How Industrial design and Engineering help bring ideas to life.

 If you are currently designing a product that you plan to manufacture and sell, you are probably wondering what the different stages of the design process are. These easy step-by-step explanations will help you understand how Industrial design and Engineering help bring ideas to life.

Industrial Design Ideation

Your product idea comes from identifying a problem and devising a solution for it. Industrial designers capture the essence of your idea, its main purpose, the problem you want to solve, and the form you want it to have. The industrial designers may present hand drawings or some initial CAD drawings. At this point, colours can be defined and the overall form, look, and feel can be finalized.

Mechanical Engineering

Once your concept is defined an Industrial designer or a mechanical engineer is the one responsible for importing the sketch or concept into a CAD software and creating 3D drawings of your idea.

Mechanical engineers have to be able to create moulds from these drawings, so it is very important to have every detail of your idea figured out. Here, measurements are defined and the initial stages of manufacturing and tooling are thought out.

3D printing or prototyping

After your concept is a full CAD drawing the engineers are able to 3D print it and build models and prototypes featuring ultra-precise details. In some cases, if the idea is large enough it has to be handmade or tooled up in China.

Patent

From the CAD drawings the designers create the different figures used for the patent drawings. Some inventions have features, core ideas, or functionality to get patented. If it is possible for your idea to be patented, try protecting it with either a utility or design patent. It may be possible to license your product to a large company or create a successful business from it.

Sample Products

Having all measurements defined and tooling thought out your idea is ready for manufacturing. A small run can help you ensure the final products have no issues. If any problems exist, this is the time to correct them. Any modification to a part or mould should be corrected before placing a large order.

Final Product

Correcting any issues can take time and involve considerable back-and-forth with the manufacturer, but once you are confident the product is ready, it’s time to place your final order and bring your idea to life.

Industrial design and mechanical engineering is vital in the product design process in order to bring your idea to life. This step-by-step guide to product design is a brief idea both helpful and inspiring which can help you to turn your idea into a tangible product. Whether you are at the beginning stages of these steps, stuck in the middle, or at the end, our experts at Spark Innovations can help you bring your ideas to life.