The elements of product design

In every area of life from the most basic functional tool to the most elaborate ornament, materials, processes and activities are controlled and organised by design in response to a wide range of human needs, for practical purposes, for information, entertainment and pleasure. In this context, the phrase ‘by design’ is used to convey a sense of deliberate intent rather than accidental consequence.

The word ‘design’ can be used as both a noun and a verb meaning a plan or an arrangement; to plan or to arrange. A design as a tangible product, or as an intangible service is a combination of a group of objects and requirements, which have been designed to create something new as a result of, or in anticipation of their collective performance and can be described as:

the selection of facts, requirements or perceptions about the properties or behavior of individual elements which can be combined into a larger whole.

The process of designing can be seen as reviewing the elements in the context of the way that they have been handled in the past, and consciously searching for an appropriate way of handling them now, perhaps a new way, exploring, comparing and testing alternatives. The idea of elements can be seen on any page in this book. Take a look and consider the following:

The paper

Its size, weight, density, colour, texture, absorbency and the way in which it has been cut and bound into the volume.

The characters

Their size (point), style (font), boldness, italics, UPPER and lower case, punctuation, characterspacings, the type and colour of ink used and the continuity of type setting.

The page

The headings, paragraphs, graphics, borders, shading, pictures, graphs, charts and bullet points.

The meaning

The language, spelling and grammar, the simplicity or complexity of the message.

Taking all these into account:

Is it readable and is its appearance interesting?

In this way it can be seen that elements can be grouped into common packages, some of which are immediately apparent such as materials, textures and colours which can be seen and touched, but others like cost, durability and copyright law are invisible and not so easy to appreciate. However, each element has been carefully chosen to create this page, which together with all the others in the book is a product, available to readers; its users.