The Aesthetic Design of Products Techniques and Tips for Product Design

The aesthetic design of a product defines critical aspects of its market positioning.

The term aesthetic design of products refers to the set of visual definitions found in their outer or visible shell. The aesthetic design process is complex, as it balances functional constraints of the product, visual differentiation, and its impact on commercial positioning.

Key Steps to Designing a Product’s Aesthetics

Below, we outline some key steps to achieve a balanced aesthetic design for products with high potential for success.

Step 1 – Defining the Aesthetic Design Strategy for the Products

The aesthetic design strategy of products is a planning process for the product’s visual concept. It is carried out through brainstorming sessions involving mechanical designers, industrial designers, and the inventor. These brainstorming sessions help identify functional constraints, potential future incompatibilities with manufacturing processes, and—most importantly—preserve the essence of the inventor’s vision regarding the user interface of the product for end customers.

The strategy for designing product interfaces requires a materials analysis, where decisions are made based on the intended product lifespan, life cycles, aspect ratio influenced by the materials used, as well as their mechanical strength, flexibility, or waterproofing.

This process also defines the parts and components that make up the visual environment of the product, the joining techniques between components, and whether or not these joints will be visible. The use of plastic tabs, screws, or seals for compact assemblies can be more or less concealed, depending on the concepts intended to be conveyed through the visual appearance of the products.

To achieve excellent aesthetic design, it is essential to first define the list of values you want the product to convey. Simplicity, robustness, durability, quality, safety, tradition, and technology are some of the values most commonly emphasized in aesthetic design processes for innovative products.

As a complement, it’s essential to identify reference points. These points of reference or sources of inspiration for aesthetic design can even be found in products from other categories or industries. For example, if you're designing a breast pump and want it to convey robustness, cleanliness, minimalism, ease of use, and modernity, drawing inspiration from the design style of Apple products might make perfect sense. Today, we are familiar with the market positioning of successful and recognizable brands. It is crucial to outline a list of values and find product lines or brands that share those values, so they can serve as references during the strategic phase of the aesthetic design of a product.

Step 2 – Conceptualizing the Product’s Aesthetic

From the product’s aesthetic design strategy, we extract the list of constraints to ensure the functionality of the product as well as the sources of inspiration, types of geometries, lines, curves, surfaces, materials, and finishes. This information is used for the conceptualization of the product’s aesthetic.

The aesthetic conceptualization of the product involves two key phases:

Aesthetic Sketch of the Product: Hand-drawn sketches exploring different design lines, ensuring that each design option responds appropriately to functional constraints and conveys the intended values.

Rapid Enclosure Fabrication: Using prototyping techniques, the product enclosures are manufactured according to the conceptualized definitions.

Step 3 – Controlled Validation of the Final Aesthetic Design

Validation in controlled environments of the aesthetic design of products is a critical step. The goal of this process is to translate the aesthetic design from sketches or conceptual drawings into physical units that allow for practical validation of the relationship between different aesthetic design elements.

During this process, different versions of the product’s enclosure are manufactured, and surveys or experiments are conducted to gather valuable insights from potential customers. To avoid delays in the aesthetic design of products, functional elements are not included—only the external components of the product are produced and presented to collect feedback on the appearance of the products.

Step 4 – Integration of Aesthetic Design with the Product’s Functional Core

The involvement of potential customers in the aesthetic design process of products opens the door to the integration of functional elements with the product enclosure. The goal is to validate that the aesthetic design is appropriate and optimized to support the fulfillment of the product’s intended functions.

Step 5 – Analysis of Industrialization Constraints for Interfaces

A key balance for achieving commercial success of products lies in the relationship between technical decisions and manufacturing costs. There is a direct link between aesthetic design and manufacturing costs, as the chosen materials and geometries determine the available options for industrializing a product. This decision can lead to a crucial cost difference that directly affects its chances of success.

