Posts by Michael Paloian

Aesthetics, Psychology and Perception in Industrial Design

June 24, 2019 | by | Comments Off on 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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Categories: Blog, Ergonomics, and Industrial Design.

How to Design with Passion and Love It

June 14, 2019 | by | Comments Off on 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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Categories: Blog, Ergonomics, Industrial Design, Medical Product Design, Plastic Design, and Rotational Molding.
Tags: blog, Industrial Design, and Plastic Design.

The One Industrial Design Skill That Can’t Be Taught

June 13, 2019 | by | Comments Off on 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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Categories: Blog, Industrial Design, Medical Product Design, Plastic Design, and Uncategorized.

Embracing Your Highly Productive Industrial Design Partners

June 10, 2019 | by | Comments Off on 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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Categories: Blog, Industrial Design, Plastic Design, and Uncategorized.

Top Ten Most Important Considerations for Outsourcing Medical Design

June 5, 2019 | by | Comments Off on 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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Categories: Blog, Industrial Design, Medical Product Design, and Plastic Design.
Tags: blog, Industrial Design, Medical Product Design, and Plastic Design.

Creating a Preschool Version of Classic Qdesk Design

May 23, 2019 | by | Comments Off on Creating a Preschool Version of Classic Qdesk Design

by Michael Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems This project serves as an excellent example of how a vision, cooperation, great communication, and technical expertise can result in successful products. The classic Qdesk design—adapted for a new consumer market—is the focus of this Case Study. Qproducts LLC is a multinational organization dedicated to designing, manufacturing and licensing unique eco-friendly products. Their manufacturing plant is located in Venezuela and its marketing offices in Clearwater Florida. Their flagship product is a one-piece rotationally molded school desk, which was originated by its founder Benedetto Lombardo. He successfully marketed it throughout South America, Mexico, and
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Categories: Blog, Ergonomics, Industrial Design, Plastic Design, and Rotational Molding.
Tags: blog, Ergonomics, Industrial Design, Plastic Design, and Rotational Molding.

Breaking the Dull Barrier: Dynamics of Color Selection and Graphic Design

May 20, 2019 | by | Comments Off on Breaking the Dull Barrier: Dynamics of Color Selection and Graphic Design

by Michael Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems When engineers refer to design they are typically thinking about how the part will be created or how it will perform after it is manufactured. Their concerns are typically focused on part geometry, material properties and other technical parameters. However, most consumers and managers are usually influenced by how the product looks. The subtle engineering and complex performance issues usually go unnoticed. Typically, they have little effect on customer satisfaction or their influence on the purchase decision. On the other hand, color and graphic design do have a major influence on product identity,
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Categories: Blog, Industrial Design, and Plastic Design.
Tags: blog, Industrial Design, and Plastic Design.

Human Factors in Product Design: Begin with the End (User) in Mind

May 18, 2019 | by | Comments Off on Human Factors in Product Design: Begin with the End (User) in Mind

by Michael Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems How many times have you used a tool, appliance or vehicle and wondered why it was so uncomfortable or difficult to use? Conversely, how often have you taken notice of how easy it was to operate a remote control device, operate a power tool or interact with the dashboard of your rental car? It’s human nature to remember the bad experiences, but not to take notice of the good ones. That is unless they are exceptionally pleasurable. That’s because human factors are subjective, and are an essential design consideration for most products to
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Categories: Blog, Ergonomics, and Industrial Design.
Tags: blog, Ergonomics, and Industrial Design.

Making the Case for Exceptional Product Design

May 16, 2019 | by | Comments Off on Making the Case for Exceptional Product Design

by Michael Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems Pardon my soapbox, but in my opinion, good design is vital, but an often-neglected, consideration in many product applications. Here’s why excellence in the design must not be a poor relative in early product planning. Consider this: All products are born from someone’s imagination to satisfy a particular market need. Sometimes that need is functional, other times it is to lower cost or sometimes it is purely a matter of style. No matter how a product idea is germinated, every product must be designed. Ultimately, the design will have a major effect on
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Categories: Blog, Industrial Design, and Medical Product Design.
Tags: Industrial Design.

Healthcare Product Design: The Chemistry of Applying the Human Element

May 6, 2019 | by | Comments Off on Healthcare Product Design: The Chemistry of Applying the Human Element

by Michael Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems This brief article highlights the importance of human factors and their effect on healthcare product design. The broad term “healthcare products” embraces everything from disposable syringes to multimillion-dollar MRI machines. Some products are microscopic in size while others can fill a room. Despite the wide range of cost, size, shape or complexity, all of these products have one thing in common: the human element. Human Factors – designing healthcare products for people These are people products. People interact with healthcare products as clinicians or patients. It’s essential that these devices be designed for
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Categories: Blog, Industrial Design, and Medical Product Design.
Tags: Industrial Design and Medical Product Design.