Industrial Design PrimerAn introduction to the production of everyday things

Why do I need to know this stuff?

• Lessons from

history

• Insight into well

tested processes

• Inspiration

• Physical and

virtual gap is

closing

Photo credit: www.vads.ahds.ac.uk

A Brief History• A history of people, not things (mostly)

• An arbitrary selection of practioners

• No contemporary designers

Photo credit: James Vaughan

William Morris (1834 –1896)

• Independently wealthy,

romantic and idealistic.

Studied architecture,

designed furniture. Best

know for his textile

patterns.

• Socialist political agitator.

Believed that mass

production and the

industrial revolution were

the reason for the problems

in Victorian England.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be

useful, or believe to be beautiful”

Photo credit: Rob Pongsajapan

Norman Bel-Geddes (1893 - 1958)

• 1939 New York Worlds Fair -

General Motors Pavilion “Futurama”

• “Horizons” (1932)

- depression and positivism

• Introduced streamlining &

Art Deco style

Photo credits: Michael John Gorman

Henry Dreyfuss (1904 –1972)

• “Designing for People” & “The Measure

of Man”

• Phones! Model 302, Model 500,

Princess Phone

• Streamlined trains (20th Century Ltd.)

• 5 point formula for good design:

• Utility and safety

• Maintenance

• Cost

• Sales appeal

• Appearance

Photo credit: http://www.peterme.com

Photo credit: the-artists.org

George Nelson (1908-1986)

• A designer “must first make a radical and conscious

break with all the values he considers inhuman.”

• Designers must be conscious of the effects their work

has on humans and society.

• Design is “nothing more or less than a process of

relating everything to everything.”

Photo credit: Narisa Spauldingwork Photo credit Photo credit: J. Rex Brown

(Oklahoma Modern)

VICTOR PAPANEK (1927-1999)

• “Design for the Real World: Human Ecology

and Social Change” & “The Green Imperative:

Natural Design for the Real World”

• Anthropology and human needs as

foundation for design

• “Design is the conscious

and intuitive effort to impose

meaningful order”

• Form follows function,

but…that is no excuse for

austerity

• Advocated appropriate,

sustainable design that is

ethically grounded

Photo credit: http://bikesandbeers.blogspot.com/

2007/06/papaneks-3rd-werld-bike-cart.html

Appropriate Design

Photo Credit: premasagar (Flickr)

DIETER RAMS (1932-)

• Braun designer for 30+ years

• Good design…… is innovative

… makes a product useful

… is aesthetic

… helps us to understand a product

… is unobtrusive

… is honest

… is long-lasting

… is intentional and thorough to the

last detail

… is environmentally friendly

… is as little design as possible

Photo credit: Jonas Forth

Photo credit: Ged Carroll

Others• Walter Gropius (Founder of Bauhaus)

• Raymond Loewy (Streamlining, founder of Society of

Industrial Designers)

• Charles and Ray Eames (Hermann Miller furniture)

• Walter Dorwin Teague (Kodak cameras, Boeing

interiors, “Design this Day”)

• Buckminster Fuller (Dymaxion car, pre-fab house,

geodesic domes)

• Sociologists, Anthropologists, Economists,

Educators, Architects …

Standard Practice • Stage 1: Concept or schematic phase

• Stage 2: Problem-solving phase

• Stage 3: Finalizing and implementation phase

The Future of Industrial Design

Desktop Manufacturing

Conclusion• Is the Information Age simply an extension of

the Industrial Age?

Photo credit: http://arttattler.com

• It’s time to grab some

responsibility, to be an

active profession with

mature design ethics.

• It’s time to design the

kind of products we all

need.