#HTE

Industrial Design 101: Quickly Generating Abstract Form Ideas With Simple Materials

If you’re designing a tool, a shop jig or a minimalist housing for an electronic device, you’ll pretty much hew to the Form Follows Function rule. But there are plenty of other object categories—say, footwear, automotive or furniture—where you have an opportunity to integrate more abstract trappings.

This can require generating form ideas from beyond the realm of function, and at industrial design school they teach you several techniques for this. Here’s one of the quicker, easier and cleaner methods, as demonstrated by industrial designer Eric Strebel. All you need are some sheets of paper or cardstock, a sharp knife, and either a stapler or tape: