As a themed instrument, the design phase took almost a month to complete.  First, it took many days just to narrow the scope and refine the concept.  Then deciding what all the design elements will be.  This will be a nicely adorned ukulele with moons, stars and aliens!

After the concept was sketched out, I spent a couple of weeks designing the elements in Inkscape; a CAD program.  This gives me a chance to view and tweak my ideas.  It’s also a necessary step for using my new CNC machine for milling the inlays.  In one of the pictures you can see a test carve of the heel patch alien.  Looking good!