Role of Industrial Designers in Sustainability

Design is a powerful tool; it has influenced how society and the environment has evolved over time. Each design decision and product manufactured over the last century has slowly lead to the depletion of this planet’s resources. Thus it is vital for industrial designers to undergo thorough research and thought to understand the extent of their environmental and holistic impact their product will generate during the use and end of life stage. Each Industrial designer has the power to improve the global community by making smarter design decisions or contribute this disposable lifestyle. By putting more research into materials and the ritual of use during the design process, and focus less on just the aesthetics, the designer can find a balance to meet the needs of the consumer without straining the planet’s resources for the future generation. With that in mind sustainable products can slowly shift from a niche market to mass market. This will subsequently shape products and society towards a more sustainable future.

As highlighted before, industrial designers need to undergo adequate research on the potential product’s life cycle before it is manufactured. Today’s society has been pushed into a more disposable and superficial lifestyle, so it is no surprise that majority of industrial designers do firstly focus on the aesthetics of the design followed by the function. However, Friedman (2003, p 509, 514) argues a successful industrial designer requires a broad range of knowledge and awareness and this is achieved through comprehensive research in the early design stages. Without knowing prior theory-based knowledge of the product’s environmental and holistic impacted once released to the public, the industrial designer would be ...

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