Product Design
Industrial Design Portfolio: Structure One Case Study Around Decisions
Sequence one industrial design portfolio case study through brief constraints, sketch alternatives, a foam model and an assembly detail with traceable evidence.
LATEST STORIES
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DFM and Hardware
Mechanical Design Engineer Skills: A Student DFM Handover Before Tooling
Practice mechanical design engineer handover skills with a worked clearance stack, a sourced draft check, and the decisions a manufacturer needs before tooling.
DFM and Hardware
What Is a Manufacturing Specification? A Student Hardware Handoff Checklist
Learn what a manufacturing specification includes and audit your student hardware handoff package with a worked manifest that catches revision and material gaps.
Prototyping
Prototype Testing Cost: A Budget Worksheet for Physical Models
Budget a physical prototype learning test with a blank worksheet for samples, setup, people and repeat work. Separate cash costs, borrowed resources and unknowns.
Prototyping
How to Test a Physical Prototype
Plan a physical prototype test with a copyable worksheet for the build, task, setup, assistance, observations and next iteration. Includes a fictional desk example.
Product Design
An Industrial Design Critique Example: From Comments to the Next Test
A fictional desk critique turns each comment into a question and the next check. Scores, ratings, and a winning concept stay blank.
Product Design
Pugh Matrix vs Weighted Decision Matrix: A Blank Sheet
A Pugh sheet marks each concept against a baseline. A weighted sheet multiplies a rating by a weight. This hardware exercise leaves both tables blank until a check exists.
DISPATCH
Essential Knowledge for Hardware & Industrial Designers
From iterative CAD modeling and physical prototyping methods to tooling economics and DFM verification. Who publishes this journal is described on About NUSPB.
TOPIC ARCHIVES
Product Design
A Product Design Brief for Students: Scope, Evidence and Unknowns
Write a one-page product design brief before any user interviews. A hypothetical desk accessory shows how to tag observed notes, sources, assumptions and unknowns.
Product Design
Design Brief vs Specification: Turn a User Need into a Testable Requirement
A design brief states the problem. A design specification lists testable criteria. This worksheet maps one fictional desk-accessory need to a check, and leaves unmeasured limits as TBD.
Prototyping
3D Printing vs CNC Machining for Prototypes: How to Choose
Compare 3D printing and CNC machining for prototypes by quantity, material, tolerance, geometry and iteration speed, with a stage-by-stage decision flow and enclosure examples.
DFM and Hardware
ALPLA Mono-Material Foam Pump: A Product-Design and DFM Reading
What ALPLA announced about its metal-free polypropylene foam pump, what a product designer can learn from it, and which claims still need checking before anyone relies on them.
Product Design
Aptar Beauty L'Occitane Pump: A Product-Design and DFM Reading
What Aptar announced about its custom pump for L'Occitane's refillable hand care range, what changed on the Satine platform, and what a designer can and cannot learn from it.
DFM and Hardware
Aptar Novus Advance Pump: A Product-Design and DFM Reading
What Aptar announced about the Novus Advance full-polyolefin cosmetic pump, which claims carry conditions, what a designer can learn from it and what is still unconfirmed.