INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Unless you've come up with something original, your product is going to have competitors in the market. Get those products and disassemble them. If you're building a jetpack, unscrew a competing jetpack. Look at the materials used and how you can save time and improve upon your design. Similarly, for electronic products such as websites or applications, dig into the coding. Find out the ways you can improve the product to make yours more successful. Don't copy someone else's design, or else you'll get sued. Incorporate what you learn to refine your own design. Write or type out your product's ideas on a piece of paper. Draw what your product will look like, if you can. This will give you a rough idea of how the first prototype will look and allow you catch flaws and ways to improve the design before you invest in building a prototype. Use the sketch to decide upon what features are necessary to your design. Choose the few features that allow your design to function and limit the amount of costly extras, such as painting and adding voice commands to your robot vacuum design. CAD requires specialized training, so a professional can help you with this. The computer design is much more detailed than your initial sketch. This is the design you will give to the prototype maker in order to get the most clear and detailed idea of your product. If your product isn't something you'll be able to make at home on your own, you'll need this. Be sure to check the credentials of your designer as well as their cost per hour. Ask for examples of their work and possibly credentials from a certified CAD school program. The first example of your prototype may be made at home and can be made in miniature to save money. Physical products can be made with whatever you have laying around your house, such as making your leather handbag design out of some nylon clothing you're not using. Having a sample design of your product makes it easier to explain to prototype designers and investors and will give you another chance to refine your design. At this point, the design doesn't need to be perfect. This handmade design only needs to be presentable, showing that your idea is possible. Using alternate material from your original design forces you to test your idea and consider why you made it the way you did. You may even find that the nylon works better than the leather for your handbag. For physical products, choose a cheap modeling product such as Shapelock, which when treated with heat can be molded like clay. For electronic products, search for third-party programming libraries in order to save time on coding and image design. Fill in these parts later. While making a physical design by hand is an option, thanks to technology, you can use computer software to make a digital prototype. Various types of software take your idea, either drawn out on paper or inside the software itself, and turn it into a 3D, interactive design at less time and cost than making it yourself or hiring help. Programs such as Prototyping on Paper and InVision let you upload designs and make interactive models to mimic how customers will handle your product. Try programs such as Dribbble and Freebiesbug to buy user interfaces for mobile applications in order to save time or money spent on a designer. Use a program such as Skala Preview to monitor changes you make to your design as you work.

SUMMARY: Take apart competing products. Make a sketch of your product. Obtain a computer-aided design (CAD) of your prototype. Create a handmade version of your design. Use a modeling program.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The internet has made shopping so easy you can add to your collection from the comfort of your own home. Start by looking in online forums; collectors are often willing to trade for new items or to sell items they currently own. Ebay is a great place to look for pieces. You can pay outright for items, or bid slowly to try to get the best deal possible. The con to using Ebay is that you don't get to see the item in person before purchasing. Craigslist is a great option to buy pieces as well. You can search by your location, or if you're willing to travel a little further, you can expand your search to a nearby state. The added benefit of shopping on Craigslist is you get to see the item in person before committing to buying that item. While most mainstream stores won't carry the niche pieces you're looking for, there are still plenty of places to look. Try visiting Flea Markets in your area, as well as antique stores and thrift stores. On weekends, visit garage and estate sales. Finally, check online to see if there will be any collector shows happening in your area. Collector shows are great ways to meet people within your collection community, and possibly get a new piece out of the deal. When shopping at antique or thrift stores, make sure you dig through every item. The gold is often buried amongst the garbage. Arrive early at garage and estate sales; the best pieces tend to go early. Come back on Sunday, sometimes the owners of the sale will drop their prices to rid themselves of their inventory. Collecting can be an expensive hobby and many people dive right in. Instead, start off slow and aim to only pick up a few pieces each year. This will prevent you from wasting money, burning out and ending up with a lot of items you don't need or value. Consider only adding to your collection while on vacation. This way, you tie pieces of your collection to fun memories from your travels. Collect from experiences. Pick a collection that doesn't cost any money. Consider collecting matchbooks from restaurants or coasters from bars. Collect seashells from your beach vacations or rocks from cool hikes. Your collection doesn't have to be expensive to have personal value. When adding to your collection, learn a fact about the item you're adding. This will give you something to talk about when showing off your collection to others and will also make the collection experience more personal for you. When shopping for pieces, stock up on extras whenever you can. You can use these duplicates as leverage when trading with other collectors. Part of having a collection is refining it. Edit out old pieces you no longer care about to make room for new ones. Sell the old ones on Craigslist or Ebay, or take them to a pawnshop to have them appraised. Use the money you earn to add a new piece to your collection.

SUMMARY: Shop for pieces online. Shop for items in person. Start cheap and work your way up. Know your items.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Pinch the fabric between your thumb and your two fingers. The section of fabric you are squeezing should be where the two sides of the band overlap. If you are only grasping one layer of fabric, nothing will happen when you try to unhook the bra.

SUMMARY: Place your thumb on the other side of the band.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: To protect your plywood sheets from warping, the best way to store them is by laying them flat. Moisture can seep up through the earth, causing your plywood to rot. You can use any size lumber you have, as long as it creates a frame that is big enough to contain the plywood. Space your lumber about 2 feet (0.61m) apart to ensure it's supported enough that it doesn't sag. If you want to keep your plywood laying flat but you don't have enough room on the floor, you can install a rack on the ceiling of your garage. This will keep the plywood out of your way while still protecting it from warping. You can purchase a hanging storage storage rack from a hardware store for around $100 USD, or you can design and build a custom rack if you prefer. Most ceiling beams can safely support about 160 pounds (73kg). This means you can safely store 3 sheets of 12in (1.3cm) thick plywood, or 2 sheets if they are 58in (1.6cm) thick.

SUMMARY:
Section off a 4 by 8ft (1.2 by 2.4m) section of your garage floor. Use lumber to create a base that will keep the plywood off the ground. Store your plywood overhead if you don't have the floor space.