Every product you have in your home and interact with is the outcome of a design procedure. After long hours of planning, sketching, rendering, and 3D modeling, all those products have come into being. Not to mention the numerous prototypes and testing, it has finally hit the shelves. The ideation and the procedure to develop a particular product is collectively called the Industrial Product Design process or simply ‘Industrial Design’ (ID).
Industrial Product Design is the professional practice of conceptualizing and designing products, which are manufactured through mass production techniques, and eventually used by millions of people worldwide every day.
An industrial product design process incorporates inputs from diverse domains such as ergonomics, form studies, studio skills, advanced cad, research methods, design management, materials & manufacturing techniques, and social sciences.
What does an Industrial Designer do?
An industrial designer’s purpose is to emphasize— the appearance of a product, the functioning, how the product is manufactured, and the value & experience it provides for users. Their sole intent is aimed at improving your life through design. Pioneered by industrial engineers and designers, industrial product design has carried manufacturing processes through a significant transformation, without which we would not have the same living standard we have today. Industrial design optimized and streamlined mass production while bringing in artistic functionality and ergonomics, giving back aesthetically pleasing products to the masses. Industrial product designers affect our daily lives more significantly than we imagine. The prime goal of industrial product design is to increase the usability of a product while retaining pleasing aesthetics and improving already existing products.
Nowadays, companies have multidisciplinary teams consisting of strategists, planners, user interface (U)I designers, user experience (UX) designers, engineers, graphic designers, branding professionals, etc. – all working for a singular goal, which is to bring you the best product you have never had before. Such a collaboration opens doors to new ideas and perspectives and allows room for the entire evolution of a great product.
Industrial product designers collaborate with engineers, material scientists, manufacturers, and branding strategists to bring their creations to life. It takes months and sometimes years of designing, testing, reworking, and developing before the product finally hits the shelves. Industrial product design is an ever-evolving process that keeps changing with technology, market trends, and socioeconomic factors.