The Forged Flare Story
Designing the Products
Turning Original Ideas Into Tangible Products
Every Forged Flare® ornament begins as an idea, but bringing that idea into the physical world requires much more than illustration. I developed our products from initial concepts through material selection, prototyping, manufacturing, packaging, photography, and final presentation.
My Role
Product Development · Illustration · Prototyping · Materials · Manufacturing · Packaging · Photography
From an Illustration to Something You Can Hold
I begin each design with an idea for what the finished piece should communicate, then work backward to determine how it can actually be made.
The artwork has to function as more than an illustration. Every shape, opening, connection point, material, and layer has to work together as a physical object. I developed a layered construction method that allowed the designs to combine opaque and translucent materials while remaining sturdy enough to manufacture, package, ship, display, and handle.
Over time, that process became a repeatable product system that could support an expanding collection while still allowing every design to feel unique.
Designing Within Real-World Constraints
Creating artwork for manufacturing means constantly balancing aesthetics with what is physically possible.
As I developed new products, I considered material thickness, structural integrity, laser cutting and engraving, assembly, adhesives, production time, waste, consistency, and the way individual layers aligned. Designs often evolved through multiple prototypes as I identified weak points, simplified production, or found better ways to achieve the visual result I wanted.
That iterative process helped turn one-off ideas into products that could be manufactured repeatedly and consistently.
Designing With Light as a Material
One of the defining characteristics of our ornaments is the way translucent areas interact with light. That meant material selection became part of the design process itself.
I experimented with different woods, acrylics, finishes, colors, transparencies, and combinations to understand not only how they looked individually, but how they behaved when assembled. Because many of the designs function as suncatchers, I also had to consider how colors and details would appear in ordinary indoor lighting versus when illuminated by sunlight.
The final material choices became part of the visual language of the collection.
Creating Variety Without Reinventing Production
As the collection grew, I needed a system that could support many different motifs while maintaining a recognizable product structure.
The three-layer construction, overall proportions, flat base, hanging method, material combinations, and production approach created a framework I could design within. That allowed me to develop everything from flowers and butterflies to animals, professions, memorial designs, and seasonal collections while maintaining a cohesive Forged Flare® product family.
One System. Hundreds of Possibilities.
Designing Something Distinctive
As the collection expanded, protecting the originality of the work became another consideration in product development. I documented designs, maintained original artwork and production files, and pursued formal trademark and copyright protections for the brand and collection.
Designing the Experience Around the Product
Product development didn't stop once an ornament was assembled. Packaging had to protect the piece, communicate the Forged Flare® brand, work across direct-to-consumer, marketplace, and retail environments, and — importantly — allow customers to see the product and its interaction with light.
As the business grew, I developed packaging solutions ranging from economical bag-and-topper packaging to custom retail-ready packaging for Mother’s Angels® ornaments.
Translating a Physical Product to E-Commerce
Selling a dimensional, light-reactive product online created another challenge: customers couldn't pick it up, turn it around, or immediately understand how it was constructed.
I developed product photography and 360° video to show scale, depth, materials, front and back construction, the self-standing base, and the way light interacts with translucent areas. Those assets became part of the product experience across our website and marketplace listings.
From One Idea to a Product Family
What began as a single design developed into a repeatable product-development process I could use to continually expand the Forged Flare® catalog.
