One thing you’ll probably notice if you’ve followed Arts to Embers for a while is that many of today’s products aren’t exactly the same as when I first released them.
Some have been refined.
Some have been completely redesigned.
Others quietly disappeared because they never became the product I hoped they could be.
That’s intentional.
When I design something, I’m not searching for perfection.
I’m searching for the best solution I know how to build today.
The important part is today.
Sometimes I simply don’t have the knowledge I need to solve a problem better.
One example is magnets.
For years I wanted to create palettes that could work with magnetic watercolor pans, but every solution I experimented with felt like a compromise. It wasn’t until I redesigned the core of my palettes and added the small circular recess beneath each pan that everything clicked. That one change created room for either reusable mounting putty or optional magnets, giving artists more flexibility without changing how the palette worked.
The idea wasn’t new.
The understanding was.
That’s something I’ve experienced over and over again.
I have an entire box of prototypes that may never become products.
Not because they failed.
But because they’re waiting for me to learn something I don’t know yet.
Every new design teaches me something I can bring back to an older one.
A technique I discovered while solving one problem often becomes the missing piece for another product that has been sitting on the shelf for months—or even years.
That’s one of the reasons I continue designing with 3D printing.
To me, it isn’t just a manufacturing process.
It’s a way to keep learning.
It allows me to refine a design, test an idea, listen to customer feedback, and make improvements without committing to thousands of identical parts.
Every revision teaches me something.
Every customer conversation teaches me something.
Not every suggestion becomes a feature, but every piece of feedback helps me become a better designer.
Years ago I felt pressure to release as many products as I could.
Today my focus is very different.
I already have more ideas than I’ll probably ever have time to build.
That means I can be selective.
I can spend more time refining instead of rushing.
I can choose products that deserve to exist instead of simply adding another listing.
Because I’ve realized that great design isn’t about building the biggest catalog.
It’s about building tools that earn their place.
If one thoughtful revision removes a small barrier and helps someone create more often, that’s worth far more to me than releasing five new products that don’t.
That’s the kind of business I want to keep building.
Not just for this year.
But for the next ten or fifteen.
-Zak