Saturday, October 31, 2009

What Is Industrial Design?

By Leticia Bernabe

Industrial design applies a blend of art and science for working upon a product in a way that there is an addition to its commercial value through improved looks and functionality. It comes to use both for products that are under development and those that are already in the market.

The primary consideration of industrial design is the way in which the customer will relate to the product. It means the consumers should consider the products as something desirable and worth paying for. This optimization is achieved by adding new features to the product to make it more useful, and by enhancing its appearance so that it becomes more attractive to customers.

The first step in the direction of coming up with more desirable products is to undertake a detailed market research on the buying habits of consumers. This should be succeeded by other features like sketching, sampling, and a round of testing before the product is ready for promotion. Nowadays, there is a growing trend of making use of 3D software and CAD programs for making these jobs easier.

The primary goal of industrial design is enhancing the overall feel of the product. Designers need to focus upon a lot of factors other than the looks of the product. These include sturdiness, utility, ergonomics and the convenience of usage of the product. Designers can also reduce the manufacturing cost by bringing about some alterations in the design of the commodity.

Industrial design also includes other features like packaging a product, study of a consumer's psychological reaction towards a product, and his or her degree of emotional attachment to the item. Therefore, industrial designers have to undergo a rigorous training for many years before being assigned a live project.

Some of the well known industrial designers are Raymond Loewy, designer of the Coca-Cola bottle, Jonathan Ive, credited with designing the iMac and Brooks Stevens, the most accredited designer of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

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