Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings

The art of design

By Paul Heney | August 29, 2012

Share

It’s fascinating to see old cell phones in movies from the 80s and 90s. I’m amazed not just at the obnoxious sizes of the devices, but also at the lack of elegance in the designs. That’s not to berate the designers who crafted the phones, but it shows how much the art of design has come to the forefront in engineering today. Steve Jobs famously employed design to move technology forward. With his passing, many of us are asking, “Who is going to lead that charge now?”

Certainly the advances in 3D CAD and additive manufacturing have given engineers much more latitude in what they can do and experiment with in the design and prototyping phases.

And, to be sure, consumer preferences have moved design to the forefront of how products must be constructed. Apple is probably the poster child for technology and design coming together. From its sleek laptops like the MacBook Air to the graceful curvature of the iPhone and even the sexiness of its graphical interfaces, the Cupertino, Calif. company has long been a leader in this area.

However, design is increasingly visible in other places. Twenty years ago, who would have imagined vacuum cleaners to be sexy? Yet Dyson has changed people’s minds about that, with a fascinating mixture of design and engineering that they openly tout on their commercials and in their ads. The company isn’t simply about vacuums, though. You’ve probably seen their sexy hand driers in a convention center or airport recently. And their bladeless fans are fascinating to lay people and engineers alike. I’ve watched people just marvel at them in department stores. (And I have, too!)

Look at the newest commercial airplane, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Though beset by a variety of delays (a whole other story), the plane has graceful lines both inside and out. People want to get from point A to B quickly and cheaply—but style and comfort are starting to play a role, as well. Or so Boeing is betting.

Walk through a Target store these days and you’ll be amazed at the products that were merely functional a generation ago but have some panache today. Wine openers. Hair dryers. Coffee makers. Razors. Toasters. Even the packaging of many products has been taken up a notch. Rectangular orange juice cartons now compete with sleek, carafe-like plastic containers. Even something as boring as hand soap can now be found in very elegant dispensers that you might be loathe to throw away.

Whether this makes much headway into the componentry we engineers deal with on the average day is doubtful—but it reminds us that we need to challenge ourselves in the products and machinery that we are designing. And we need to keep the art of design in the equation now more than ever.

What’s your opinion on the importance of artistic design? Weigh in on Paul’s blog at the Engineering Exchange.

Paul J. Heney – Editorial Director
[email protected]


Filed Under: Commentary • expert insight

 

About The Author

Paul Heney

Paul J. Heney, the VP, Editorial Director for Design World magazine, has a BS in Engineering Science & Mechanics and minors in Technical Communications and Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Tech. He has written about fluid power, aerospace, robotics, medical, green engineering, and general manufacturing topics for nearly 25 years. He has won numerous regional and national awards for his writing from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

Tell Us What You Think!

Related Articles Read More >

hiring engineers
The real reason for hiring engineers
TriStar, a misunderstood failure of design
More on engineering and science
unnamed-31
Keynote speakers announced for the online event COMSOL Day: Oil & Gas

DESIGN GUIDE LIBRARY

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Global supply needs drive increased manufacturing footprint development
  • How to Increase Rotational Capacity for a Retaining Ring
  • Cordis high resolution electronic proportional pressure controls
  • WAGO’s custom designed interface wiring system making industrial applications easier
  • 10 Reasons to Specify Valve Manifolds
  • Case study: How a 3D-printed tool saved thousands of hours and dollars

Design World Podcasts

May 17, 2022
Another view on additive and the aerospace industry
See More >
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP AWARDS

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings