Product Design is an applied art whereby the aesthetics and usability of products may be improved for marketability and production. Sonos team of Industrial Designers creates and executes design solutions towards problems of engineering, marketing, brand development and sales.
Specifics: Sonos has been developing products for clients in the industrial, consumer product, toy, and medical industries for 30 years, and produces both traditional illustrations and computer renderings, as needed. Computers are often employed in the very early stages of the design of a new product in the interest of efficiency. Graphics play an important role in the look of a product, and here too, computers are used to full advantage at Sonos. Products can be quickly evaluated on the screen in various colors and configurations, and with various graphic treatments applied. Prints can then be made for further evaluation by the client company.
Often the development of a new product also represents the launch of a new company or division. Sonos often handles new logo design and even corporate identity programs for clients with these needs.
Process: Industrial Design is the fusion of Art and Science. It strives to give manufacturers a competitive edge in the marketplace by enhancing both the actual and perceived the value of the products that it produces, making them user-friendly, durable, visually distinctive, attractive, and at the same time economical to manufacture.
Industrial design encompasses all phases of product development, from the earliest stages of conceptualization, through the start of volume production, ensuring that the product is optimized in all respects. The design firm works closely with outside specialists such as electronics engineers, circuit board manufacturers, sheet metal fabricators, welders, metal platers, mold makers and plastics molding firms to assure that each component of a design is valid, and that the development of the product is well coordinated.
The design process begins by first carefully determining the initial requirements of the client. Often, the client has unique objectives beyond what is immediately obvious. The initial idea is then refined in phase two, taking into consideration factors such as ergonomics, safety, structural integrity and manufacturing costs, as well as various visual and marketing opportunities. Several design options are presented to the client in the form of conceptual sketches. Simplified sketch models are often built in order to more closely evaluate size, feel and presence of a proposed design.
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