Launch ยท Concept to printed product
Product development for kids brands and creators
Card decks, classroom kits, picture books, plush and packaging. We turn your idea into files a printer can run, manage the printer or factory for you, and check the samples before anything ships. Eight weeks, one fixed price.
$6,000
per product + 10% royalty, or $8,500 flat
Sound familiar?
- "I have the idea and the audience. I don't have a product person."
- "The printer sent a quote with thirty options and I can't tell which ones matter."
- "Our first proof came back with the words cut off at the edge of the card."
- "I've been emailing a factory for two months and we still don't have a sample."
The problem
Card printers and toy factories are good at making things. They are not set up to tell you what to make, write the spec, or catch the mistakes in your files. That gap is where most first products stall: a deck with no box decided, a book that is two pages over the printer's page count, a plush sample that comes back the wrong shape and nobody to argue with the supplier.
We sit in that gap. We are not a card deck manufacturer or a factory. We are the studio that gets you from a sketch to an approved production run: we design the product, prepare the print-ready files, get the quotes, review the proofs and samples, and sign off on mass production with you.
What's included
Concept and spec
Format, size, card or page count, paper, finish and box, chosen against the price you want to sell at and the cost per unit you can live with.
Design and layout
Card faces and backs, book spreads, kit inserts, instructions and teacher or parent guides, working from your content, sketches or illustrator.
Packaging and brand fit
Tuck box, rigid box or kit box with dielines, plus where the product sits in your line and how it reads on a shelf or a product page.
Print-ready files
Bleed, safe zones, color and dielines checked against the printer's own template before anything goes out for a final quote.
Printer and factory management
Quotes from suppliers, samples, proofs and mass-production sign-off. You pay production directly to the supplier, with no markup from us.
Quality check
We compare proofs and pre-production samples against the spec and send corrections back to the supplier until it matches.
How it runs
8 weeks
Week 1
Brief and spec
Kickoff call, target retail price, quantities and deadline. You get a written spec for the product and its packaging.
Weeks 2 to 4
Design
Concept, layout and packaging design, with your feedback built in each week. Supplier quotes run in parallel.
Weeks 5 to 6
Files and proofs
Print-ready files go to the chosen supplier. We review digital and physical proofs and fix what's off.
Weeks 7 to 8
Sample and sign-off
Pre-production sample checked against the spec, then mass-production sign-off and the shipping plan handed to you.
Price
$6,000
per product + 10% royalty, or $8,500 flat
- Royalty option: lower fee upfront, we share 10% of the product's sales.
- Flat option: $8,500 and no royalty.
- 50% to kick off, 50% on delivery. Printing, samples and freight are paid by you, directly to the supplier.
Proof
Seven products for a kids wellness brand
For Yogapalooza, a kids wellness brand that sells music, yoga and mindfulness to classrooms and families, we took seven physical products from idea to printed and sold: the Serene Sprouts Kit, a 10-card Mindfulness deck, the Peaceful Parents deck, the Puppy Palooza book and plush, and a Yoto card.
We owned the print files through mass-production sign-off, including a bleed correction on the Mindfulness deck before the run, and managed the card printer and the plush suppliers directly.
"The On It Studio is SO amazing to work with. I cannot say enough great things about them. They have enabled me to be incredibly productive. They are truly 'on it' and a dream to work with!"
Questions
- Are you a card deck manufacturer?
- No. We don't own presses. We design the deck and its box, prepare files to the printer's spec, get quotes, review proofs and sign off on production. You buy the printing directly from the manufacturer, so you see the real unit price and keep the supplier relationship.
- What does product development cost on top of printing?
- Our fee is $6,000 per product plus a 10% royalty, or $8,500 flat. Printing, samples, safety testing and freight are separate and paid by you straight to the supplier. We get quotes at a few quantities so you can see where the price per unit drops before you commit.
- Does 8 weeks include printing and shipping?
- The 8 weeks covers concept through an approved production sample and mass-production sign-off. Production run time and freight depend on the supplier, the product and the quantity, and plush has a longer sample cycle than paper goods. We put those dates in the scope before we start.
- What kinds of products can you develop?
- Card decks, classroom and activity kits, picture books and guides, plush, stickers and product packaging. These are the categories we have shipped. If your idea needs electronics or injection molding, we'll tell you on the call that we're not the right team.
- Do kids products need safety testing?
- Children's products sold in the US generally need third-party testing for their category before sale. We build the testing step into the supplier plan and the schedule. The lab is paid directly by you, like production.
- Why is there a royalty option?
- It lowers what you pay upfront. With the royalty option we take 10% of the product's sales on top of a $6,000 fee. If you'd rather keep all future sales, choose the $8,500 flat fee.
Talk it through in 15 minutes
Tell us what you need and when. You get a one-page scope with a fixed price. Or start with the free ops audit.