INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS: how do you explain what you do to people?

"No, I don't design factories" is a conversation I've had too many times. During a recent conversation, my friend Tim Hulford said the key is connecting it back to the industrial revolution.

This job only came into existence about 100 years ago. Before that, craftsmen designed and made objects. The same person who planned the chair also built it. Then the industrial revolution hit. Factories pumped out thousands of products made cheap and functional, but designed for production efficiency, not people.

Industrial design emerged to turn mass-manufactured products into something people can relate to. We exist so you can make 100,000 products and everyone who buys one thinks it was made for them. When designed purely for efficiency, connection to users gets lost. Industrial design sits at the intersection of art and engineering.

What's your version? How do you explain it?

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