Let’s work together

Thinking about a commission?

Commissioning a custom-designed project is an exciting and rewarding experience as you are actively involved in all stages of the design process. 

Engaging in a dialogue with us enables you to be involved with all the creative decisions, together we invest in this rewarding process to ensure a custom outcome which is designed and made specifically for your needs. Surprisingly, the commissioning process may be more affordable than you think. This is because the correct materials will be sourced and manufacturing techniques identified to fit your budget. In the long-term commissioning something that works specifically for your needs can be more cost-effective than purchasing something off the shelf which doesn’t quite fit the space available or suit your requirements and therefore may need replacing in the short term. While a custom project may seem like a serious undertaking, our highly skilled team will take care of the process from beginning to end.

Why Commission Us?

As a design team, we excel in undertaking bespoke commissions for your home or business. This is because we are highly experienced designer makers, which means we have an exceptional understanding of functional requirements and a thorough knowledge of material qualities and aesthetic styling.

Everything we do is made to order, therefore our personalised design service is specially tailored to your specific requirements

We invite you to visit our design studio and workshop, where we will view our facilities and share our portfolio highlighting similar projects that may interest you. This introduction ensures you have a clear understanding of our values and expertise, this is followed by a dialogue with you about your project aims and ideas. Together we will establish a design brief of your requirements and we may wish to follow this up with a visit to your home or business premises to check through all the details.

Our clients include architects, independent retailers, arts and charitable organisations, interior designers, galleries, theatres, marketing agencies, museums, universities and private clients.

How we work together

As each project is unique our personalised design service enables us to create a custom outcome tailored to your requirements.

Here you can find an outline of each stage, so you know exactly what to expect should you choose to work with us.

Say Hello

Your exciting custom project is about to begin and together we'll bring your vision to reality.

Drop us an email at hello@dual.works or fill out our contact form to outline what you are thinking

We will then organise a time for you to visit our design studio and workshop to discuss your project ideas.

Visit us

We invite you to visit our design studio and workshop.

This is a good opportunity to discuss your project and for you to meet us to see what we do and how we do it. 

At this stage, we need to gain an understanding of what you’re thinking so our conversation will cover the following questions.

• What are your project ambitions?

• What are you aiming to achieve?

• Who is it for?

• How do you want it to function?

• Where is your location?

• Where will it be situated?

• What do you want it to look like?

• What material qualities do you enjoy? 

• What is your budget?

• What is your timeline?

It is helpful for you to consider your answers to these questions before we meet as our dialogue helps us to understand what you’re looking for and whether it’s viable for us to make it for you.  Don’t worry if you haven’t got all the answers at this stage as we are here to help guide you through this process. This conversation shapes our design brief so it’s great to share which of our current projects interest you and also to see examples of other projects that excite you. Therefore it is useful to bring photographs with you, this gives us an idea of the space you wish to transform and the visual style of things you like. Our conversation enables us to form a design brief together which then becomes the parameters of your project.  We may wish to follow this up with a visit to your home or premises to check through all the details and we will answer any further questions you may have.

Design Brief

Following our meeting we will compose a design brief which outlines your project requirements, this is an important part of the process as it clarifies your project intentions, setting out the aims and ambitions of your project.

The design brief covers visual qualities and functional requirements and ensures our collective thinking moves in the right direction. Alongside this, we will draw up a letter of agreement, which outlines our terms and establishes a commitment by both parties which has been agreed in writing and forms a written record and confirmation of our commitment to your project.

Design Proposal

Once you have agreed on your design brief the fun begins! This is an exciting part of the process as we begin our research and start to play with ideas.

Our design team explore ideas via drawing, conversation and materials. We think through all aspects of your project and start to formulate the best ideas to take forward. We select the most successful ideas to draw up digitally and these digital drawings form the basis of our design proposal. We collate this information together to create a design presentation and invite you to our studio to review our proposals. During the presentation, we will share our research, design thinking and discuss the various aspects of the proposal. At this stage, the drawings are early concept ideas and formulate an overarching vision of the project. Technical details come later and as part of the manufacturing stage. Together we evaluate our project proposals and take on board your feedback to then formulate a direction for the final design.

We will respond to your feedback and may need to develop the design further, We will work with you on any amendments, tailoring the design concepts to meet your requirements. The length of this stage naturally depends on the scale and complexity of your project, your feedback and how many iterations we need to undertake.

We may need to visit your home or business premises at this stage to carry out full and accurate measurements. We take photographs of the space, ensuring all specific details that will require accommodating in the designs are noted.

Final Design

Any fine-tuning happens at this stage, this is to get your design exactly right for you and a final design drawing will be prepared.

This final design drawing articulates and illustrates the outcome of your project. It will include all relevant information that you will need to determine if you would like to proceed to the production stage, such as recommended materials and dimensions.

