Our key competences:
Industrial design is an approach that combines arts, humanities and sciences. It involves experts in various fields who cooperate to develop people-centred projects that help to efficiently solve real-life problems. It integrates modernity, innovativeness, ergonomics and aesthetics so that products can be attractive for customers and users, while meeting with all market requirements.
Industrial design has an impact on the form of the product as derived from its functionality. A successful product is a synergy of the technology used in the process of its development as well as the creativity of designers and engineers. The aim of industrial design is to give products, services and processes some specific qualities that will translate into the best possible experience of the user. This is mainly achieved by ensuring functionality, practicality and aesthetic appearance, keeping in mind the business realities of the project. It is worth knowing that industrial design requires not only artistic and technical skills but also a sound knowledge of the materials and technologies used during production.
Industrial design requires knowledge and experience. It involves several stages aimed at defining the qualities, functionalities and aesthetics of the product. This needs to start with a proper analysis of user needs. To this end, we carry out a design audit to explore all the factors determining the project and its assumptions. The following stage is the so-called brief based on which our designers/project team will prepare the product concept. Once the concept is selected and developed, we create a prototype to see how the product works in practice. If everything runs smoothly, the next stage consists in preparing technical and production documents to enable the launch of production.
The design process is prepared and carried out under the supervision of the Design Manager, a person whose job is to ensure that the entire process runs as planned: from collecting preliminary assumptions during a kick-off meeting and their verification through research to preparing briefs, designing, prototyping and engineering to design supervision during implementation.
Given the market changes that have happened over the last years, product design is now very high on the list of priorities. It is no longer enough to have a good quality product offered at an attractive price. In the world of today, it is design that can make a difference that will contribute to the growth of the company, determining how the product is used as well as what emotions and impressions it evokes with the users. If a product is well designed and appreciated by its users, it will also bring tangible benefits for the company itself. Projects developed through a professional design process are likely to become solutions that will meet the requirements of customers and solve their real-life problems thanks to carefully designed product qualities.
Industrial design combines as many as four domains: humanities, art, technology and business. A smart combination of these four components maximises the likelihood of successful projects that will meet all the pre-defined objectives. A good design is the foundation of sales. It is a well known fact that expectations may vary greatly across consumers which is why it is necessary to define the key target group of the project before the start of the design process. Industrial design means taking care to differentiate the product so that it can attract consumer attention away from the products offered by competition.
Regardless of whether we work on functional solutions, materials, shape, colour or other features, we always design products from the perspective of the challenge that the design is supposed to solve, addressing that challenge in a way that is both ergonomic and visually attractive.
When creating a new design from scratch or just refreshing the look of a product, we take account of the factors that have an impact on how the product will be perceived in a specific space. We design the appearance of a product so that it brings out the best of its qualities such as modernity, effectiveness, durability, sturdiness, reliability or efficiency.
We attach great importance to ensuring that the appearance evoke positive emotions and associations in clients, customers and users, making them think of professionalism, modernity, elegance, good mood or the feeling of security.
At the same time, we remember that purchase decisions are also based on other product qualities like convenience, ease of use, functionality and intuitivity. We try to strike the right balance between all these elements to arrive at a product that would meet the user expectations and needs, bearing in mind the technological and business situation of the producer.
The Soul & Mind team develops designs for various industry sectors, including railway, automotive, food, textile, furniture, household goods, machines, consumer electronics and many others. In our design work we always take care to ensure that the product stands out against competition and follows current design trends in a given sector.
We design all sorts of products from icons on household goods to new models of entry doors to huge consumer machines and highly specialised industrial equipment (e.g. public transport vehicles, bodywork for airport vehicles and snowploughs or attractive casing for automatic air plasma cutters).
We are not afraid of new challenges as well as demanding and complex tasks. We create solutions that are customised to the needs and requirements of companies specialised in various, often niche, areas. Such products can be designed thanks to the cooperation between our industrial design team and the specialists working for the client. This collaboration combined with studying the specificity of the product and its requirements, exchanging ideas and confronting visions during joint creative workshops, often based on the Design Thinking methodology, leads to optimal solutions. The result is a unique design based on the professional knowledge and experience of both parties involved. This way the final outcome is attractive and differentiates the product while keeping its functional qualities, ensuring ease of use and meeting any standards existing in the sector.
Feel free to look at some of the designs made by Soul & Mind for clients from various business sectors.