Sonor Drum Design Series
For those of us who were members of the Sonormuseum message board; the Drum Design was quite the buzz for some time. Ultimately, it was released as the SQ2 series. I posted a picture a few minutes ago of a concert tom kit for sale on Reverb and it got me to wondering whatever happened to Dave Kurdelak.
Dave had kept the Museum members in the loop through the Drum Design ordering right through to pictures he posted. Eventually, Sonor discovered (as I understand it) that the Drum Design designation was already spoken for, and ultimately chose SQ2. I remember when the Designer series came out and you had options for everything, it seemed and the name was catchy and familiar only in this case YOU were the designer. In wake of that, I felt like Drum Design fell flat. No ring to it. In time, SQ2 has really been fitting, in my opinion.
If you click on the link below, you will see Dave's Nicko McBrain inspired drum set. If you read the text, it seems in hindsight that they had some issues hammering out the details they had intended with the Drum Design, and it ran late being launched. According to Dave's information, there was an expectation that you would have bass drum spur options between the Designer series and Delite. Of course, the latter is the sole option. The Designer series became problematic, particularly with over-tightening and was the case with the floor tom brackets, as well on the Designers.
That bodes the question of whether the options were dropped due to potential failure of the parts, or if too much programming was required for the configurator. Even now, a third party is involved in any changes and tweaks to the configurator and all changes are meticulous with all the options, exchange rates, denominations and so on. It is in part for this reason that metal snare drum shells have not been added.
Another thing of interest in Dave's write up is that screw on mallets reportedly use the same holes as the Designer badges which is something I always wondered, but have never been sure of. Maybe someone that has done and can verify that will chime in.
A big benefit of the SQ2 over the Designer series was the configurator. As a dealer during the Designer era, I can tell you first hand that it could be stressful getting all the details nailed down with a customer, relayed to Hohner/HSS and then waiting and hoping that everything came in like it was supposed to be. There was plenty of potential anywhere through the process for something to go awry. My very first Designer order was for a member here (hope he will chime in) and he didn't get the black interior on the first attempt at his order. He was allowed to keep the drum set until they remade them. A floor tom was also cracked in the first order, which ultimately spend many years in the possession of Shane Kinney. I got the visit that drum set in person as an employee (briefly). Ironically, the first Designer Series set I sold as a dealer was a White Sparkle Birch shell set. The first SQ2 I sold as a DCP employee was a White Sparkle Birch shell set. Maybe a good topic for Coffee with Jules, soon. 
