Industrial design

Industrial design, designing physical items for mass production is the process of applying design principles to physical objects that will be produced in large numbers. Defining a product's shape and characteristics is a creative process that occurs prior to the fabrication or production of the thing. As compared to craft-based design, manufacturing is solely based on repetitive, frequently automated reproduction, whereas craft-based design is defined as a method or technique in which the shape of the product is established substantially concurrently with the act of its fabrication by its creator.

Each and every produced product is the outcome of a design process, while the specifics of that process might vary greatly. If done by a group of persons with varying levels of competence, it may be done by either an individual or a group (e.g. designers, engineers, business experts, etc.). It may place an emphasis on intuitive creativity or deliberate scientific decision-making, and it often places an emphasis on a combination of the two approaches. The outcome may be impacted by a wide range of elements, including materials, manufacturing techniques, corporate strategy, and prevalent socio-economic-aesthetic attitudes and values. Industrial design, as an applied art, most often focuses on the a mixture of aesthetics and user-centered considerations, but it also frequently provides solutions for problems involving form, function, physical ergonomics, marketing, brand development, sustainability, and sales, to name a few areas of focus.