2SOLID AI — Product Design
Industrial Design
Product language, ergonomics, and design for manufacture — carried through materials, tooling, and assembly.
Discuss a product§01 — Instrument
r(θ) = (|cos(mθ/4)/a|^n2 + |sin(mθ/4)/b|^n3)^(−1/n1)
the Gielis superformula — one curve family spanning circles, rounded rectangles, stars, and asymmetric sections from six numbers
loft.js · superformula sections swept on a spine
The surface above is not an illustration of product geometry — it is product geometry, built the way a surfacing modeller builds it: cross-sections swept along a spine, parameters interpolated end to end.
§02 — The loft
Datasheet — how the surface is governed.
Form as a parameter set. Change a number and the product changes — that is what makes a design language a system instead of a mood.
| 01Section law | Gielis superformula | r(θ) — six free parameters per section |
|---|---|---|
| 02Parameters | m, a, b, n1, n2, n3 | symmetry · stretch · roundness · pinch |
| 03m = 0 | circle | the family collapses to the round section |
| 04Spine | 30 sections | section parameters interpolated end to end |
| 05Silhouette envelope | c0 + c1·h + c2·h² | quadratic profile shaping along the spine |
| 06Isocurve mesh | 30 × 18 × 96 | rings × meridians × samples — depth-split |
| 07Archetype cycle | 15s | four keyframed design programs, morphed |
§03 — The argument
Form is governed. Taste is verified.
An industrial designer's job is to make the beautiful defensible — every radius a decision, every surface a consequence of ergonomics, process, and brand. We work the whole chain: language, human factors, colour-material-finish, and the tooling rules that decide whether the shape survives manufacture.
§04 — Scope of the practice
Four surfaces of one discipline.
Form
Product language
Form families, proportion systems, and brand-translated geometry — a grammar a product line can speak for years.
Fit
Ergonomics & human factors
Accommodation targets set against anthropometric data — grip, reach, and posture designed for the 5th–95th percentile band.
CMF
Colour · material · finish
Finish specified as data — texture plaques, gloss levels, and materials tied to the process that produces them.
DFM
Design for manufacture
Draft, wall sections, ribs, split lines, and fastening strategy — the part designed for its process from the first sketch.
§05 — Datum
The rules the shape answers to.
Standard shop values, cited because they are real — material and tooling set the final numbers for any given part.
| 01Draft — injection moulded | ≥ 1° per side | more for textured faces; polish direction called out |
|---|---|---|
| 02Rib thickness | 50–60% of wall | controls sink where the rib meets the section |
| 03Internal corner radius | ≥ 0.5 × wall | stress and mould-filling, not aesthetics |
| 04Wall section | uniform | thick-to-thin transitions made gradual |
| 05General tolerance — machined | ISO 2768-m | medium class unless a tighter callout exists |
| 06Fit classes | ISO 286 | H7/g6 clearance · H7/k6 transition · H7/p6 press |
| 07GD&T | ASME Y14.5 | datums established before tolerances are written |
| 08Ergonomic accommodation | 5th–95th percentile | standard anthropometric design band |
§06 — Deliverable classes
A gate review is a document, not a meeting.
Representative criteria for an appearance part at the tooling gate — the class of record a design review produces.
Moulded enclosure — criteria before T1
representative criteria · not a client record
- CLASS
A-side appearance surface — no ejector marks, no witness lines on show faces
- DRAFT
≥ 1.5° on textured faces — verified against texture depth before steel
- WALL
Uniform nominal section — no isolated thick masses, transitions radiused
- SPLIT LINE
Placed off the primary face — agreed with the toolmaker before cut
- TEXTURE
Specified by plaque and gloss level — not described in prose
- GATE
No tooling order until every criterion above has an owner and an answer
Have a product to shape?
Product language, ergonomics, CMF, and DFM — carried through tooling to a part that ships.