It all starts with doing good.
We’re at our most inspired when working with like-minded people. Those who, like us, are keen to play their part in creating shared opportunities through products and experiences that are good for people, good for businesses, good for communities and good for the planet.
Who we are.
Nathan Partington
Design Director
The original founder of npd, Nathan has been living and breathing product design for over a decade. Having previously designed everything from handheld vacuums to premium lighting solutions, Nathan established npd in 2014 as a way of helping Manchester based businesses bring their ideas to life. When he’s not bouncing between our clients and manufacturing partners, he can be found spending time with his wife, two kids and two dogs.
Ben Thorpe
Design Director
With a problem-solving and pragmatic approach to product development, Ben has been involved in over 5,000 products being brought to market within just over a decade. After becoming disillusioned with the unsustainable nature of the tech accessories industry, Ben joined the npd family in order to establish a southern basecamp to support our clients based in and around London.
Alex Hardisty
Product Designer
Alex is the cog that keeps the npd machine turning. With a background in agency design, he provides innovative and exciting designs to all of our clients, continuing to support the growth of npd. An absolute wizard with a drawing tablet and with a passion for 3D modelling, he loves getting hands on and solving any problems thrown at him.
How we work.
People often ask us “what do you do?” so we adopted the Design Council’s Double Diamond approach to product design in order to simply and effectively communicate the, often messy, process of product development. The basic principle of this approach is that we, as designers, truly understand the problem we are being asked to solve, then clearly documenting all the requirements before we actually start designing anything. This approach gives the project a solid foundation from which to build upon, ensuring that we are completely in sync with the client and their own expectations of the project.
However, each and every client and project is different, and often they don’t fit within the above process. We’ll never offer a ‘cookie-cutter’ proposal for a project, instead we’ll get to know you and your business before tailoring a bespoke offering for our services. Our aim is to slot into your existing business process and flow, becoming your outsourced ‘in-house’ design team but without the worry about overheads, headcount and all the other challenges that come with hiring an in-house team of designers. We’ve made a success of this over the years and have a number of clients who we’ve worked with on multiple projects over the years, being on-site when needed and on call when not.
