What Is the Difference Between Product Design and Industrial Design?

Product design and industrial design are two distinct disciplines that are often misunderstood as the same. Product design focuses on the design of consumer products, while industrial design focuses on the physical form and function of products used in industry.

Product design is centered around creating consumer-oriented products that meet customer needs. This discipline examines factors such as usability, ergonomics, materials selection, aesthetics, manufacturing processes, and product lifecycle. It also takes into account factors such as sustainability and cost-efficiency to ensure a product’s success in the marketplace. Product designers work closely with marketing teams to create products that are visually appealing, easy to use, and which offer features that will attract potential customers.

Industrial design is focused on designing products used in industrial settings.

This discipline considers factors such as safety, efficiency, durability, reliability, performance requirements and manufacturability when designing for industry. Industrial designers develop solutions for problems faced by businesses in their production processes or operational activities by creating products that are functional and aesthetically pleasing.

The main difference between product design and industrial design is that product design primarily focuses on creating user-friendly consumer products while industrial design creates functional solutions for industry. Additionally, industrial designers often have engineering backgrounds or knowledge of mechanical systems whereas product designers may not necessarily have this background.

Conclusion:

In summary, product design is focused on creating consumer-oriented products while industrial design is focused on creating functional solutions for industry. Product designers need to consider usability, ergonomics and aesthetics while industrial designers require knowledge of engineering principles or mechanical systems.