DALL-E 2 and Midjourney can be a boon for industrial designers

Enlarge / A volcano-themed tissue box designed using assisted image generation by AI Juan Nougera (CC-BY-SA)

Since the introduction of DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT, there has been quite a bit of hesitation about AI technology, some of which is justified.

It is true that the future of technology is unclear. There is a big debate about the ethics of using existing artwork, images, and content to form these AI products, and which industries they will displace or change. And it looks like an AI arms race between companies like Microsoft and Google is already underway.

And yet, as an industrial designer and professor, I have found AI image generation programs to be a fantastic way to improve the design process.

They do not replace the valuable knowledge and critical thinking skills I have accumulated over years of experience. But they spur creativity and expand the range of what's possible with the products my students and I design.

A peek behind the design curtain

Industrial design is about creating everyday objects, with a particular focus on their form and function. Industrial designers cover everything from furniture and consumer electronics to accessories and clothing.

A typical design process involves a lot of research and discussion with consumers about their needs. From there, designers brainstorm ideas and sketch them out, followed by the prototyping and manufacturing stage. Finally, the items are refined and crafted.

During the early stages of brainstorming, designers spend a lot of time with their sketchbooks, drawing inspiration from their immediate surroundings, history books, and their own experiences. The internet also plays an important role: it's where designers collect most of the images they use to create inspiration boards. Famously, Jonathan Ive, who designed many iconic Apple products, took inspiration from luxury watches for the Apple Watch, using the "crown" - normally used to wind a mechanical watch and set the time - as a peripheral input to allow users to scroll through content.

AI has given designers like me the ability to generate images from a simple text prompt. Tools like DALL-E or Midjourney allow us to capture abstract concepts and turn them into a stream of images.

Enter any phrase, no matter how crazy, and you'll receive a set of unique images generated just for you. Want to design a teapot? Here, have 1,000. Some may have a dinosaur shape; others can be made from mashed potatoes.

Although only a small subset of them can be used as a teapot, they provide a seed of inspiration that the designer can cultivate and refine into a finished product.

From nostalgia to the tissue box

Perhaps a handful of these 1,000 images of teapots allow a designer to come up with an unexpected new shape that's easier to hold, cheaper to make, or more beautiful to look at. Generative AI can make the brainstorming process easier, but it's still up to the designer to make the choices that ultimately lead to products that enrich people's lives.

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