital Fabrication in Scotland

You also might want to consider digital fabrication for model making, depending on the size of the finished piece and material choice. If you are making scale models, Podbox, Laser Flair, Evergreen and Flux Laser Studio can assist you with Laser Cutting, STEP 3D Print and Design can work with you on 3D Printed pieces.

Electronics

Where can I get an electronic product made?

PCB Assembly

Interactive designs, products and installations, will often require a circuit board. Get in touch with European Circuits who have capacity to work with one-off pieces, and have collaborated with leading interaction designers such as Random International in the past. If you need lighting components, have a look at fibre optic specialists, Universal Fibre Optics in Coldstream.

If you are still experimenting with your electronics, get yourself down to MAKLab - they frequently run workshops in DIY electronics, such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi. They also do screen printing using electronic ink.

Product Casing

If you’re developing an electronic product and you’re at the prototype stage you’ll most likely find that digital fabrication is the way to go for the plastic components. Digital Fabrication is great for prototypes and one-offs whether you’re looking at laser cutting or 3d printing. Again, speak to prototyping labs like MAKLab and MAKE Aberdeen, or digital fabrication bureaus Podbox, Laser Flair, Evergreen and Flux Laser Studio for these services.

For wooden casing, we recommend somebody like SPLINTR, Silo Design & Build, Sharon Kirby or Old School Fabrications.

For metal, speak to NPI solutions (who make the adonised casing for Linn Hi-Fi’s)

For soft-products, have a look about, but somewhere like Kalopsia Collective will work.

Print

Where can I get a one-off magazine or book printed?

Printing can be a bit of a tricky one when it comes to prototypes and depends on the type of printing and finishing that you’re using. As with garments, very few commercial printers will offer a standalone ‘prototype’ service – It’s usually the first stage in doing a larger print run. Most printers will be happy to put together a blank (unprinted) dummy for you. This can be particularly useful if you want to get a feel for the weight of the paper stock, or to compare different binding options. If you’re looking for a printed dummy keep in mind that this may incur an additional charge. Seeing a printed dummy can be really handy though if you’ll be using digital printing in the final run but if not, do bear in mind that the print finish on digital compared to a Litho printed run will be very different. PR Print and J Thompsons will both offer these services.

If you’re still designing or you’re actually only producing a one-off you would be best going to a local printer who will be able to do this for you. We would recommend places like Exacta Print, PDC and Service Point in Glasgow. If you’re looking for specialist bookbinding we would recommend Sollas Bookbinding, Downie Allison Bookbinders, or Cameron Bookbinders.

Specialised Print Finishing

If you need to use specialised finishing such as foiling, embossing/debossing and letterpress you will find that these will all have minimum orders – this is because even producing one will require the production of a die or tool and may require ordering in special materials. Each press will have their own minimum orders that will vary depending on the artwork and materials so it’s best to get in touch directly. On Make Works you can find Piccolo Press, Hunter Press and Glasgow Press.

Riso Printing

If you’re looking for a risograph press, despite the fact that the printer set-up is time consuming, both Risotto Studio and Workhorse Press are happy to work with short and sample runs. It is also a cheap way to produce multiples if you want to scale up.

When using Make Works if you’re trying to figure out if a specific person or company can produce a prototype for you check if there is a yellow tick next to the phrase ‘Bespoke 1-offs’ under the ‘Capacity’ section, with more detail usually provided in the Production Specifics. 

To find out more about production take a look at our production guides.