The difference between Frankentypes and Demotypes is pivotal to creating and selling an idea.
An invention is just an abstract idea — difficult to explain, and even more difficult to sell, until it becomes a prototype. A prototype is, first and foremost, the concrete reality of your abstract idea. That alone makes it one of the most rewarding and exciting aspects of invention, aside from profit, of course!
A prototype reflects your skillset and your personality to a degree that few other objects can, other than a Rorschach test, perhaps. Are you an engineer, an artist, a fashionista? Are you pragmatic or whimsical? A prototype is like an internal reflection of you.
Which is exactly why so many people overthink and overdo them, sabotaging their own magnum opus.
Enter the Frankentype. The term, coined by Don Skaggs of the Inventors Network KY, is a prototype that foregoes appearance to merely show proof of concept.
This should be your first goal in prototyping. Instead of creating a seamless, perfect invention (which falls apart, and with it, your morale and desire to press onward) the first step is something that illustrates the principle design and what is unique about it compared to other inventions.
Why does Don call them Frankentypes? Because it is rarely the polished, attractive final product. More often it is ugly, unprofessional-looking, and flawed. So why make something with all those (ostensibly negative) traits? Because:
A Frankentype has more than a few advantages, namely:
1. It allows you to see what you’ve been thinking up. The mind is a foggy, strange place, and no two people have the same thoughts. Even if I tell you I’m thinking of a purple elephant, the one you may be imagining is photorealistic and with tusks, while mine may be cartoonish, tuskless, and wearing a yellow flower-print dress. A Frankentype lets others, including you, see what you’ve been thinking, and leaves no doubt about the original concept. This is especially important if the creation process falls to delegating to other people.
2. It allows you to cheaply make refinements. The best thing about Frankentypes is that they are cheap. Cheap means you can alter and improve one design after another, until you have an finely-honed (but likely not market-ready) product.
3. It allows you to test your design. What type of metal/plastic/wood? Is the handle ergonomic? Could the circuitry be more efficiently laid out? Frankentypes help you answer these questions.
4. It will drive you to keep striving. It’s hard to pursue a dream without vision and without morale. Having something you can actually see and feel can be the difference between giving up and keeping up the good fight. A Frankentype just begs to be improved and worked on until it is as close to perfect as possible.
Now that you’ve perfected the ugliest thing you’ll ever be proud of, where do you go from there? It’s no easy task to sell something that’s aesthetically unappealing. Which is why the next goal is to evolve the Frankentype to a Demotype.
Developing Your Demotype:
A Demotype differentiates itself from the Frankentype in two ways: It’s much, much prettier, and it works. Think of a Demotype as the missing link between the Frankentype and the finished product on the store shelves.
Making a Demotype will be much easier, as you have a wonderful template to go on: your Frankentype. So ask people what they want to see in a finished product. Maybe instead of opaque concrete it could be a glossy, blue plastic. Maybe the angles have been rounded, and the handle is a 3-D printed PLA instead of a hot glued shoelace. The important feature is in the name: It can be used in a demonstration or sales pitch.
A Demotype has the following strengths:
1. It works. That may seem like a gross simplification, but functionality is the single most important quality of an invention outside of fad toys or deliberate knock-offs. At a sales pitch, the first question you’ll often hear is “How does it work?” Don’t ever tell them how it works, show them how it works.
2. It looks like something you’d want to buy. Demotypes should be marketable. Look around your own home…how many things do you own that you find unattractive? Pitching a Demotype should never begin with the line “I know it looks rough, but…” Instead it should immediately appeal to whomever you’re pitching the moment they lay eyes on it.
3. It showcases what makes it different from other products. In addition to being a reflection of you as an inventor (even as a person), the Demotype’s draw is that it solves a problem. This should be clear even with the Frankentype, but should be polished enough in the Demotype that upon seeing the demonstration, there is no doubt as to its effectiveness as a solution for the problem that led you to dream this invention up in the first place.
There are an infinite number of paths you can take in creating a prototype. Whether you start out by writing ideas on index cards or immediately drawing professional-grade schematics, the steps you take can vary greatly; but the progression should be the same. Have an idea, then make a plan. Convert that abstract plan into a Frankentype, then hone and polish that into a Demotype. From there, you can pitch to investors, pitch to companies to license the product, or even cobble together a business and begin production.
No matter what path you take, knowing the differences between these two forms of prototype will be invaluable in not only working out what you want from your idea, but maintaining a healthy passion for your idea without burning out or giving up on the rough in-between from idea to finished product.
As for where to work on prototypes? There are local manufacturers of all kinds in every town. Not only will they help you on your journey, they can also keep that passion igniting during the duration of the inventing process. Above all else, enjoy the struggle, and relish the journey.
