One of the most important parts of product development is industrial design. Industrial design is so significant today and has a real impact on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Industrial designers adhere to conclusions when designing a specific product for their customers to satisfy the wants and needs of consumers. The ten industrial design books listed below will provide a solid foundation, encourage to view design in new ways and serve as inspiration for your upcoming work.
Designing Design | Kenya Hara | Industrial Design Books
Using various examples from his work, Kenya Hara in Designing Design clarifies the significance of “emptiness” in both the visual and philosophical traditions of Japan and its application to design. “To understand something is not to be able to define or describe it. Instead, taking something we think we already know and making it unknown thrills us afresh with its reality and deepens our understanding of it.” Hara says of his design philosophy. Designing Design helps the reader comprehend this ideology and expands their horizons of thought.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Design-Kenya-Hara/dp/3037784504.
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things | William McDonough & Michael Braungart
A thorough investigation of how designers should and must create products that don’t harm the environment includes more than simply the three concepts of reduce, reuse, and recycle. Architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart describe a combination of design and science in Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things that eliminates the idea of waste while providing society with long-lasting benefits from safe materials, water, and energy in circular economies. The book contains a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution and has been referred to as “essential reading for business hotshots and environmental activists.”
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Remaking-Way-Make-Things/dp/0865475873.
The Design of Everyday Things | Donald A. Norman | Industrial Design Books
The book was written by designer Don Norman and published in 1988. Don A. Norman is a famous psychologist and pioneer in studying how humans think. The book is about UX design. The method design teams employ to produce products that offer customers meaningful and pertinent experiences is user experience (UX) design. Regardless of a designer’s degree of experience, this book provides priceless advice. The book provides a fundamental understanding of what design is, what it does, and why effective design is important.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.in/Design-Everyday-Things-Don-Norman/dp/0465050654.
The Laws of Simplicity | John Maeda
In this book, John Maeda shares his principles of design. To show how to need less while gaining more in business, technology, and design. The Laws of Simplicity provide ten life lessons for sanity. But he goes beyond organisation and simplicity, addressing time savings, the value of knowledge in making things easier, and even the value of complexity in understanding simplicity, which every industrial designer should embrace.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Laws-Simplicity-Design-Technology-Business/dp/1531881491.
Thinking: Objects Contemporary Approaches to Product Design | Tim Parsons | Industrial Design Books
For students, recent graduates, industrial designers, and anybody else with an interest in modern product design, Thinking: Objects is a “text and image book.” It covers factors including globalisation, technology, the media, and the need for a sustainable future that impacts contemporary product design. It focuses on how objects use form to convey value and meaning, provides designers with tools to make their designs, and shows readers how to incorporate these ideas into their work. The book, which is richly illustrated, aims to assist readers in finding their path in a complex industry.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Objects-Contemporary-Approaches-Product/dp/2940373744.
Process: 50 Product Designs from Concept to Manufacture | Jennifer Hudson
Author, writer and researcher Jennifer Hudson specialise in contemporary architecture and design. This book thoroughly examines the design and production methods used to create 50 contemporary domestic design objects. It included textiles, tableware, lighting, and furniture and was chosen from all across the world. Each product is chosen for its major use of new technology, unconventional or complex production methods, unique materials, and, in some cases, for its creative concept.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Process-2nd-Product-Designs-Manufacture/dp/1856697258.
Design for the Real World | Victor Papanek
Since its initial publication in 1971, Design for the Real World has been translated into more than twenty different languages. It has grown to be the most widely read book on design worldwide and is a mandatory text in many architectural and design schools. Victor Papanek explored how design could reduce pollution, crowding, starvation, obsolescence, and other modern ills. In this book, he examines how designers have attempted to combat tawdry, hazardous, frivolous, and useless products, once again offering a blueprint for sensible, responsible design in this resource- and energy-poor world.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Real-World-Victor-Papanek/dp/0500295336.
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People | Susan Weinschenk | Industrial Design Books
When creating new products, industrial designers must be creative in their designs and how they incorporate existing technologies. Therefore, reading books is essential because finding answers to everything is easy. You might need help with the question. This book is a step-by-step manual for improving design projects’ effectiveness, conversion rates, and usability. The book provides a manual every designer needs by fusing relevant science and research with real-world experiences. With it, it is possible to create more engaging and intuitive print, web, mobile, and other product designs that reflect how people think, work, and play.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Things-Designer-People-Voices-Matter/dp/0321767535.
Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals | Rob Thompson
This book aims to better inform designers about what takes place in a manufacturing process. The book is divided into four sections: Forming, Cutting, Joining, and Finishing. Over seventy manufacturing processes are thoroughly explained, along with details on their costs, speeds, and environmental effects. The sections also include analyses of the typical applications, design opportunities, and considerations each process offers. The step-by-step case studies that go with it examine how a reputable foreign supplier makes a product or component.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Processes-Design-Professionals-Thompson/dp/0500513759.
Design, Creativity, and Culture: An Orientation to Design | Maurice Barnwell | Industrial Design Books
Design, Creativity & Culture offers an “orientation to design” and a clear synthesis of the relationships between the design process and the multicultural, global environment. The book offers examples and illustrations from a wide range of known topics, including the Big Bang, The Matrix, Twitter, cave wall art, Modernism, and popular culture. The book discusses the full range of design disciplines, drawing on references to design history, the design process, cultural studies, media studies, visual culture, political culture, and information technologies. It provides examples from architecture, interior, product, graphic, and fashion design from various cultures around the world.
To order, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Creativity-Culture-Orientation/dp/1907317406.
Reference List:
- Rian Design (2014). The Laws of Simplicity / John Maeda. [online] Lawsofsimplicity.com. Available at: http://lawsofsimplicity.com/.
- Parsons & Charlesworth. (n.d.). Thinking:Objects – Contemporary Approaches to Product Design. [online] Available at: https://parsonscharlesworth.com/thinkingobjects-contemporary-approaches-to-product-design/ [Accessed 14 Jan. 2023].
- design.britishcouncil.org. (n.d.). Read | Books | Maker Library Network | Architecture Design Fashion | British Council. [online] Available at: https://design.britishcouncil.org/projects/makerlibraries/books/process-50-product-designs-concept-manufacture/ [Accessed 14 Jan. 2023].
- William McDonough. (2013). Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002) | William McDonough. [online] Available at: https://mcdonough.com/writings/cradle-cradle-remaking-way-make-things/.
- Industrial Designers Society of America – IDSA. (2014). Design Creativity & Culture. [online] Available at: https://www.idsa.org/content/design-creativity-culture [Accessed 14 Jan. 2023].
- www.designculture.it. (n.d.). Designculture • Kenya Hara. [online] Available at: http://www.designculture.it/interview/kenya-hara.html.
- Mackay, S. (2012). Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals. Proceedings of the ICE – Construction Materials, [online] 165(2), pp.122–122. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/41944824/Manufacturing_Processes_for_Design_Professionals [Accessed 14 Jan. 2023].
