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World Industrial Design Day

Attend an industrial design expo, sign up for a class, and learn about the many exciting career opportunities for these innovative visionaries.

Architecture & Buildings Education Items & Things Science & Technology45

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Position your brand as a design innovator by hosting or sponsoring industrial design expos, workshops, and educational content that celebrate product design excellence and career pathways.

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Behind-the-scenes: How iconic products (Mini Cooper, Vespa, Coke bottle) were designed
Career spotlight: Industrial design degree programs and job opportunities
Design challenge: Invite followers to redesign everyday products and share on social
Showcase your company's design process and the designers behind your products

History

Industrial design is the profession of designing products for millions of people every day. Almost every product used in a person’s home today was invented by designers working hard to make sure that people can live their lives easier. The profession began during the early 19th century when the industrial revolution began in Britain.

The Great Exhibition was held in 1851 as one of the first exhibitions to showcase industrial design on an international scale, helping influence the United States in their mass production.

People such as Robert Lepper, Herbert Reed, Robert Venturi, and Joseph Claude Sinel have all greatly influenced the world of industrial design. They crafted effective equipment that has helped shape the modern generation. Cars, phones, toasters, you name it.

All of those products have touched the hands of one industrial designer to another, been thought over, and executed so you can have the best quality of life.

The first World Industrial Design Day occurred in 2007. This represented 50 years since the establishment of the World Design Organization. Back then, though, it was known as the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid). Irrespective of the name, it has always been a worldwide organization, which is not tied to any governments, and promotes the industrial design profession, as well as the ability for better experiences, services, systems, and products to be produced.

It is all about better industry and business, helping us to ultimately create a society and environment that is better. When it was founded in 1957, there were 12 founding professional design associations. This has grown considerably over the years, with more than 170 members from 40 different nations. All of these organizations engage in collaborative efforts so that they have the chance to be heard around the world.

How to celebrate

Attend an Event

If you’re looking to celebrate World Industrial Design Day, then begin by attending an industrial design expo. Learn about some of the most influential industrial designers of the past and the most modern ones that are influencing our culture today.

Get Creative

Try your hand at designing yourself and pay attention to the products you use every day that you would normally take for granted. Share this information with friends and family and if you are an artist that loves design, then try your attempts at applying for a degree in industrial design and see where it takes you.

View Unique Designs

You can also spend your day looking online at some of the best examples of industrial design and delving deeper into how they were created and the thought process behind it. From the Mini Cooper and the Piaggio Vespa Scooter to the Curl Lamp and Coke Contour Bottle, there are many different examples of incredible and iconic industrial designs.

Share Your Favorites

You can share your favorites online via your blog or social media platforms in order to spread word about the day. You can find yourself getting lost in research for hours and hours once you start researching industrial design, and it is certainly good to try and broaden your knowledge!

Consider Studying Industrial Design

There are many different places that you can go with an industry design degree, however, most people aim to become an industrial designer. Industrial designers use digital, artistic, and engineering skills in order to create concepts and products that are based on the demands and wants of the clients. Products need to be pleasing aesthetically, as well as reliable, user-friendly, safe, and practical. As an industrial designer, you could work on any type of product, ranging from automobiles to home appliances and furniture. While becoming an industrial designer is the most obvious route for anyone that decides to study industry design, there are a number of other options as well. For example, you may decide to become an industrial design researcher. This means that you are going to research the needs of the user, coming up with new suggestions and solutions for elements of design. For example, the products that you could research for include gadgets, electronic appliances, and websites. Other careers you may decide to move into include furniture designer, interior designer, event space designer, and automotive designer.

FAQ

What is industrial design, in practical terms?

Industrial design is the professional practice of creating physical products that will be manufactured at scale, shaping how they look, how they work, how people interact with them, and how they can be produced efficiently. Industrial designers typically research user needs, sketch and model ideas, specify materials and finishes, and collaborate with engineers and manufacturers so that products are functional, safe, appealing, and feasible to build. [1]

How is industrial design different from engineering design?

Engineering design focuses mainly on how something works technically, such as structures, mechanisms, performance, and compliance with technical standards. Industrial design, by contrast, concentrates on the user’s experience and the product’s overall form, usability, ergonomics, and desirability, while still respecting manufacturing and technical constraints. In practice, industrial designers and engineers usually work together, with designers defining the user-centered concept and form and engineers detailing how it functions internally and is produced. [1]

Is industrial design only about making products look attractive?

Industrial design is not just styling. Professional descriptions emphasize that designers must balance appearance with ergonomics, safety, usability, and manufacturability. They consider how a product is held, understood, repaired, recycled, and produced, as well as how it fits into people’s daily routines. A design that looks good but is uncomfortable, confusing, unsafe, or too costly to manufacture would be considered poor industrial design. [1]

How does industrial design contribute to sustainability and the circular economy?

Industrial designers help reduce environmental impact by specifying durable materials, minimizing waste in production, designing products that can be repaired or upgraded, and planning for disassembly and recycling at the end of life. University and professional programs describe “sustainable” or “circular” industrial design as integrating life‑cycle thinking into early concept work, so environmental performance is treated as a core design requirement rather than an afterthought.

What does “human-centered design” mean in industrial design work?

Human-centered design is an approach where industrial designers begin with a deep understanding of people’s needs, abilities, and contexts, then iterate solutions based on that insight. The Industrial Designers Society of America describes it as an empathetic, objective, and pragmatic process that uses interviews, observation, prototyping, and testing to refine products so they are intuitive, accessible, and genuinely useful to the intended users. [1]

What kinds of products and sectors do industrial designers typically work in?

Industrial designers work across many sectors, including consumer electronics, household appliances, furniture, tools, transportation, and medical and healthcare products. Professional and educational profiles note that they may be employed by manufacturers, design consultancies, or in‑house innovation teams, wherever there is a need to develop physical products that blend usability, aesthetics, and efficient production.

What are some common misconceptions about industrial design as a career?

Common misconceptions include the ideas that industrial designers only “make things pretty,” that they work only on trendy consumer gadgets, or that they can ignore engineering and manufacturing realities. Industry commentary explains that in reality, they address function as much as form, design everything from tools to medical devices, and must understand materials, regulations, and production methods. Successful industrial design sits at the intersection of creativity, user research, technical knowledge, and business constraints. [1]