Specifying the optimum plastic material selection for a medical device is a critical decision for any designer or engineer. A design must choose the optimum material form the hundreds of thousands of commercially available plastic materials on the market. He or she must make this selection based on dozens of complex design criteria with the certainty that their final decision will satisfy all the product specifications. This panel discussion on plastic material selection was one of the best-attended presentations held at the 2019 MD&D Show in New York’s Jacob Javits Center. Michael Paloian challenged four of the plastics industry’s leaders
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Archives for Industrial Design
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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Blog, Ergonomics, and Industrial Design.
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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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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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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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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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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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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