Industrial Design vs Product Design
July 21, 2022
Biswajit Sarkar - IP Law Firm India
Post time: 4:26 pm
What is Industrial Design?
Industrial design is the process of designing articles (products, devices and objects) to attract customers and improve their marketability. Individuals that make such designs are known as Industrial designers. They mainly focus on the appearance, functionality and manufacturability of an article. As a result of such work, customers receive attractive products that appeal to the eye, thus, elevating their experience and value.
Thus, to ensure such designs do not get stolen by other competitors, it becomes important to protect them. To protect designs, it has to be registered under the Designs Act, 2000. It is to be kept in mind that designs are primarily aesthetic in nature. Hence, it can be protected only if it is “judged solely by the eye”. This simply means that only the aesthetic parts of the article will receive protection and not any technical or functional parts.
What is Product Design?
Product design is considered as the final part of industrial design. The main aim of product designers is to match the needs of clients with that of the business or the brand, helping make successful products on a regular basis. It involves taking strategic and tactical decisions including generating ideas for the creation of the final product and its commercialisation. They also set a goal for the product and help build roadmaps to reach them on time
The role of a product designer begins by identifying the requirements of the clients, exercising new ideas, creating working models and finally completing the product. Furthermore, they guide the design team and the stakeholders in evaluating the Return on Investment (ROI) and product desirability factors to keep the brand competitive.
A product design can be classified into various types:
- Mechanical Product design.
- Electrical Product design.
- Electronic products design.
What are the differences between Industrial Design and Product Design?
Industrial design has a wider spectrum compared to product design. This is because product designers work on the inputs provided by industrial designers. While industrial design focuses on features, aesthetic and manufacturability, product design involves the detailed designing of the products based on the details provided by industrial designers. Let us take a look at some of the key differences between Industrial and Product design:
| Industrial Design | Product Design |
| Concerned with the development of the product. | Concerned with finalizing the product for the market. |
| Focuses on the manufacturing and aesthetics of a product. | Focuses on the detailed design of the product. |
| Focuses on finding solutions. | Focuses on bringing solutions to the manufacturers and customers. |
| Responsible for the overall functions, aesthetics, User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) of the article. | Responsible for specific functions of the product. For example – A team involving software and mechanical engineers. |
| Takes customer expectations into consideration while designing the product and if they are fit for mass production. | Product designers ensure whether the products work as per required standards. |
| All activities leading up to the product life cycle are included. | Only covers activities leading up to the final development of the product. |
