Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufacture or production of the product. Industrial manufacture consists of pre-determined, standardized and repeated, often automated, acts of replication, while craft-based design is a process or approach in which the form of the product is determined personally by the product's creator largely concurrent with the act of its production.
Calculator Olivetti Divisumma 24 designed in 1956 by Marcello Nizzoli
A Fender Stratocaster with sunburst finish, one of the most widely recognized electric guitars in the world
Model 1300 Volkswagen Beetle
Olivetti Valentine typewriter
A design is the concept of or proposal for an object, process, or system. Design refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, though it is sometimes used to refer to the nature of something – its design. The verb to design expresses the process of developing a design. In some cases, the direct construction of an object without an explicit prior plan may also be considered to be a design. A design is expected to have a purpose within a certain context, usually having to satisfy certain goals and constraints, and to take into account aesthetic, functional, economic, environmental or socio-political considerations. Typical examples of designs include architectural and engineering drawings, circuit diagrams, sewing patterns, and less tangible artefacts such as business process models.
Braun ABW30 wall clock designed by Dieter Rams and Dietrich Lubs [de] (early 1980s)
Victorinox Swiss Army knife
Cutlery designed by architect and designer Zaha Hadid (2007). The slightly oblique end part of the fork and the spoons, as well as the knife handle, are examples of designing for both aesthetic form and practical function.
Early concept design sketches by the architect Erling Viksjø, exploring the relationships between existing and proposed new buildings