If you’re a product designer, or you’re thinking about becoming one, you surely know that it’s not always possible to create the product of the century.
No inspiration appears out of nowhere.
Thankfully, though, creative items have been made from the beginning of time, and in the past few decades in particular, we have seen ground-breaking ideas produced by the greatest designers. Here are five of the most creative product designers in this post.
A product designer is who?
The person in charge of any product’s schematics is called a product designer. In most cases, a product designer is the one who makes these ideas a reality, even if they may not have originated the idea themselves.
They are typically in charge of a product’s User Experience (UX). Still, they should not be mistaken with UX designers as a product designer is more concerned with how the UX and its consequences will ultimately convert into business and product success.
1. Brunel’s Isambard Kingdom
It would be almost sacrilegious to leave Isambard Kingdom Brunel off the list as Bristolians. Brunel is regarded as one of the greatest engineers in Britain and has left a significant legacy. He had a significant role in nineteenth-century showpiece projects like the Great Western and Cornwall Railways.
His goal was for his railways to blend in with the surrounding landscape, which he accomplished by hiding them with viaducts and tunnels and creating creative structures to address issues. One of these involved creating a pier in a river by designing a Great Cylinder to serve as a cofferdam.
2. Rams Dieter
German designer Dieter Rams has been working hard on numerous design exhibitions worldwide. His grandfather, a carpenter, had a big impact on him. Dieter Rams has had numerous tours and permanent displays of his work worldwide. He is also known for being among the pioneers of environmentally conscious design, even before the term gained popularity.
Dieter thinks that design can continue to play a role in preserving and protecting the environment. He believes a product’s design should make sense and be inventive, practical, and aesthetically pleasing. His renowned “10 principles of good design,” which are recognized by famous product designers all around the world, encapsulate all these ideas.
3. Jonathan Ive
Among the most well-known designers of all time is Jonathan Ive. He is a British architect and product designer managing interface design, product design, and implementation at the powerful technology company Apple from 1992 till 2019. Ive’s most famous designs, the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, have greatly influenced Apple’s creative product range.
Jonathan is the chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London, and he works at Apple. Ive and Apple industrial designer Marc Newson announced on June 27, 2019, that Ive would be leaving the firm and co-founding an independent business called LoveFrom.
4. Theophan Koenigsegg
It’s difficult to dispute that carmaker Christian von Koenigsegg has accomplished some amazing things in his time, even if you’re not a petrolhead. His dedication to producing a superior product overcame his lack of experience in the automotive industry, and he went on to create a novel, user-friendly, and highly functional design that competed with the world’s most renowned names.
Because they are unique and custom-built (fewer than 150 have been produced), the designer’s vehicles are now in the same league as brands like Ferrari. Furthermore, its engines are supposed to last a millennium or longer, which is as sustainable as a hypercar can get.
5. J. Allard
Microsoft is perhaps the other half of Apple in terms of product innovation. During his lengthy tenure as an executive at the business, J Allard, the former Chief Experience Officer of Microsoft, played a critical role in numerous of these developments.
Despite having begun his career at Microsoft as a program manager supporting the advancement of network technology, he brought his design concepts to a wider audience when he co-founded Project Xbox in 1999 and rose to the positions of CTO and CIO for the Entertainment and Devices division.
During his nearly 20 years with Microsoft, he shipped over 30 products, including some Microsoft projects like Xbox and others no longer in operation, like Kin and Zune.
He is currently the CEO of his own business, Project 529, which is well-known for its groundbreaking bicycle registration program, which has considerably reduced bike theft.
Achille Castiglioni, sixth
Castiglioni, one of the most well-known Italian designers, attended Politecnico di Milano to study architecture before starting a design company with his brothers. In addition to his architectural work, he was a talented product designer who created about 150 products in his career, including lights, ashtrays, seats, switches, cameras, and telephones.
Some of the most renowned museums in the world, such as the Vitra Museum in Weil-am-Rhein, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the MoMA in New York, and the Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich, have all displayed his work. The practical purpose and usefulness of Achille Castiglioni’s designs still serve as an inspiration to modern designers!
In the end!
Though there may not be many influential product designers to follow, those who are interested can nevertheless benefit greatly from the experiences and insights of successful designers. The items available to us tomorrow will shape our lives, and the designers of these products need to motivate you to put your best effort into your upcoming undertaking.