Designing products is always challenging. Perhaps it’s industrial design, medical product design or other projects in the industry, a number of personalities and talents are required to create the next best wonder widget. Talented product designers must be empathetic, observant, open-minded, analytical and creative. Plus, they must be convincing, opinionated, stubborn and extremely creative. But, another trait that is often overlooked is being a great communicator. Yes, designers must be good communicators with project team members as well as with their customers. Effective communication requires insight into another person’s perceptions and thought processes. Therefore a designer must also be perceptive
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Monthly Archives January 2020
Product Branding: What Does It Really Mean?
Everyone has heard the term “product branding.” These words are often used by marketing companies, advertising firms, industrial design firms and the media. But what does product branding really mean and how is it affected by product design? Product branding refers to the instantaneous association you make between a product and its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Corporations have discovered how effective product branding is as part of their marketing strategy, and utilize it as an extremely important marketing tool. Product branding plays such an important part of sales and marketing that companies invest hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars
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Top Six Capabilities Designers Want in Custom Rotational Molders
Over the years, I’ve designed many rotational molded parts and projects. And I’ve worked with dozens of molders throughout the country. Although the process is called rotational molding, each molder is actually unique. Their work is based on a plan layout, staff, equipment, business model, preference of resins and capabilities. The United States claims to have more than 400 rotational molders, but only a small percentage of this list are willing or capable of molding complex custom molded plastic parts. Many custom molders, for example, require high production minimum orders before quoting a potential project. Some molders limit part size,
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Starting Gate: How to Successfully Begin Product Design
Clearly, the most critical phase of any design project is the first step. At the starting gate is when you set the all-important criteria and some concepts for your product design. Accurately defining specifications is absolutely essential for launching any successful industrial design project. The first step is clearly defining what it is you’re after because without knowing that, you’ll never get it. It’s surprising, but this step is either trivialized or omitted in the design process. I often work with companies developing a new product based on a sketchy description of what it is and how it should perform.
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