For this reason, it is very important that the aesthetic design process of a product involves professionals skilled in design—but more importantly, those with deep knowledge of industrial processes to manufacture products at scale.

Who Might Need Aesthetic Product Design Services?

The profiles that typically request aesthetic product design services include: independent inventors who have developed a functional prototype but wish to improve its appearance; product engineering companies with strong expertise in mechanics or electronics but less capability in aesthetic product design; and startups that need aesthetic product designs to begin fundraising processes.

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Erick Remedios Muiños

Business Director - Inventors' Advisor at Let´s Prototype

Erick Remedios has been linked to entrepreneurship and the launch of innovative projects and inventions for over a decade. His start in the entrepreneurship sector began as the Project Management Director at the network of Private Investors, Business In Fact, S.A., a club of private investors specialized in high-risk investments, which he ended up managing as General Director for at least 5 years. As the director of the Private Investors network specialized in innovative projects in the startup phase, Erick Remedios participated in more than 40 investment operations, with his main functions being: advising entrepreneurs and inventors, as well as private investors interested in investing in such projects. Erick Remedios has been one of the influential figures in the development of the ecosystem of entrepreneurs and private investors in Spain. Since 2012, he has participated in numerous private investment forums, has advised entrepreneurial projects as a member of their Boards of Directors, and has served as a lecturer in numerous Public and private Universities, specialized public centers in entrepreneurship, and internationally leading business schools, such as It Aérea Business School, where he leads the management of the Business Model Design Module for entrepreneurs, mostly Aerospace Engineering graduates. Specialized Centers in Entrepreneurship and the Launch of Innovative Projects where Erick Remedios has participated: - Direction of the Program - Sanse Emprende from the City Council of San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid. - Direction of the Espoban Program – Diputación de Córdoba and European Center for Business Innovation. Training of entrepreneurs and inventors and preparing them to attract capital through private investors. - Speaker on the subject of launching innovative projects at Universities such as: Pablo Olavide, University of Seville, University of Málaga, University of Cádiz, University of Huelva, University of Almería, University of Jaen, University of Granada. - Direction of the Entrepreneurship Module – IT Aérea Business School. - ENyD Business School: Professor and lecturer in the area of Entrepreneurship and Private Investment. - Avanza Castellón - Mentor of entrepreneurs and inventors in the program of the Diputación de Castellón. - Ávila Emprende – Program of the City Council of Ávila. Mentor of entrepreneurs in sales processes and product development. - Aula UGR- Professor of entrepreneurship and management of launching innovative projects in programs aimed at training teachers from the University of Granada. - Master Up - Professor of entrepreneurship and investment management in the Official Master's for entrepreneurs from the University of Cadiz. At the same time, numerous companies have signed Erick Remedios as an advisor and member of their Board of Directors, companies in which Mr. Remedios has also acted as the representative of the private investors who have placed their trust and economic resources, including: - Tu Fabrica de Eventos - Baby Radio - Graffos - Neurobia Research - HitsBook - Bit Credit - Glelemo Currently, Mr. Remedios is leading the international expansion of Let´s Prototype in the United States, while also advising inventors on startup processes for projects related to innovative Hardware or Software elements, both in terms of product design, a specialty of Let´s Prototype, and in terms of designing strategies for selling inventions and patents. Interviews with Mr. Remedios and publications authored by him in Media: - School of Business and Management: [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch3nRTFvxhw) - Diputación de Córdoba. Training for Investors: [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj2fvxkD-zI) - Spanish Television - Program Emprende: [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZRi98CE20M) - TV2 - Spanish Television: [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms22bxyllKc) - University of Cadiz: Article for Inventors: [Link](https://emprendedores.uca.es/lean-prototyping-el-puente-entre-el-concepto-el-prototipo-y-las-patentes/) - University of Granada: Article for Inventors: [Link](https://ugremprendedora.ugr.es/6-tips-para-convertir-tu-idea-o-concepto-en-prototipo-lean-prototyping/)

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