OVERVIEW

Here’s how the commission process works:

• First, browse our commission gallery to view what we’ve done in the past. You’re in no way limited to those designs, but it can help spur your creativity.
• Next, contact us. We’ll discuss with you your space requirements, timeframe, budget, style, and any special considerations. It’s helpful if you can provide us photographs or architectural drawings of the space, but those aren’t necessary for us to capture your vision.
• Then we’ll create preliminary sketches of your commissioned piece, working with you to nail down the details. We’ll also choose the right materials for the piece and provide an estimated project timeline.
• Once we’ve decided on a final design, we’ll procure materials and begin the creation process, providing status updates as necessary along the way.
• When your mobile is complete, we’ll arrange its safe delivery. In many cases, we travel onsite to assemble and hang the mobile. Otherwise, we design and build your mobile so it will be easy to ship–and easy for you to assemble and hang. We provide detailed assembly instructions as necessary.
• Finally, you enjoy your stunning mobile!

THE MOBILE-MAKING PROCESS

DESIGN

To begin the design process, we gather as much information as possible about your space, including its dimensions, design elements, architectural drawings, images, or graphic renderings. With local projects, we visit the site in person. For projects that aren’t local, we can travel to your location for an onsite evaluation for the cost of travel expenses and a consultation fee, although this is not frequently necessary.

Using the information we’ve acquired, we design a mobile specific to your space, collaborating with you as necessary to ensure to piece fits your space, style, and budget requirements. Our designs start as rough sketches, and evolve, when necessary, into 3-D renderings of the piece in your space.

THE MOCK UP

Once the design has been finalized and perfected, we often create a scaled prototype to ensure proper balance, movement, and form. Since mobiles are a three-dimensional art form, these models also give you and us a better idea of how the finished piece will look and behave.

MATERIAL SELECTION

Based on the mobile’s aesthetics, form, desired behaviors, weight and strength requirements, as well as your budget, we work with you to determine the best materials for your piece. With an in-house mechanical engineer and industrial designer, we have a thorough working knowledge of material behaviors and attributes. And with nearly 10 years of mobile-making experience, we have plenty of hands-on experience with a wide range of materials—from glass to fabric to plastics to all types of metals.

FABRICATION

During this stage, we build and, when possible, fully assemble your mobile in our 1,200 square foot shop. Our 20-foot ceilings allow us to assemble large-scale projects on site, but we are in no way constrained by the size of our shop. We are skilled at fabricating large-scale pieces that exceed even the height and size of our shop. We have the in-house resources to cut, bend, form, grind, weld, paint, and fabricate on-site.

FREIGHT

Our primary goal is designing and creating the perfect piece for your space. But our equally important secondary goal is getting it delivered to you safely. We carefully disassemble, package, crate, and ship your piece so it is easily reassembled upon receipt. If you opt out of our installation services [see below], we provide detailed assembly instructions, including photographs and even video when necessary to ensure safe and proper assembly.

And remember, we are in no way limited by geography. We have shipped pieces from our Portland, Oregon studio to nearly every state in the union and to international locations as far as Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

INSTALLATION

When possible, we travel to your site to install your piece, ensuring a safe, proper installation. We work with you to make sure the proper installation equipment is on site, and we provide our own safety equipment and tools, ensuring a smooth installation process.

ENJOY!