ID

control alt design services

industrial design

Life beyond the napkin-sketch...
Industrial Design is what "puts the face on the concept". It answers the questions: What will it look like? Why? To whom does it appeal? How will the user work it? Can the user work it? How can it be made better? Can it be made faster and at lower cost? Can it be made at all?

Industrial Design is also the stage in which we refine the look and function of the product without "freezing it" via engineering and tooling. It begins with a set of concept sketches which address a specific problem. We love to show our clients just how many valid solutions might exist for any given problem.

While Industrial Design used to be exclusively a "marker and airbrush" environment, wherein the designer would "toss the renderings over the wall", this is no longer the case. Dieter Rams, the chief Designer for Braun of Germany, perhaps best characterized good Industrial Design as: "Gestalt Engineering".

Industrial Design today encompasses both hand and computer-aided renderings in various media, appearance (nonfunctional) models, design and usability studies (including ergonomics and user-interface studies), working models and integration of engineering problems/ solutions into a cohesive strategic implementation plan...when it is done right.

concept sketches in pencil:

> final product

Control Alt Design utilizes tools identical to those found in aerospace firms. Mathematically correct and subtly complex surface models are constructed to realistically represent the rendered exterior of the emerging product. Our 3D rendered models become the input data for subsequent engineering, solid modeling, rapid prototyping and production tooling applications.

2D concept rendering

3D Concept Rendering

There is still no substitute for the eye of the Industrial Designer. Despite the advances in the state of the tools we use...great designs still begin with humble sketches.

> Rapid and Conventional Prototyping