The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

25.2. Background and Motivation of Industrial Designers

NOTE

The ability to create unique and simple solutions to complex problems is greatly emphasized in design education.

Industrial designers can be used best when you have a good understanding about what makes these individuals tick. The education and affinities of industrial designers are at least partly responsible for their distinct view of the world, and in particular, their user-centric role in the world of product development.

Training for industrial designers includes a combination of visual arts (two-and three-dimensional expression, drawing, painting, and sculpture) and liberal arts (history, psychology, sociology, and literature). Their education also includes applied sciences such as physics, materials and processes, and human factors. An industrial design curriculum, found in many universities, as well as in more arts-based colleges, focuses on a range of problem-solving projects that teach the student analytical methods, a holistic approach, researching the user's experience, "out-of-box thinking," methods of communicating ideas, and presentation techniques to express a design concept. Practical skills, such as drawing, building models in a variety of media (cardboard to wood to foam), and using computer-aided design tools are a major portion of the designer's education, all focused on effective means of developing and communicating a design.

The designer's eye seeks balance, proportion, visual interest, harmony ...