Hawkshead Designs Ltd

Electronic Product Design

Modern and original product ideas almost always have an electronic component to them, and this is where one of our most important skill sets can help to develop your concept. Our development process may include market research, guidance on the target users' experience, creating an intuitive user interface, and an appealing aesthetic. Our experience will turn your initial thoughts into a technically feasible, commercially viable and future proof product. 

We employ a multi-discplined team to be able to take your concept right through to production. Our team are highly skilled and leaders within their field, making sure you get the product you want for the right price and within a suitable timeframe. 

The process normally flows something like this: 

• Initial concept development
• Market research
• Visualisations
• Electronic design
• Proof of concept / prototype build
• Mechanical and industrial design
• Hardware design
• Software / user interface design
• Compliance testing (CE)
• Manual writing / sales training
• Production sourcing / handover

We appreciate it is your project and if you have other providers in mind for particular stages in the process, we are more than willing to collaborate to get you the product you desire.  

Audio Product Design

We are major players within the UK audio markets, with our designs used to produce mass-market budget appliances, right through to high end audiophile. One of our specialisms is in amplifications, where we have used our skills to produce mixing desks for professionals, and to review In Car Entertainment systems. The audience for our designs is diverse, with our designs intended for humans found in all forms of transport, having stood up to rigorous testing and scrutiny. Noise cancelling is one of our more recent endeavours. We have also developed audio systems intended for computer signalling for security purposes, in harsh and industrial environments, for 100%, 24/7 reliability.

Audio design requires a wealth of experience in many different disciplines in order to produce and then measure the results of a new device. The best test of a great audio system is always the human ear. 

Product Review / Redesign

Products from time to time need updating, adaptation for changing markets, or they could be improved. If you believe your product comes under one of these headings, then our product review and redesign service would be a worthwhile investment in your products future. We will enter a mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect your confidentiality and ours when reviewing and improving your product, which is less expensive and not as time-consuming as you may think. 

Our review service has been used by publications for features and reports, and by companies looking into future improvements that could be made, and to identify weaknesses in the current product. 

FPGA / CPLD Design

One of the areas in which we specialise is the design of CPLDs (Complex Programmable Logic Devices) and FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), and we have a great deal of experience implementing them within electronic products. With an FPGA or CPLD integrated in your product design you can:

• Reduce time to market
• Reduce prototyping and build costs
• Increase processing performance
• Increase reliability and flexibility
• Reduce long-term maintenance requirements

You can find out more about the advantages of using FPGAs/CPLDs by visiting Hawskhead Designs online.