Specifying the optimum plastic material selection for a medical device is a critical decision for any designer or engineer. A design must choose the optimum material form the hundreds of thousands of commercially available plastic materials on the market. He or she must make this selection based on dozens of complex design criteria with the certainty that their final decision will satisfy all the product specifications. This panel discussion on plastic material selection was one of the best-attended presentations held at the 2019 MD&D Show in New York’s Jacob Javits Center. Michael Paloian challenged four of the plastics industry’s leaders
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Monthly Archives June 2019
Aesthetics, Psychology and Perception in Industrial Design
Many companies continually search for designs and images that appeal to the masses. For that perspective, it’s important to look at the interrelationship between aesthetics, psychology and perception in industrial design. Although I am not a psychologist I am deeply involved in design and aesthetics. The products I design must be appealing to my clients as well as their customers. They must communicate a specific image based on a product, its market, and its intended use. Two research psychologists at the University of Berkeley—Steve Palmer and Art Shimamura—conducted extensive research on the psychology of art and aesthetics. Their findings led
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Blog, Ergonomics, and Industrial Design.
How to Design with Passion and Love It
Isn’t every industrial designer fueled by creative passion? Well…not always. It takes hard work, courage, knowledge, talent and vision to design a product that embodies your personality. Designing with passion means that you are willing to make a bold, creative statement that reflects your sense of taste and appreciation of beauty expressed through your design. You are also willing to run the risk of being rejected, criticized, possibly ridiculed, or laughed that by those commenting on your creation. A rejection of your design is symbolic of a rejection of you as a person and can be hurtful at times. It’s
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The One Industrial Design Skill That Can’t Be Taught
There is a unique human quality that, hopefully, is woven into the fabric of the industrial design skill of individuals. To a greater or lesser degree, it provides each individual with the ability to change our environment. I’ve written countless industrial design articles during the past ten years and I realized that one of the most critical elements for great design has rarely been mentioned in any of my articles. The quality I am referring to is imagination. In my experience, the application and enhancement of imaginative skills to creative design solutions can be elusive. It seems that imagination could
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Embracing Your Highly Productive Industrial Design Partners
In industrial design, you always have industrial design partners. Great designs are always created by the collective effort of individuals willing to share their knowledge, creativity, and insight with the dedicated purpose of attaining the elusive perfect design. I have designed more than 300 products and thousands of plastic parts throughout my career. I can confidently say that no product design can be credited exclusively to one person. Every product and project has always included at least one, or frequently several individuals at various stages throughout the process. In any project, designers establish a vision, and they create the pathway
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Top Ten Most Important Considerations for Outsourcing Medical Design
Outsourcing medical design and development is extremely beneficial if the right design firm is selected. External creative input typically provides an in-house design team with a different perspective, new ideas and specialized expertise. If the right design firm is chosen, project costs can be more easily controlled, overhead can be reduced, and schedules can be met. Outsourcing also motivates in-house designers and engineers to be more productive on their own projects. The key underlying challenge is identifying the “right” firm or partner. This paper will hopefully provide you with some insightful parameters to consider next time you are selecting a
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