One question we often hear is, “How do I get my knife design reproduced by a factory knife company?” Here’s your answer.

In the BLADE Show University class “Your Design Into Production” with custom knifemaker Brian Tighe and CRKT founder and chairman Rod Bremer, you can learn straight from the horses’ mouths the ins and outs, ups and downs and other facts concerning the process.

Like most of the classes that will be held during the 3rd Annual BLADE University at this year’s 35th Annual BLADE Show June 3-5 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Bremer and Tighe’s class will be taught by those who have been there/done that. Tighe has had quite a few of his designs reproduced by CRKT, including the 2015 BLADE Show Knife, and he and Bremer have worked together on all of them.

“Our hope is that anyone attending this session will have a basic understanding of what expectations might be from both the production knife company and the custom knifemaker/designer,” Bremer notes. “We will be reviewing typical licensing agreements, intellectual property issues, how best to present your idea/design to a production knife company, and typical marketing and sales expectations.

“We would hope that the attendee would leave the class with a solid understanding of how a potential collaboration might work with a production knife brand. During the class we will approach the entire subject of the basics of how to bring your very cool/innovative design to a brand and to potentially design a knife to a brand’s needs, as well as developing a design around the company’s set criteria. While all companies operate differently, we will explore the likely ways to submit your designs/ideas so that they receive the attention they deserve, along with the realities that it takes time. Clearly, factories have limitations based on manufacturing and materials, and while we won’t get into great detail, the subject will be addressed. The very nature of a collaboration is somewhat of a marriage, and both parties want to make sure that they will be happy working with and representing each other.”

You can sign up for BLADE U. classes online at bladeshow.com or stop by the Registration Counter at the BLADE Show.