The Design For Everything Manual

This concise and readable manual is a useful resource for anyone interested in the design of engineered products and equipment. The Design for Everything Manual integrates a wide range of "design for X" topics such as user-centered design, efficient design, design for manufacture, and coordinated product and process design into a unified "Design for Everything" approach that is easily understood and used regardless of technical background or training. Over the years, a wealth of practical design knowledge has been learned about how to achieve good design. This knowledge is captured by four fundamental rules of good design: the rule of needs, the rule of clarity, the rule of simplicity, and the rule of safety. Good design is achieved by applying these rules in a systematic and disciplined manner to the critical choices that define the design. The manual is derived from notes that the author developed over many years of teaching a course on "Design for X" in the Master of Product Design and Development Program at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. "Design for X" (DFX for short) is a label applied to a large collection of design methods (e.g., Design for Assembly, Lean Design) and design guidelines that address particular design issues. The Design for Everything Manual focuses on the principles and practices that underlie the DFX methods rather than on the methods themselves. It covers the same material and addresses the same spectrum of concerns, but in a simpler and more integrated fashion. Design for Everything is a strategic design approach that is of value to those studying, teaching, and practicing design across a wide range of disciplines. Design and manufacturing executives, product managers and project managers, and other high-level decision makers can use the manual to quickly learn how to achieve good design. Experienced design engineers and industrial designers can use it as a handy reference. Business students and engineering students can use it as a practical guide for new product development courses and senior design projects. Manufacturing companies can use it to develop a "common language" and "shared vision" for good design. Ultimately, all designers can use it as a guiding light for achieving the elusive goal of "doing it right the first time."

From America's best known and most trusted authority on all things domestic, a fully illustrated guide on how to do everything: including organizing and decorating, cleaning and caring for your home and garden, celebrating, hosting, achieving career goals, and managing finances--and much more

Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious—even liberating—book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization. The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make intelligent use of constraints. The goal: guide the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time. In this entertaining and insightful analysis, cognitive scientist Don Norman hails excellence of design as the most important key to regaining the competitive edge in influencing consumer behavior. Now fully expanded and updated, with a new introduction by the author, The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how—and why—some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

Doing research can make all the difference between a great design and a good design. By engaging in competitive intelligence, customer profiling, color and trend forecasting, etc., designers are able to bring something to the table that reflects a commercial value for the client beyond a well-crafted logo or brochure. Although scientific and analytical in nature, research is the basis of all good design work. This book provides a comprehensive manual for designers on what design research is, why it is necessary, how to do research, and how to apply it to design work.

The graphic design equivalent to Strunk & White's The Elements of Style This book is simply the most compact and lucid handbook available outlining the basic principles of layout, typography, color usage, and space. Being a creative designer is often about coming up with unique design solutions. Unfortunately, when the basic rules of design are ignored in an effort to be distinctive, design becomes useless. In language, a departure from the rules is only appreciated as great literature if recognition of the rules underlies the text. Graphic design is a "visual language," and brilliance is recognized in designers whose work seems to break all the rules, yet communicates its messages clearly. This book is a fun and accessible handbook that presents the fundamentals of design in lists, tips, brief text, and examples. Chapters include Graphic Design: What It Is; What Are They and What Do They Do?; 20 Basic Rules of Good Design; Form and Space-The Basics; Color Fundamentals; Choosing and Using Type; The World of Imagery; Putting it All Together?Essential Layout Concepts; The Right Design Choices: 20 Reminders for Working Designers; and Breaking the Rules: When and Why to Challenge all the Rules of this Book.

An essential primer for students and first-stop reference for professionals, The Fashion Design Reference & Specification Booktakes the fashion designer through the entire design process, from conceiving a garment to marketing it. This valuable handbook contains the information and ideas essential to planning and executing fashion projects of every scale and distills them in an easy-to-use format that is compact enough to slip into a tote. Linking six central phases in the cycle of fashion—research, editing, design, construction, connection, and evolution—The Fashion Design Reference & Specification Book helps designers develop effective strategies for building a cohesive collection and communicating their vision. The Reference & Specification Book series from Rockport Publishers offers students and practicing professionals in a range of creative industries must-have information in their area of specialty in an up-to-date, concise handbook.

This updated version of Rockport's best-selling Design Elements covers all the design fundamentals, from working with grids, color application, typography, and imagery to finally how to put it all together.

Principles of Yacht Design has established itself as the standard book on the subject for practising designers, naval architecture students, discerning boat owners as well as the boatbuilding industry as a whole. The fifth edition is completely revised and expanded. It examines every aspect of the process of yacht and powerboat design. The new edition includes new findings from recent research in aero and hydrodynamics, as well as covering the most recent changes to building standards. The authors have used a newly built 41-foot performance cruiser to demonstrate the practical application of yacht design theory. This new edition includes photos of the building process and detailed explanations.