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DHC update- quality vs quantity discussion- contest update
13 years ago
Thank you all who participated in our Valentines Day photo contests. As usual, we received a TON of good submissions. We even received 2 video submissions. We may have to make a video contest next... we'll see :) Winner will be announced this weekend.
Quality vs Quantity seems to be a big subject that is coming up in the fursuit world. We believe it is important. Leave a comment below :) Here are our thoughts on it:
Quality vs quantity should be an issue. Possibly even the two biggest concerns that you can have when looking for a commission. Who wants a low quality suit? One should not break it down that simply, there are many factors that should be taken into consideration. Quality is our main concern when making suits. If we had 200 low quality suits running around and coming back for repairs, we would never have time to work on new projects. One of our goals is once we send a suit out of the studio, is to never see it again... meaning it never needs any repairs. Bad quality projects will tend to weed studios out of the market. Work spreads quickly in the age of information, and the fandom, in general, is pretty close knit.
Quantity has always been an issue, albeit, a little more so in the past. There were less suit makers, at least less full time suit makers. Getting a professionally made suit was a bit more in demand. Things got delayed, suits took a long time to complete, sometimes even taking years. Several things can effect the "quantity" of suits completed per month. Such things include, years of experience, hours worked, number of employees, and yes, even quality. I can't stress this enough, but the easiest way to find out the reputation of a fursuit builder is to talk to their customers. If you are reading this on FA, chances are you have some friends, some of which will have a suit. Go ask them!
Two suits a month is a lot of work for someone working alone, out of a small space, and with a 2nd job. 8 or 9 suits a month is definitely not unachievable for a multi employee studio working fulltime. I believe that 10-12 suits a month is achievable. And achievable, meaning, without sacrificing quality. Lowering quality to up quantity will not help any studio in the long run. It just doesn't work in the custom project industry.
Then again, quality and quantity are directly proportional to wait time and price. Is getting a low quality suit in 5 days at a cost of $300 worth it? There's a market for everything. Is paying $4000 and waiting 2 years worth it? Maybe not to you, but it probably is to someone else. It's all relative. What do you think?
Quality vs Quantity seems to be a big subject that is coming up in the fursuit world. We believe it is important. Leave a comment below :) Here are our thoughts on it:
Quality vs quantity should be an issue. Possibly even the two biggest concerns that you can have when looking for a commission. Who wants a low quality suit? One should not break it down that simply, there are many factors that should be taken into consideration. Quality is our main concern when making suits. If we had 200 low quality suits running around and coming back for repairs, we would never have time to work on new projects. One of our goals is once we send a suit out of the studio, is to never see it again... meaning it never needs any repairs. Bad quality projects will tend to weed studios out of the market. Work spreads quickly in the age of information, and the fandom, in general, is pretty close knit.
Quantity has always been an issue, albeit, a little more so in the past. There were less suit makers, at least less full time suit makers. Getting a professionally made suit was a bit more in demand. Things got delayed, suits took a long time to complete, sometimes even taking years. Several things can effect the "quantity" of suits completed per month. Such things include, years of experience, hours worked, number of employees, and yes, even quality. I can't stress this enough, but the easiest way to find out the reputation of a fursuit builder is to talk to their customers. If you are reading this on FA, chances are you have some friends, some of which will have a suit. Go ask them!
Two suits a month is a lot of work for someone working alone, out of a small space, and with a 2nd job. 8 or 9 suits a month is definitely not unachievable for a multi employee studio working fulltime. I believe that 10-12 suits a month is achievable. And achievable, meaning, without sacrificing quality. Lowering quality to up quantity will not help any studio in the long run. It just doesn't work in the custom project industry.
Then again, quality and quantity are directly proportional to wait time and price. Is getting a low quality suit in 5 days at a cost of $300 worth it? There's a market for everything. Is paying $4000 and waiting 2 years worth it? Maybe not to you, but it probably is to someone else. It's all relative. What do you think?
THANK YOU
Oddly the one you can look at the MOST changing on our shelves is ones made by.... YOU ^__^. Original Pixy was one of your first suits made like evar, and her head remake shows such change. even the time between re-Pixy and Masika you can see more skill improvement and cleanliness of lines, and style.
Ok, I babbles alot and went well off topic, but you got my noodle turning and I think that was part of the point :p
Quality comes in two types: Quality of CONSTRUCTION (i.e. seam strength, measurements, durability, fit and finish), and Quality of APPEARANCE (i.e. visual quality, craftsmanship, artistic merit).
