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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Archives for Plastic Design
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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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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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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Say Hello to Industrial Design: Forging Artistry with Engineering
by Michael Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems Individuals in the industry, including rotational molders, are familiar with engineers and product designers, but many are unaware of industrial designers. This is important, but sometimes misunderstood or unknown segment, of the design community. Even among those in the profession its purpose and definition are debated. Many think of industrial designers as stylists who create beautiful products that usually cannot be manufactured. Others employ industrial designers to create exotic concepts or conduct human factors studies for products. Although these perceptions are not totally incorrect, industrial designers are responsible for much more than styling
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Reimagine the Commercial Dishwasher
by Michael Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems Mike Paloian is an acomplished designer, inventor, lecturer and educator. Integrated Design Systems Inc. (IDS), is an award-winning industrial design firm with practical expertise in medical, analytical and testing, and plastic display and plastic product design. Mr. Paloian serves as Chairman, Product Design & Development for the Society of Plastics Engineers. He is a faculty member, Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and a Contributing Design Editor, RotoWorld Magazine. Better Plastic Design Challenge: Rethink the Commercial Dishwasher How to Design a Non-traditional Solution for a Better Conventional Product New markets for rotational
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Heineken Case Study: A Thirst-Quenching Plastic Display Design
This is the concept-to-completion success story of meeting the needs of the consumer exactly when they are ready to buy. And, not to spoil the tale, the hero is an internationally known brand and a unique plastic display design. Mass marketing companies are continually seeking innovative ways to beat the competition and promote product sales. A strategic part of their advertising and marketing includes displays—often designs in plastic—to grab consumer awareness and retail floor space. To be effective, displays must be imaginative, visually appealing and distinctive. Companies with household names like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Budweiser and Heineken are battling for
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Production Design Demands a Holistic Approach
Creating a 3D Solid Block Master Model FOURTH AND FINAL SEGMENT When I begin developing a production design I don’t think linearly. That’s a process that would solve a single detail at a time. Instead, I try to approach the process holistically. The idea is to understand the basic objectives of the project and the purpose of the product. This perspective helps establish a set of priorities to be applied to decisions throughout the design process. At this stage of development, most concepts have a defined appearance based on a manufacturing process, component layout and segmentation of parts that form
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Product Design Detail and Documentation
Building a Comprehensive Set of Production Drawings [THIRD OF FOUR SEGMENTS] Production Documentation Nowadays the information displayed on production drawings is limited to critical dimensions. Typically, these include specified tolerances, material specifications, special notes, textures and other information to documents the manufacturing expectations. At one time, however, not too long ago, production drawings were required to include all geometric details illustrating every feature of the part as well as all dimensions. These drawings were used to machine molds as well as establish production quality standards. Today the majority of products are designed with the aid of 3D CAD and used
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Blog, Plastic Design, and Rotational Molding.
From Idea to Reality: Secrets of Successful Product Design
Designing a well-planned product design and development process that meets market requirements [FIRST OF FOUR SEGMENTS] The product design and development pathway—from concept to completion—is seldom smooth or easy. There are numerous considerations, a diverse body of knowledge and a range of creative skills required to successfully develop a winning new product. This checklist for success is based on more than 35 years of personal experience…and working with many companies, individuals and a range of product markets. The secrets of successful—potentially award-winning—design range from the deceptively simple to highly complex. Interestingly, product design courses are available in many colleges or
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