However, a product designer typically possesses deeper knowledge of the technical aspects involved in making and delivering a product, including manufacturing methods and engineering details.
Industrial design originated as a term in the 1950s, especially within the American automotive industry where designers aimed to update cars’ form, colour, and materials to encourage customers to purchase new models.
Today, industrial designers play a much broader role. They participate from the earliest stages of a project, ensuring that the end-user’s needs are always central to product development.
Modern industrial designers coordinate with multiple teams, influencing not just appearance (colour, materials, form, known as CMF) but the entire customer experience.
Product design as a profession emerged to describe specialists who combine a customer-centred mindset with a deep understanding of technology and manufacturing.
Product designers work closely with the technical properties of materials and manufacturing processes to ensure their design can be efficiently built and delivered to the market.
In short, industrial design leans more toward artistic vision and broad customer experience, while product design combines this with detailed technical and manufacturing expertise.
Key takeaways
- Industrial design is a more artistic-focused discipline that also considers basic technical requirements in creating products.
- Product designers have a deeper technical understanding of materials, technology, and production, enabling them to deliver more practical, market-ready solutions.
- Both professions keep the user’s needs at the core of their process, but product designers often bridge the gap between design and engineering.
Related questions
- What is human-centred design?
- What is design thinking?
- What is the difference between product design, UI/UX design, and industrial design?