Industrial design

Industrial design (often also called product design) is the discipline that shapes the form, proportions, ergonomics, controls and appearance of products intended for series production. It deals with how a product looks, how it feels in the hand, how it is operated and how the user understands it. Unlike mechanical design, which handles the internal layout, strength, tolerances and manufacturability of individual parts, industrial design works mainly with the external form and the user experience.

The work usually starts with user and competitor research, continues with sketches, concepts, renderings and form models (made of foam, modeling clay or 3D printed) and ends with an accurate 3D model of the exterior surfaces, typically built with surface modeling. It also tends to include a color, material and finish (CMF) specification: the color shade, gloss level, texture and any printing or labeling.

The industrial design output is handed over to a mechanical design engineer, who turns it into manufacturable parts by adding wall thicknesses, draft angles, parting lines, ribs, assembly features and mounting for the internal components. The best results come when the designer and the engineer work in parallel and the form is tuned to the internal packaging and the manufacturing process from the start, not as an afterthought.

The appearance of a product can be protected as a registered design. In the EU this is possible for the whole Union through the EUIPO or through national offices, and in the UK through the UK Intellectual Property Office; in both, protection is renewed every five years up to a maximum of 25 years. The US equivalent is a design patent. A registered design protects appearance only; the technical solution is protected by a patent or, in countries that offer one, a utility model.

Industrial design pays off most for products the user handles directly: hand tools and handheld devices, consumer electronics, control panels, machine enclosures, laboratory instruments, and products whose appearance carries the brand and sets them apart from the competition. For industrial machines and equipment it focuses mainly on enclosures, controls, clear status indication, operator safety and access for maintenance.

Bring the designer in at the start, in the concept phase, when the overall product architecture is being decided. If the designer only arrives once the internal design is finished, all that is left is to wrap it in a housing. On the other hand, internal parts the user never touches (brackets, frames, parts hidden under covers) usually do not need separate industrial design work.

The most expensive mistake is approving a design from renderings without regard to manufacturing. Sharp edges, zero draft, large glossy surfaces or thin decorative details may call for a complex mold with side actions or costly finishing, and glossy surfaces clearly show sink marks and flow lines. Deeper mold textures also require larger draft angles. Before freezing the form, have a design engineer or the toolmaker review manufacturability.

Approve colors and finishes on physical samples, not on screen (color and texture swatches, a full-size visual prototype). When handing the design over to suppliers, agree on the 3D model format, a CMF specification with color and texture references, the gap and flush requirements between visible parts, and who approves form changes requested by engineering or production.