Make it
I’ve learned that great products don’t come from a single sketch. They come from assembling the right people and creating the right conditions for an idea to take shape. That’s why I built Canard Studios. My role is to spot potential, connect the best designers, engineers, and makers, and guide a product from first thought to final form. It’s not about doing everything myself—it’s about knowing what belongs together. Taste, coordination, and commitment are what carry an idea all the way through.
At Canard Studios, we take concepts, whether they’re our own or brought to us, and turn them into real products. Our model is simple: partners work with us on a royalty basis, or we invest directly in the concept or brand. In every case, we’re more than designers—we’re producers. We assemble the right mix of vision, design, engineering, and manufacturing to create products worth bringing into the world. The result: ideas refined with taste, built with precision, and supported with conviction.
Canard Studios exists to create the things we want to see in the world
We bring together designers, engineers, and makers from around the world. Though based in Paris, our network stretches far wider—partners in London, Lisbon, Los Angeles, and beyond. Talent is chosen not by proximity, but by fit: the right people for the right idea. The result is a team built around the product, not the other way around.
Every product is only as strong as the team behind it.
Build
Something Real
Design. Make. Invest.
Dream it.
Every product starts with an idea. We help shape that spark into something real—challenging assumptions, refining possibilities, and designing with intention. Together, we give form to the vision and clarity to the concept.
Build it.
An idea is only as strong as its execution. We guide the process from prototype to production—engineering, testing, and developing every detail. Our role is making sure design holds up in the real world.
Back it.
We don’t just hand over a design and move on. We commit. Sometimes that means direct investment, sometimes a revenue share, always skin in the game. If we’ve designed it, we stand behind it.
Lon McGowan
Lon is the founder and producer, bringing together the right designers, engineers, and makers to turn ideas into products. With a background spanning design, entrepreneurship, and investment, he guides projects from concept to market with a sharp eye for taste and detail. His role is less about doing everything himself and more about knowing what belongs together—and making sure it gets made.
Dory Troutman
Dory keeps the numbers—and the rules—on our side. With deep expertise in accounting and compliance, she ensures every project runs on solid financial ground. Her attention to detail and steady oversight give the creative work room to move, while keeping the business behind it precise and accountable.
Alumni
The strength of Canard Studios has always been the people who’ve shaped it. Over the years, talented designers, creatives, and makers have passed through our doors, each leaving their mark on the products and brands we’ve brought to life.
Jim Heekin
Jon Baker
Sarah Colbert
Brett Russell
Andrea Potas
Justin McKinley
