PRODUCT DESIGN

Product Design is about creating the products we use. Almost anything which is designed and made can be described as a  product.

Most products are made for sale. Just making a list of the things that we buy each week, or a list of the things we use at home, at work, or in our leisure time will give an indication of the vast range of products on offer. 

Product Designers and manufacturers put a great deal of time, money and energy into making sure that their products meet the needs of as many people as possible. A successful designer needs to produce ideas for products which are appealing, safe, easy to use and easy to understand.

Designers generally have two types of idea.

Most product design stems from the latter. The original suggestion for a new product or an improved design is usually provided by a client. The client may be an individual or a large company. 

Product designers may work on their own to produce ideas for the whole solution, or as part of a much larger design team where each team member is allocated a particular task to work on.

 When the designer or designers start work on a project they meet with the client to discuss exactly what is required. If you have followed a GCSE course in Design and Technology, you will already have some understanding of the design process. It is at this stage that a brief is agreed.

 It is the job of a product designer  to create the ideas for his or her client. Designers must be able to 'sell' their ideas to their clients. This will involve spending a great deal of time drawing and modelling. Initially this may involve just conceptual drawing and modelling, but once the idea has been 'sold', much more detailed work needs to be done on investigating suitable materials and methods of manufacture. Finally the whole project is presented to the client for assessment. At this stage the client will do one of three things:

Product design is never easy. Not only must a solution solve the original brief, it must do so economically and safely. The materials chosen need to be suitable and the method of manufacture needs to be appropriate to both the form and function of the proposed product.

As a Product Designer you will find that many of these things appear to be in conflict. This section of the Web is designed to provide you with some of the knowledge and understanding you will need to try to make informed decisions about all these competing factors.