A good product designer is a key person on the ideal product development team. Product design impacts our lives everyday. From the cup we have our coffee in every morning to the mattress we go to sleep on at the end of every day, the results of good product design are all around us. Here are just a few of the world’s best product designers and the products they created.
James Dyson
You probably guessed from his name that James Dyson, a British inventor, is responsible for the invention of the Dyson vacuum. What made the Dyson vacuum different — apart from its being the world’s first bagless vacuum — was that it also had a 360 degree swivel head and a bladeless fan. The vacuum is a result of Dyson’s frustration with his own vacuum’s poor performance.
Kenichiro Ashida
Japanese researcher and product designer Kenichiro Ashida is the man responsible for the design of the Nintendo Wii and Gamecube. He was also responsible for the introduction of motion-control gaming. Nintendo wanted to increase player interaction by creating a control that could be operated using motion as well as buttons, which resulted in the development of the Wii wand.
Charles and Ray Eames
Together the husband and wife team of Charles and Ray (short for Bernice Alexandra) Eames designed the first molded plywood lounge chair in the 1950s. The chair has a matching ottoman and is still in production today. The Eames’ also supplied the Navy with leg splints and stretchers during World War II.
Richard Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller is an American designer from Milton, Massachusetts. His daughter died from complications of polio and spinal meningitis at the age of four. Blaming the damp and drafty conditions of his home, Fuller became determined to design affordable and efficient housing. The most famous design belonging to Richard Buckminster Fuller is the geodesic dome. He was well known for encouraging other designers to create sustainable and affordable designs that incorporated renewable sources of energy.
Sir Jonathan Ive
As Senior Vice President of Design at Apple Inc., Sir Jonathan Ive oversees the design of the MacBook, iPod, iPad, iPhone, and iOS7. The MacBook came about when “Jony” was working as a designer in London. He was asked to create a new look for a laptop. When he took the design back to Apple, he was hired immediately. As of July 1, 2017, Ive is also the current Chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London.
Having an experienced designer on your product development team is key to avoiding early design problems. However, sometimes products need to be redesigned. Every inventor can learn from a product redesign, but having an experienced designer on your team can help you ensure your product gets to market successfully and without redesigns.
Pivot International is a product design and development company with global contract electronics manufacturing services (EMS) in both the US and Philippines. We offer turnkey product development including software development, mechanical product design, electrical and electronic product design and industrial design services for product development. If you’re interested in learning how we can help with your project, contact us today.
