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Backpack Hanger Mockup Build: Using Matboard to Simulate Folded Sheet Metal Parts

“In product design, the importance of building mockups and simple prototypes cannot be underestimated,” writes industrial designer Eric Strebel. “The knowledge gained from the exercise, to touch, hold and use the object in real life, is legitimately worth the time invested.”

“Seeing what you learned from a mockup gives you a leg up in the development process before you get to CAD. It also helps you avoid pitfalls that can’t be as easily identified in CAD.”

To that end, in this video Strebel creates a mockup of a variant of his backpack hanger design that will ultimately be fabricated in sheet metal. To simulate the sheet metal, he uses simple matboard. Here’s his process: