Coming up with product ideas is the first step in turning your art into something people can use, wear, or take home. This stage is about exploring possibilities, getting inspired, and deciding what kind of product you want to make. It can include creating mood boards, collecting examples, and thinking about how your artwork and stories can come to life in new ways. Taking time to discover what feels right, for you, your community, and your art centre, will help guide the rest of the process.

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Discovery

Before starting to design and develop a new product, it’s important to take time to think things through. A clear plan will help make sure your product fits with the art centre’s vision, meets customer demand, and can be made with the resources you have.

Use this checklist to guide your thinking before you begin.

If the product is being made in-house:

• How will this fit in with other work at the art centre?
• What other activities might need to pause while time and resources are focused on the new product?
• Will you need funding for any part of the project?
• Does the product need to make a profit? Is it okay if it only covers costs or makes a loss?
• Will you need outside help or specialist skills? If so, who can provide this, where are they based, and what will it cost?
• Where will you get the raw materials? Are there any issues with quality, ethics, or sourcing? For example, if you’re making t-shirts, does it matter where they come from or how they’re made?
• Who is the product for? Your local community? Existing customers? Quick sales at an art fair? Or are you trying to reach new audiences?
• How many items will you make? Will you need different sizes (like kid’s or adult clothing) or versions (like one product with different artworks)?
• What kind of packaging and labelling will be needed? This is a chance to promote your art centre with a logo or website. Will you need a graphic designer or printing budget?
• How will you promote the product? Online, social media, or at an exhibition?
• Where will you sell it? At the art centre or through other outlets? Who will manage these sales?
• How much will the product cost to make, and how much will you sell it for? Will the price be competitive?
• How will you track stock and sales (e.g. using SAM)?
• Will the product need to be freighted or shipped? Who will manage this?
• Do you have enough storage space? Is it suitable if stock needs to be kept for a year or more?

If the product is being made by a third party (like a t-shirt printing company), also think about:

• Have you or another trusted art centre worked with this company before?
• Do their brand, reputation and way of working align with your values?
• Does the quality of their products meet your expectations?
• Can they provide samples for you to check before moving forward?

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Inspiration and mood board

A mood board (also called an inspiration board) is a visual tool that helps guide the colour palette and overall feel of a product. It usually begins with a mix of images, then gets refined down to around five key visuals that best show the style, mood and direction you want to go in.

The inspiration should come from products that your art centre could realistically make. A mood board might include paintings, sketches, materials, or digital prints and it can also be shaped by everyday life, culture, Country and surroundings.

If you’re working with a designer, the mood board helps show your vision clearly. It can also be used to develop a whole collection around a theme – for example, water stories, or repeated patterns inspired by the landscape. Choosing strong colours and patterns that work well together will help make your product design clear, eye-catching and connected to your story.

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Production design

Once you’ve completed your market research and mood board, you can start designing your product. Use the colours, patterns, and ideas from your mood board as inspiration. Think about the market sector your product fits into and how it compares to similar items. If your design stands out, highlight its unique features.

Colour

Choose the colours you want to use for your product. Your mood board may have helped you find inspiration from paintings, patterns, or natural surroundings. Colours create different feelings – soft, neutral tones can feel calm, while bright, bold colours bring energy and excitement. Clashing fluorescent shades can add a playful touch, and mixing neutrals with vivid colours can create contrast. Think about the mood and style you want to express through your colour choices.

Pattern & Materials

Patterns can be applied to different surfaces using various techniques, depending on the material and product type. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artwork is a rich source of pattern inspiration, and designs can be applied in different ways such as directly onto a product, repeating elements in different sizes, or using specific shapes and motifs (repeated shapes, symbols or patterns) to create unique designs.

Different materials require specific techniques for applying patterns. Understanding these methods helps in selecting the right approach for your product. Below are some common materials and the techniques used to create patterned designs:

Fabric	Fabric – Patterns can be applied using surface printing techniques like screen or digital printing, weaving, knitting, applique and embroidery. These methods are commonly used for fashion and interior products such as clothing, upholstery, rugs, bed linen, curtains, napery and towels.
Wall coverings	Techniques like screen printing, digital printing, flocking and block printing are used to create wallpaper and wall decals.
Plastics	Patterns can be applied using screen printing, digital printing, foil printing and litho printing. This is commonly seen in picnic ware, lunch boxes and dinnerware.
Glass	Methods such as etching, digital printing, sandblasting and photographic film application are used to design glass products. These techniques are used for tables, glassware, lighting, floors, tiles and bench tops.
Paper	Paper products often use digital printing, screen printing, block printing, foil stamping and embossing to create designs. This applies to greeting cards, wrapping paper, calendars, artworks, postcards and packaging.
Ceramics	Patterns can be created on ceramics using screen printing, digital printing, decals, acrylic painting and can be carved or embossed onto the surface. These techniques are commonly used for vases, tiles and dinnerware.

By choosing the right technique for your material, you can ensure your product has a high-quality design that aligns with your artistic vision.

Form and size

Is there a standard size for your product, or different sizes you plan to produce? Imagine what the product will look like by sketching its actual size, then drawing or inserting the pattern/design onto this sketch. Form refers to the three-dimensional shape of the product, which determines the character, usability and function of the product.