Personal Philosophy Of Product Design

Product design is a discipline that’s constantly being shaped and reshaped by designers. Be it Jonathan Ives with his timeless apple products or Charles and Ray Eames with their ergonomic furniture designs, many designers have played and continue to play a significant role in evolving this discipline. However, there are three designers whose philosophy I personally connect with. These designers have influenced my work and aspirations as a product designer. Leonardo da Vinci is the first designer who has influenced me. I relate to his interdisciplinary outlook. He was an artist, an architect, an engineer, a mathematician and the list goes on. However, he did not compartmentalize these disciplines, but rather looked upon all of them as

He was the first designer to prove that design alone has the power to make a company (Braun) a worldwide success. In the 1950’s, he was the only designer to report directly to the entrepreneurs, the Braun brothers. He always talks about the importance of the interaction between the entrepreneur and designer to make the product a success. Influenced by him, I began learning the language of business in order to create a harmonious dialogue between business and the products I design. I began questioning the viability of each of my products from a business perspective. For one of my recent projects, I designed a cocktail bottle on the go. While designing it, I thought about things like its target market, the value proposition I was offering as well as the breadth of product line I could create using this product. This approach of designing products while keeping an entrepreneurial mindset allows me to think about not only creating beautiful functional products, but also ones that can make a successful

He has proved that product design can not only make businesses successful but also change the world, by solving pressing social problems. His projects like “One laptop per child” and “See better to learn better” have made me realize my social responsibility as a product designer. Inspired by the way he uses product design to create social impact, I started looking for ways to solve real world problems and not just first world problems, through design. For one of my recent projects, through research, I learnt that expiry dates on milk cartons are mere approximations. Misguided by these inaccurate expiry dates, consumers dispose thousands of gallons of fresh milk every year. Inspired by Behar, I designed a milk carton that changes color when the milk expires, as an attempt to reduce food wastage. Just like this, I aspire to design products that create positive social