//Design balance

Understanding the influences to create a balanced product design.

When there is a consensus that a product is very well designed or termed a classic, it’s because it is balanced; the look, feel, function, quality and manufacture are all pulling together, no one aspect dominates, the sum is greater than the parts.

A good design is a balance of aesthetics, engineering, ergonomics, usability, psychology, materials and technology, and a good grasp of production processes and economics. Creating product design balance is what Firsthand Design is all about, it delights the product user and makes good commercial sense.

Rather than a step by step development process, we work holistically with no boundaries between industrial design and engineering disciplines. This approach successfully balances the demand to create product desire with the need for an economic method of manufacture. Firsthand Design is all about getting the balance right to create wonderful products.

The mixing bowl (see right) has been in production, unchanged, for 10 years, and the syringe mix system for 14 years.