1.  Who is Ayame Design Studio?

My name is Tom Hikido and I am a freelance designer doing business under the name of Ayame Design Studio. I have over 17 years of mechanical design experience spanning many different industries from research to military to aerospace. Companies that I have worked for include ARACOR, FMC, Impell Corp., Loral/Space Systems and Boeing. In the last 5 years, I have ventured in the computer animation arena and the exciting hot new area of web design.

2.  If my company is not in the Los Angeles area can Ayame Design Studio still do design work for us?

Yes.  With the Internet today it is very easy to conduct business with anyone in the world.  Whether your company is next door or half way around the world, I will keep in contact with your company by telephone and FAX and now with the Internet we can communicate using e-mail.  I can send you updated files via e-mail or post your project on our Project Review page (secured access) for your review.

3.  How much do you charge?

This is a very simple question and one everyone wants to know, but yet it is complex to answer.  Since Ayame Design Studio offers many different types of services the cost would depend on the type of services requested, the complexity of service required (i.e. 3D models, concept sketches, full animation, web page layout and design, etc.) and the schedule requested for completion.  I will work very closely with you to assure you are getting what you want.  Please see our Quotation Request Form for a quotation.

4.   What is your area of specialty?

The area of experience at Ayame Design Studio is in the product design development while providing the personal service and attention that every project deserves regardless of the size of the project.   Whether creating concepts for a product, developing 3D solid models or producing an animation, Ayame Design Studio takes pride in striving to generate the best solution. Ayame Design Studio's ambition is to come up with mechanical solutions to unique problems and tap the power of the Internet to bring mechanical design and web design together.

5.  What types of animation does Ayame Design Studio do?

Ayame Design Studio produces technical animations.  The main focus of this type of animation will display a customer's product and be used for visualization purpose to help show the intent of the design. An example could be an animation showing how a product is assembled. An animation can be a very useful evaluation tool for evaluating a design or the different phases of the design without spending too much capital and time on mockups and prototypes.

6.  Does Ayame Design Studio have in-house manufacturing and prototype building capabilities?

Ayame Design Studio does not have in-house manufacturing capabilities, but I have various contacts in which I can oversee the production of prototypes.  So if a customer's desire is to have an idea developed from concept to finished working prototype, Ayame Design Studio can support the effort from start to finish. I have partnered with QuickPart.com who can provided Rapid Proyotype parts in the form of stereolithography.

If you have additional questions please e-mail me at info@AyameDesign.com and I will try to answer them or if I cannot, I'll try to send you in the right direction to find your answers.