ABOUT ITALIAN DESIGN

Usually considered in the context of applied arts, engineering, architecture, and other such creative endeavours, "design" is used as both a noun and a verb. "Design" as a verb refers to the process of originating and developing a plan for a new object (machine, building, product, etc.). As a noun, "design" is used both for the final plan or proposal (a drawing, model, or other description), or the result of implementing that plan or proposal (the object produced).

Designing normally requires considering aesthetic, functional, and many other aspects of an object, which usually requires considerable research, thought, modeling, iterative adjustment, and re-design (the first steps for ideas' searching and birth usually take the name of "cocept design").

According to the ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) "Design is a creative activity whose aim is to establish the multi-faceted qualities of objects, processes, services and their systems in whole life-cycles. Therefore, design is the central factor of innovative humanisation of technologies and the crucial factor of cultural and economic exchange".

Industrial design is an applied art whereby the aesthetics and usability of products may be improved. Design aspects specified by the industrial designer may include the overall shape of the object, the location of details with respect to one another, colors, texture, sounds, and aspects concerning the use of the product ergonomics. Additionally the industrial designer may specify aspects concerning the production process, choice of materials and the way the product is presented to the consumer at the point of sale. The use of Industrial Designers in a product development process may lead to added values by improved usability, lowered production costs and more appealing products. It is important that in order to be an Industrial Design the product has to be produced in an industrial way, for example an artisan can't be considered an Industrial Designer although he may challenge the same aspects of a product. However, some industrial designs are considered as classic pieces that can be regarded as much works of art as works of engineering.

Industrial Design has a focus on concepts, products and processes. In addition to considering aesthetics, usability, and ergonomics, it can also encompass the engineering of objects, usefulness as well as usability, market placement, and other concerns.

Product Design and Industrial Design can overlap into the fields of user interface design, information design and interaction design. Various schools of Industrial Design and/or Product Design may specialize in one of these aspects, ranging from pure art colleges (product styling) to mixed programs of Engineering and Design, to related disciplines like exhibit design and interior design.

Nowadays the concept of design (and design instruments too) is fully articulated in the various industrial and productive fields where it finds application: graphic design, car design, fashion design, furniture design, lighting design, exhibition design, color design, web design.

The design process 'leading man' is the "designer" who undertakes creation and control of the entire process in favour of a product fruition which has to be the most enlarged and aseptic as possible.

It is easy to mix up the designer figure with the artist's, but they just have creativity in common. The designer projects something because he has a responsability assigned, so he has to attend consumer's needs while the artist is more spontaneous and he must unnecessarily justify his actions.