Industrial Design - History and Future

Industrial- or Product Design is not a new discipline. It started with the serial manufacturing of goods which makes it different from craftmanship. Essentially you design an object once and it can be produced in series without a designer - which is not possible in craft. The most famous industrial design rules or principles are the "10 principles for good design" by Dieter Rams which later inspired the Apple Design philosophy.

A regular industrial design process works as follows:

  1. Initiation: Manufacturer has a product that it can or would like to produce
  2. Conceptualization: Designer is hired to give the object a form people will accept, recognize and use with ease
  3. Engineering: Designer works with product engineers to implement the design
  4. Production: The object is serial produced

Generally this is all someone needs to know about industrial design - which is very little. Industrial design was and is still an additive instead of a discipline which truly is able to rethink things. Of course a designer can't produce anything without production which is directed by manufacturers requiring large upfront sums of investment. As a result industrial design often only does what manufacturers ask them to which often enough is simply boring and unnecessary.

Many household objects haven't been rethought for ages. Instead of the object, designers should focus on the subject at hand itself. Here a few example:

  • Bed / mattress design - the problem is really good sleep and not how the bed looks
  • Washer / dryer design - the problem is really how to clean clothes and not how the washing machine works
  • Speakers - the problem is really how you enjoy music and not how the speakers look
  • Toilets - the problem is really how to dispose of matter easily
  • HVAC systems - the problem is really how to have cool or warm air
  • Air filters - the problem is really how to breathe better
  • etc.

Maybe it is time for a new form of design - a design that uses new forms of technology and ignores antiquated mental models of existing objects at the core.