Why Industrial Design is Essential for Modern Product Development?
Industrial design blends creativity, functionality, and user-focused thinking to create products that are both attractive and practical. Industrial design is crucial in product development, bridging form and function. It creates products that meet needs and connect emotionally with consumers, leading to iconic designs like Coca-Cola’s contour bottle. It also enhances ergonomics, as seen in the Herman Miller Aeron Chair.
Industrial design helps companies stand out. It enables material innovation and integrates technologies like 3D printing and AI-driven design. Ultimately, industrial design is about solving problems, improving lives, and shaping how we interact with the world.
In this blog, experts at Cubein explain what makes products developed using industrial design stand apart in the competitive market and why modern product development based on industrial design is a sure-shot way to make products that click with the audience.
7 Reasons Why Industrial Design is Essential to Modern Product Development
The term Industrial design, coined by Joseph Claude Sinel in 1919 was majorly used to signify large-scale product design and development while considering usability, functionality, manufacturability, and aesthetics. Since then, industrial design innovations have made the world sit up and take notice, and with approx. 1.14 million industrial design applications worldwide in 2024, product companies are looking at adding finesse to their products, powered by industrial product designs.
Bugatti’s 3D-printed titanium brake caliper, considered to be the world’s most powerful, Adidas’s 3D-printed 4D midsole, Nike’s Nike Vapor HyperAgility Cleat, and many other unique best-selling products stand testimony to the immense use cases that industrial designs have. These products bring forward the ability of 3D-printed industrial product design to test, iterate, and create complex shapes using varied materials.
#1 Function Meets Form
Industrial design is the preferred choice for product companies as it brings the best of usability with aesthetics to the fore. Industrial designers use their expertise to deliver designs that fit customer needs in terms of form and function. Industrial product designs are made for the masses and the product appeal transcends global boundaries and raises consumer engagement. Gillette’s 3D-printed customizable razor handles are a perfect example of where function meets form. It allows customers to choose from multiple designs, colors, and engravings.
#2 Iconic Product Designs
Each year 95 percent of the new products that reach the market fail. One of the reasons is the lack of product-market fit. This is what new entrants and product companies need to collaborate with industrial design companies like Cubein, which are abreast with the trends, and market needs and are competent in delivering sustainable prototypes and product designs. Iconic designs are a result of strong technical and design acumen, a feature of industrial design companies. The best industrial design company like Cubein can help you create memorable products that reinforce brand identity, leading to increased customer loyalty and recognition.
Coca-Cola’s iconic contour bottle design is a classic example of how the right industrial design can instantly be recognizable worldwide and exemplifies how industrial design contributes to a brand’s unique identity.
#3 Enhanced Ergonomics and User Comfort
While product functionality is a prime factor that determines how well it connects with the user, a more prominent factor that determines quick consumer uptake is the ease of use. Industrial designs allow room for testing of ergonomic performance during the initial phase. Industrial designers give preference to user comfort and human-centered designs, especially for products that are made for frequent or long use. The Herman Miller Aeron Chair with injection molded seat frames and support structures is known for its ergonomic design, this chair reduces strain during prolonged use, demonstrating how industrial design enhances comfort.
#4 Innovation with Materials
Material innovation is another key feature that is only possible through high-end industrial designs, with companies engaged in product innovation having an average success rate of 76%. Industrial designers use their expertise to design advanced products based on functionality. Some products may need to be lightweight, while brand requirements may need the use of sustainable materials.
Ducati’s 3D-printed motorcycle parts made of carbon fiber-reinforced nylon composite is an example of industrial design expertise at display. The custom brackets and parts with complex geometries are designed using strong, lightweight carbon fiber-reinforced components, thus delivering the advantage of high strength-to-weight ratios without adding excess weight.
#5 Modernized Production with Industrial Design
Efficiency is a key component that equates to profit. Mass production of products in time for the market becomes possible and products turn out to be cost-effective if industrial designs are used for manufacturing. BMW’s customized 3D-printed car parts use the advantage of quick replacement and custom parts on demand, reducing the need for large inventories and allowing for quick delivery of parts.
#6 Technology For Best Results
Industrial designers use the best of technology and tools, like AI industrial design approach, computer-aided design (CAD) software, 3D printing, and injection molding, to bring products that ace in all departments from innovation, aesthetics, and functionality to ergonomics. Industrial designers test and modify designs and iterate to bring unique designs and customized products. Adidas creates custom, high-performance shoes that demonstrate the possibilities of modern industrial design.
#7 Competitive Advantage in Crowded Markets
How well does your product solve consumer pain points? Does your design come with unique product differentiation? Is your product design in sync with the modern consumer’s choice? Can it rank in market appeal? A professional industrial design company will help you address and find solutions to all these queries and many others, and help you create a competitive advantage by standing out in crowded markets. Apple iPhone revolutionized the smartphone market with its design, performance, functionality, and minimalistic beauty, making it a global sensation and capturing global markets.
Cubein— Industrial Design Expertise That Brings Results
Industrial design has moved by leaps and bounds from the conventional mass production era to the design of sleek, modern products that speak quality and ease of use. Today industrial design companies are evolving and adopting digital design tools, AR/VR, and keeping pace with the need for sustainable designs.
At Cubein, we deliver industrial designs that consider all these along with product durability and cost-effectiveness, so that you can get maximum benefit out of your investments. Cubein, as a leading ODM and industrial design company, has set a global benchmark in industrial design and brought the vision of product companies and OEMs to reality through a combination of industrial product design expertise, innovation, and technological acumen.
At Cubein, we can help you bring your innovative product idea into reality. Connect with our experts today to capture new product design opportunities.
