Industrial Design: What It Is and How It Shapes Everyday Objects
When you pick up a coffee mug, sit on a chair, or unlock your phone, you’re interacting with industrial design, the process of designing mass-produced objects for everyday use, balancing usability, aesthetics, and manufacturing efficiency. Also known as product design, it’s not about art for art’s sake—it’s about making things people actually want to use, every single day. This isn’t hidden work. It’s everywhere. The way your laptop opens, the curve of your toothbrush handle, even the button layout on your microwave—all of it was thought through by someone who cared about how it felt, looked, and worked in real life.
One of the biggest forces behind modern industrial design is the Bauhaus, a German school from the 1920s that fused art, craft, and technology to create clean, functional objects for the modern world. Also known as Bauhaus movement, it didn’t just influence furniture—it rewrote the rules for everything from kitchen appliances to public transit systems. Its core idea—form follows function, the belief that the shape of an object should be based on its intended purpose, not decoration—still drives companies like Apple, IKEA, and Dyson today. You don’t need to be an artist to appreciate it. You just need to notice how a well-designed object just makes sense. That’s industrial design at work.
It’s not just about looks or efficiency. Good industrial design solves real problems. It makes things easier to use for older people, more accessible for people with disabilities, and cheaper to produce so they’re available to more people. That’s why the principles from Bauhaus still matter—they’re not old-fashioned ideas, they’re practical tools. And if you’ve ever wondered why some products feel right in your hands while others feel awkward, it’s because someone made deliberate choices about weight, texture, and shape. Below, you’ll find posts that dig into the history, the pioneers, and the quiet genius behind the objects you can’t imagine living without.
