Online Product Data
MatWeb: Material Property Data, Data sheets for over 68,000 metals, plastics, ceramics, and composites. Database searchable by physical properties, alloy composition, material type, manufacturer name, trade name, and metal UNS number.
ThomasNet, The most comprehensive database of manufacturers in the United States and Canada. You can search, view company websites, online catalogs, and CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings. Updated frequently and contains listings for 650,000 manufacturers, distributors and service companies, 152,000 brand names, 67,000 product and service categories, and over 800,000 products.
DVDs & Streaming Videos
Check the Library Catalog or browse the library shelves to find DVDs. View the Guide to Streaming Videos to learn what's available at KU.
Future by Design. 2 discs. 90 min. Profiles the work and futuristic vision of inventor and industrial designer Jacque Fresco.
Objectified. 75 min. A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. Director Gary Hustwit documents the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential product designers, and looks at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets.
Sitting Down: the Art of the Chair. 52 min. Six leading contemporary designers discuss their technical and aesthetic approaches to making places for people to sit down.
Product Design: Process and Inspiration. This two-part series introduces viewers to the world of design, a field that includes graphic, car, fashion, and product design, architecture, and more.
Professional Organizations
IDSA, Industrial Designers Society of America. Encompassing product design, industrial design, interaction design, human factors, ergonomics, design research, design management, universal design and related design fields, IDSA organizes competitions, conferences, and publications.The Society has 27 local chapters and 16 special interest groups.
International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid). Founded in 1957, Icsid brings together professional associations, promotional societies, educational institutions, government bodies and corporations to create a system on the forefront of industrial design education and progress.
Industrial Design
Industrial Design: Materials and Manufacturing Guide by Call Number: TS171.4 .L47 20082nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, c2008. Includes basic terminology, why certain shapes work best for particular applications, and how to get the best performance from all of the commonly used methods and materials.
The Fundamentals of Product Design by Lausanne: AVA Pub.; LaVergne, TN: Distributed in the USA and Canada by Ingram Publisher Services, c2009. An integrated overview of the the design process, gathering information about every facet from idea to execution to selling
Sustainable Product Design
Ecological Design by Call Number: TS171.4 .E34 2008Kempen, Germany; New York: TeNeues, c2008. Profiles 60 products that blend good design with ecologial awareness.- Design for Environment: a Guide to Sustainable Product Development byCall Number: TS171.4 .D478 20092nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, c2009. Offers a business rationale for developing sustainable products and processes.
Product Design in the Sustainable Era by Call Number: TS171.4 .R45 2010Köln: Taschen, c2010.This book features over 100 innovative and award-winning projects from over 20 countries launched by leading design offices and companies.
Interactive Design
- About Face 3: the Essentials of Interaction Design byCall Number: QA76.9.U83 C6596 20073rd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub., c2007. Presents the effective and practical tools that you need to design desktop applications, Web 2.0 sites, and mobile devices.
- The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications byCall Number: QA76.9.H85 H8568 20082nd ed. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, c2008. Through the contributions of over 130 researchers, this book explores the evolution of how people use and work with technology.
Inventing the Medium: Principles of Interaction Design as a Cultural Practice by Call Number: QA76.9.H85 M87 2012Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, c2012.The author has built a practical theory of digital design that centers around the four affordances of networked media: encyclopedic, spatial, procedural, and participatory.
The Fundamentals of Interactive Design by Call Number: NC1000.5 .S25 2013London: AVA Publishing, 2013. Pragmatic advice paired with diverse examples from all areas of interactive design.
Selected Journals
Design News, 1988-. Provides technology news, opinion, analysis, end-user examples and tutorials for engineers and engineering managers who design consumer and industry-specific products and systems that range in application from planes, trains and automobiles to cellular phones, industrial machinery, medical devices, and more.
Innovation, 1982-. Published quarterly by the Industrial Designers Society of America; 3 themed issues per year with feature articles on each unique topic and a Yearbook of Industrial Design Excellence.
I.D., Magazine of International Design, 1985-2010. Ceased Jan/Feb. 2010. The magazine emphasized product design and related disciplines.