“The misconception about an industrial designer or the profession itself continues to linger on despite the modern world that we live in and the access that we have to being informed. Personally I think the linking of the two words – industrial and design/designer – is a contributing factor to the misconception. When you mention the word industrial there is immediately the connotation of something relating to industry, manufacturing and/or engineering, which can be viewed as prestigious or alternatively as hard work on a factory floor. The word design conjures up thoughts such as creative, art and engaging with the extreme,” said Brian Steinhobel of Art Steinhobel.
“Put the two words together and you immediately think of some drawing/draughting person sitting in a dark office in a factory somewhere. It is completely misunderstood and it continues to be portrayed as a process of design applied to products that are to be manufactured through techniques of mass production. In many instances the industrial design/designer is generally kept separate from the actual manufacturing process. This allows designers to fully concentrate on the product itself and ensure that it is optimised for customer experience, they say. But how can you design something without knowing its engineering capabilities?”
This wheelbarrow was awarded the Red Dot Design award. This unique wheelbarrow is water injection moulded to create a strong long-lasting product. The wheelbarrow is light, reliable and eco-friendly and the handles have been designed to fit the form of your hand
“I suppose that with the IoT era that we live in it is similar to the perception that everybody can regard themselves to be a journalist or reporter, they can also be an industrial designer because of the tools that we have at our disposal.”
“In my opinion they should rather say that you are a product development specialist because if you look at my career, I have designed many products and besides taking the form and function of the product into account, I have also been involved in the mechanical elements or electrical parts that would be designed and needed and then the functioning and manufacturing of the mould that would be used to manufacture the product, for example.”
“I get involved from concept to point of purchase.”
“Why should we not reinvent products across all spheres of life and industries, making them stronger, lighter, more comfortable and aesthetically unique. Our mission is to delight our clients, their partners and customers with the development of a product that cross pollinates the art and human aspects with shape and form while at the same time including the functionality.”
Brian Steinhobel has been very successful in the office furniture industry. This is one of his latest designs that was 3D printed before it went into production
“The biggest mistake any business can make is to let go of the value of design. Human beings are visual creatures, so visual aesthetics affect our judgment. Your business could have the best functioning product, with prominent features and the highest quality. But if it has a poor quality in the designing aspect, it will give advantage to the competitor’s company’s product with an impressive design, no matter how poor it is in functionality.”
“Industrial designers have a wide skillset. First and foremost, they have excellent creativity and imagination. They must be able to produce interesting and usable designs that customers would enjoy.”
“But unfortunately design is thought of about as being styling and all about looks. This is, in fact, more popular with people who have no knowledge of industrial design and is formed from the mindset of downgrading the perception of the design profession, especially by people from the engineering discipline, who derive sadistic pleasure by condemning anything outside their comfort zone.”
The Ugreeny stackable vertical gardening boxes were designed for an international client
“In modern design and manufacturing services, there is a range of common practices that are used to improve efficiency and a business’s ability to compete. For us industrial designers we have to marry art with engineering, rethink form factors, engage the impossible and consistently deliver market-winning designs.”
“The keys to success are to employ state-of-the-art software, including integrated CAD/CAM/CAE, maximise the use of synchronous technology and deliver compelling concepts that can be readily manufactured and tooled.”
“The results are the reinvention of products across all industries, making them stronger, lighter, more comfortable and aesthetically unique.”
“We thrive on achieving the nearly impossible. We have a niche for solving problems, raising the bar and changing the paradigm of design. We’ve reinvented shopping carts and we’ve reinvented exercise machines and that is the bottom line of what good software allows you to do. We are business-driven, so we use comprehensive software for the entire process of industrial design from beginning to end.”
Art Steinhobel is an industrial design and product development consultancy, serving a diverse range of industries including engineering, electronics, packaging, appliances/white goods, mining, medical, furniture, pharmaceutical, automotive, sports equipment, information technology products and many others
“Good industrial design is about much more than visual appeal. Well-designed products need to be readily manufacturable and most especially toolable. Practical tooling design is essential. CAD is really an interface that bridges design ideas with physical reality. Outputting the files into rapid prototypes and further refining them on into machining, our objective is to get a product in your hand.”
Brian Steinhobel is recognised globally as one of the world’s most talented, prolific industrial designers with a career spanning 42 years. Over the years, he has designed everything from components for F1 racing cars and airplanes to sensually shaped chairs and ice buckets suggestive of the female form.
In designing the focal point of the wine gallery at Cape Town’s Ellerman House, an enormous three-dimensional wine rack holding 1 500 bottles and bearing over two tons of weight, Steinhobel was inspired by a humble corkscrew. The 3.2m high, 6m long structure is a literal translation of a corkscrew or helix shape
Steinhobel’s work has a bias towards complex injection-moulded plastics, pressure die-cast aluminium, CAD/CAM and animation
In designing the focal point of the wine gallery at Cape Town’s Ellerman House, an enormous three-dimensional wine rack holding 1 500 bottles and bearing over two tons of weight, Steinhobel was inspired by a humble corkscrew. The 3.2m high, 6m long structure is a literal translation of a corkscrew or helix shape.
“The shape was also informed by the free form curves and organic growth of vines. The human scale of the wine rack enables you to engage with it, by walking through it and enjoying the sense of being inside a vineyard, with the vines arching over above your head,” says Steinhobel.
But Steinhobel is not just about extreme designs. He has been instrumental in the design of the award-winning Lasher wheelbarrow, besides numerous other Lasher tools, a unique all plastic and lightweight wheelbarrow that is water injection moulded to create a strong long-lasting product.
Some of the more recent projects include the Ugreeny vertical gardening box, the bottle for the Aquella natural spring water and flavoured drink range, the Hala Motors electric vehicle taxi, a luxury jet known as the Pegasus jet, Zodiac’s Barracuda pool cleaners, in total 2 500 projects and still counting.
“Design is actually an intellectual process initially. You have to think about something and visualise it, just like motor sport drivers visualise the track before they do a lap. Now the task is to make it real. It is up to you to take into account all the aspects I have mentioned previously and then use all the tools at your disposal to get it out there. Believe me good design sells!”
Art Steinhobel is an industrial design and product development consultancy, serving a diverse range of industries including engineering, electronics, packaging, appliances/white goods, mining, medical, furniture, pharmaceutical, automotive, sports equipment, information technology products and many others.
For further details contact Art Steinhobel on 011 706 2187 or visit www.artsteinhobel.com