Some projects may require a prototype which needs to be made before the production of the outcome. Prototypes help to visualise characteristics by clarifying three-dimensional qualities. We will inform you if this is necessary at our design meeting.

The final design presentation will either take the form of a meeting or will be emailed to you for review. At this stage, we will include a full quotation to estimate manufacturing costs for you to consider.

At this stage, you decide whether you would like to progress to the production stage.

Production of Project

We manufacture all of our projects at our workshop located in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham.

On your agreement, we will proceed to the manufacturing stage and commence production of your project. We will be eager to get started as designer makers we thoroughly enjoy the making process and we will be excited to bring your design proposal to life. There are many stages to production and our team works together on the various aspects of your project. Before we start making we prepare technical drawings for manufacture, liaise with our material suppliers to order your project-specific materials and arrange any specialist companies for outsourcing bespoke components. We use the highest quality, well-sourced, fully traceable and certificated raw materials via our network of trusted suppliers.

As your project takes shape through the various stages of making, we will keep you updated on our progress. We will photograph aspects of your project coming to life to share with you and you are also welcome to visit our workshop during this stage.

Things to consider before we start; all aspects and stages of our work are laboured intensive. Designing and making custom projects takes time and as our work is handcrafted it can be difficult to determine exact timeframes for projects as many aspects are variable. Please let us know your timeframe in advance, so we can bear this in mind and determine whether we will be able to meet your time scale with integrity and quality. We will advise accordingly and keep you informed throughout the process.

Installation and delivery

Upon completion of your project in our workshop, we will contact you to arrange collection, delivery and /or installation.

We will agree on a suitable time and plan with you any necessary details for your delivery or installation. We often need to consider logistics and make arrangements accordingly.

If we are installing a project at your home and/or business premises, we may need to use tools and equipment to complete the installation process. We will discuss with you the best way to do this before delivery and advise if there will be any disruption during this process. We like to work in a quiet and considerate way, and will leave no trace that we have been present except for the project! We take pride in our work and are respectful of your home and /or work environment.

Upon completion of the project, we will advise you of the best way to look after your project.

We are happy to make deliveries in Birmingham and the surrounding area.

Our payment process

Our payment process for custom projects is straightforward and divided into three key stages.

Stage 1 - Our design fee is due on completion of the design phase. This fee is agreed upon before the commencement of the project and is payable whether or not you decide to progress to the production phase, Stage 2. Upon completion of the design stage, there is an opportunity for you to decide if you would like to progress to the production stage and there is no obligation to proceed if your plans have changed.

Stage 2 - A 50% non-returnable deposit payment is due before we commence production. Upon receipt of your deposit payment, we will then book your project into our workshop schedule, purchase your project-specific materials, liaise with any service providers and plan our manufacturing schedule. We will keep you updated on progress throughout this period. Delivery time on custom commissions can vary greatly depending on the scale of the project.

Stage 3 - The final balance is due upon completion of your project following collection, delivery and /or installation.

Our payment terms are 7 days for deposit payments and 14 days for all other invoices.

Occasionally, we may customise an instalment plan and payment terms for more complex projects, agreed upon in advance and entirely at the discretion of Dual Works

We offer a 48 hrs cooling-off period on receipt of your deposit payment for bespoke projects. This allows you 48 hours for you to change your mind, no questions asked and we will return your deposit payment. Once this time has passed we will then proceed to commence production, at this point, you are fully committed and no further refund can be made. As each bespoke project is unique, personalised and made-to-measure, once manufacturing begins, we cannot offer any refunds.

Guarantee

Our guarantee to you is that we take great pride in the services we provide, therefore we are confident you will be delighted with the outcome of any bespoke projects you undertake with us.

We value the creative process and are rewarded by our collective endeavour. Our expertise and craft skills ensure we work to a high standard across all aspects of your project. We are proud of the work we create and the positive impact it has on people’s lives.

As we work closely together throughout the project our personalised service ensures you have played an active role in the decision-making process, conception of ideas, and witnessing the making process during production. We will have highlighted and overcome any problems during this stage and created your project according to our expertise and knowledge.

If any problems arise due to unforeseen issues or we have overlooked an aspect of your project due to a design fault or craft skill, we will endeavour to rectify this where possible and we offer to rectify faulty manufacture for six months following the completion of the project.

We do not offer maintenance or repairs for incorrect use, day-to-day wear and tear or issues relating to environmental conditions.

Should you regard any aspect of your bespoke project as faulty, please contact us within six months of delivery/installation for us to arrange appropriate steps to review the fault and to consider options for repair.

Please do not attempt to repair the item yourself or organise a third-party repair.  We reserve the right to refuse to repair your custom project if you have attempted and or organised for a third party to repair it. We cannot be held responsible for any faults or damage that occur if you have done so.