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Industrial Design: Best educational reasources?

polycounter lvl 11
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jocose polycounter lvl 11
I've been working on a lot of highly designed props lately. The types of things that use multiple rules of organization ( e.g., convergance points, radial/sphereical symmetry, and consistent repeated use of angles & shapes) to achieve a strong visual unity between many parts.

Think ScFfi: Starcraft, Blade Runner, Deadspace: robots, armor, spaceships... That kind of thing.

It made me really interested to learn more about the thought process behind their creation; how designers go about unifying their design so it stays consistent while sustaining a high degree of visual diversity and complexity.

I am looking for good books, websites, and general resources.

I already picked up: "Universal Principles of Design". Which I found incredibly insightful, but I'm looking for more good resources.

If you know of anything that would help please let me know.

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  • jocose
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    jocose polycounter lvl 11
    While I love that site its just a ton of completed concepts. I'm hoping to find some good instructional material on how design principles are utilized by designers to unify functional objects.

    Like "how to design cars" or somthing like that. There is a lot of stuff out there. Scott Roberstons Gnomon DVDs are fantastic, but they are all about constructing designs in perspective, rather than actually making the designs.
  • gauss
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    gauss polycounter lvl 18
    Get to the sources, the innovators of industrial design itself. Raymond Loewy's got several books showcasing his work but he also wrote a book himself, called Never Leave Well Enough Alone
    [ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801872111[/ame]


    Basically just follow your inspirations back to their sources and read them. Most ID curriculums are based on the thought/practice of certain designers, and most of them have books written on design.


    Also be sure to spend some time with Dieter Rams, I am sure he has books by him/about him. Some of his work is a little too strident for some people, but his is a lasting influence on the whole field. His 10 principles of good design:

    • Good design is innovative.

    • Good design makes a product useful.

    • Good design is aesthetic.

    • Good design helps us to understand a product.

    • Good design is unobtrusive.

    • Good design is honest.

    • Good design is durable.

    • Good design is consequent to the last detail.

    • Good design is concerned with the environment.

    • Good design is as little design as possible.


    Check out the documentary "Objectified," almost entirely about industrial designers. It should still be on Netflix Instant Streaming, and follow up with the designers that inspire you.
  • jocose
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    jocose polycounter lvl 11
    This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Thank you so much.
  • megalmn2000
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    megalmn2000 polycounter lvl 13
    Check out Feng Zhu's tutorials, theses are incredibly useful!
    http://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL
  • jocose
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    jocose polycounter lvl 11
    Your right, he really does cover the design issues more than than most. I've been watching them. Their great.

    There are also some great master classes by Scott Roberston (The Design and Visual Communication of Vehicles) and Alex Jaeger

    I've also found the book "101 things i learned in architect school" to be incredibly useful in a meta design sense.

    If you aren't thinking about a problem aproprietlary by applying things that are demonstrated relative to a specific scenario then all your design ability is for not :/
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