Finding a mix of both is very difficult. Most makers making suits in large quantity, such as your suggested 8 to 12 suits a month, will sacrifice quality of appearance for quality of construction. This is fine, for most people, but ultimately leads to the large number of 'cookie cutter' suits you see from some makers. Head foam molds, pre-constructed feet and paws, generic eyes in a large stack, all show this kind of process is occurring at some makers.
I personally think reputation speaks volumes, but more over, the argument that quality of CONSTRUCTION can be maintained on a large volume is definitely sound. Quality of APPEARANCE, however, I feel cannot be.
I'm still waiting for someone to have fursuit pieces made in china on a mix-and-match fashion. These hand paws here, these footpaws here, this head, this body suit.. bingo, generic fox with slight variations due to mix-and-match choices. Sadly, so many of the suits being produced today could have been said to come to being like this, and they weren't.
I don't really care much about about quantity. I can wait as long as I love the result once it gets here. I don't want seams to be needed to be mended or other fixes on a practically new suit, because that's just inexcusable. You wouldn't buy a several hundred dollar dress and be ok with sewing it back together after the first wear, would you?
Not only is there not a single problem with the suit, but I can imagine there ever being a problem! Everything on him is sewn so incredibly well, his vision and ventilation and comfort are perfect, and he looks exactly like the concept art. I couldn't have asked for a better suit, really!
So, TL;DR version: quality over quantity, especially when it comes to custom art pieces.
I will say, however, that the fursuit market is now far more complex than it was even a few years ago. If someone has not already started such a project, then I might suggest that there needs to be a Fursuit Maker review website. That would help many people, especially those new to the fandom, select a fursuit maker, since it it isn't always easy to find reviews for the newer makers.
My personal ideal would be to see several well known Fursuit Makers get together and work with a developer to create a new website specifically for fursuit reviews. That would give it the best start and the best chance of succeeding in the long term.
I really am of the opinion that it needs to be a completely new website set up specifically for Fursuit Reviews. Most other solutions are going to lead to problems down the road, either as the site grows, or as the moderators or users find features that they want, but can't have because they aren't supported.
Vio's right tho, hardly anyone uses it and to be quite frank it's very full of "4 out of 5 stars, even though it doesn't look anything like the ref sheet and all the claws fell off <3". Perhaps if people spread the word?
Reported
I've seen another maker make that many suits in a year and they have become rather much of a laughing stock as far as other makers are concerned (sooo not discussing that further, btw), but their suits still sell just fine. I guess it's a matter of personal honor-- do you want to be known as a production line for costumes? Does mass-produced fit your business plan? Good for you if it does, but as a maker myself and a potential buyer I prefer a more personal touch where every costume is loving made and isn't just a color pallet swap of all the previous ones.
I wish you luck, though!
Another thing that bothers me is that some suit makers really don't put the same quality of work into their commissioned suits as they do their personal suits. My policy is if it's going to someone else it should have double the quality of your own suits. These are to make people happy as much, if not more, as they are to make a profit, and you really want the customer to be completely pleased and happy with the result for years to come. That's one of things I really love about DHC. You guys put forth your best quality in every suit you make, and it shows! You not only have beautiful, unique work to display, you also have many happy customers who will be enjoying their suits far into the future~
If you're going to put that much money into something people should really go for a quality item. Sure it's nice getting a suit quickly, and some makers can make suits quickly that are quality (I've seen it with my own eyes so I know it is possible) but sometimes some suit makers rush things to get more money quickly and then their product suffers. If you spend 500 bucks and get a suit from someone lets say the quality of the suit is not very good because they are inexperienced or did not take the time to make a quality suit. It was only 500 bucks right? WRONG! When things start falling apart quickly you're going to be spending more money on repairs, so it's not going to just be a 500 dollar suit...
I bought a head off of furbuy. I thought I was getting a pretty good deal on it. I went thru a huge fiasco to get this head because the seller was rude and didn't care about people paying for their item to get it on time. That's a whole other story, but I got the head finally. The stitching on this head is HORRIBLE. There are holes in the stitching that I can fit 2 fingers into in many areas on the head. The eyes are terribly done with glue running out of them all over the eyes. Now I thought I was getting a great deal. Sure the colors and the design of the head are cute but it's really very poorly constructed. I am left kicking myself for not just taking the time to spend some extra cash and wait a little bit to get the quality head that I was wanting. I have 3 suits and can tell you quality is VERY important.
Right now, I'm at the point in my life where making decisions for the future and having a career that makes me happy is top priority.
So I think that a builder should think of themselves first. What kind of stress they can handle, how many customer's they're willing to juggle at any given time, the amount of work they can actually produce over a given time line, and the time that they'll require to make sure that the product is 100% satisfactory for the customer; all of these things contribute to whether or not the maker will be proud of what they do and determine whether they are happy with what they do every day.
It's all about balance to me. I don't take on many commissions at any given time, because I like to know that there aren't too many other customers relying on me to give all of my best to them at the same time. I want each new creation to be my best because it will represent my business, customer satisfaction is #1 to me.
:)
Yes! I'm doing about one suit a month by myself with a second job.
Seriously though, I agree with you completely; a well built, durable suit is what will keep customers coming back and recommending you to others. I definitely appreciate the attention to detail and the quality you put into my suit. I know it will last a long time, and for someone like me who isn't rolling in money, that's important!
Fursuits are an investment, both for the makers and the buyers. It should never be taken lightly. People need to do their research and make certain the suit maker they choose is reputable and known for quality work. In my opinion, it's far more worth while to wait several months for a well built suit at a premium price, than a bargain suit that was built hastily. In my experience, things that are cheap in price are often cheap in quality. You'll get what you pay for. Yes, quality takes time.. but quality is worth waiting for.
Sometimes we feel bad when we see someone come to us to get their many issues with a suit fixed that they bought from someone and its only a fiew months old or even brand new, especially when their builder ignores them and has a poor reputation of customer service.
We even had a rash of head replacement requests over the last couple of years from people who bought a suit because it was cheap from a particular builder.
i know of other quality builders who have had the same requests, and im guessing you have aswell.
a suit should fit properly, have a quality standard, have the characters soul, and last a number of years without having to be constantly repaired.
Sadly some of these people get to excited, and do not do their proper research on suit builders to weed out the "bad" builders.
I agree there are alot more builders out there now than there was 5 or 6 years ago, making the variety of styles and builders better to chose from, but somtimes it can make it more of a challenge for the buyer to make sure they select the style they want, and get the quality they should recieve.
The way we concider it, every suit that is built is being built as if its our own suit, and not built just go get "numbers" out there.
Fursuits are our fursonas, our characters, a part of each and every one of us, and should be what we want them to be, a part of our lives. Not just a soul-less, expressionless, generic costume.
I don't mind waiting a while, but over 12 months is too long to be personally worth it to me.
Yes, there is liable to be a waiting time of possible 2 years before you can get the Suit because the maker is backed up with a ton of commissions they are trying to take their time on. Especially if suit making is a side job/hobby outside of a Full/Part time job and a social life and personal life. Taking time on making a suit is worth the time, compared to the quantity of getting it cranked out among a handful of others.
It is better to just take the time and spend it to make sure that the product that is going to have your name all over it, especially a reputation you gain for the work done on the piece doesn't have the possibility of needing to be sent back to you for repairs because a part of the product has fallen into misuse or has started to fail to work properly.
Don't underestimate how powerful keeping customers informed and consulted can be during the process. It almost certainly guarantees a better quality product at the end of it.
There is always the risk to a builder that the perception of an increased output == lower quality, although as Skuff points out this does not have to be the case if handled correctly. I personally work in a business where Time, Cost and Quality dictate how well a product turns out. If you fix any one of those then the other two have to flex to accommodate. E.g. if you fix 'Time' then you either have to compromise on quality to hit a deadline or you need to spend more (money or man hours) to ensure the same level of quality in a shorter time period.
As it happens I currently have a suit commission with DHC and trust them that they won't compromise on any aspect of the design or build, and as such "Quality" is the fixed variable for me. I'd rather have it take that little bit longer and it to be perfect, matching my vision for the suit and their own standards on workmanship.
When it comes to fursuits the phrase "you get what you pay for" has never been truer, and prof builders (and I certainly don't just mean DHC) are not cheap. For me I guess this will be a good litmus test.
Coming back because the quality of the first was so awesome. Because the look was just what I wanted, because I knew you guys could make my 10 year+ old character into something fantastic. Actually..come to think of it..I've been to you guys for three suits, if you count Zel too :D
Cant wait for my latest from you (: