Industrial Design Firm
45+ years of delivering human-centered industrial design that drives market success and market impact
powered by Psycho-Aesthetics®.
Redefining oral care through design, engineering, and brand clarity.
By ruggedizing the enclosure, optimizing internal mechanics, and refining ergonomics, we created a durable, user-friendly toothbrush and demonstrated how our approach transforms new, everyday products into efficient, highly effective solutions.
A sleek, ergonomic wireless earbuds with exceptional attention to shape, balance, and ergonomics.
The earbuds were designed with exceptional attention to shape, balance, and ergonomics. Our team engineered hybrid-driver acoustic systems into sleek, lightweight shells, ensuring comfort, durability, and a new standard for listening experiences.
Reinventing the electric guitar with open-architecture, we redefined what an electric guitar can be.
We engineered a modular ‘neck-through’ core with conductive aluminum ribs and interchangeable outer shells, showcasing how our work redefines performance and design.
Crafting products with lasting impact
As a top industrial design firm with over 40 years of experience, we specialize in helping companies with human-centered and innovative product design solutions. From strategy and ideation to design and development, we support clients across every stage of the product lifecycle, helping them introduce new products to market successfully. Our proprietary Psycho-Aesthetics® methodology drives complex, insight-led designs and solutions. Based in Southern California, our team of designers, engineers, specialists, and researchers brings cross-disciplinary expertise to deliver impactful, future-ready products.
45+Years
200+Awards
500+Patents
Psycho-Aesthetics® & Industrial Design
With decades of development, our Psycho-Aesthetics® (P/A) methodology has become a powerful design-thinking tool that helps uncover pragmatic, insightful solutions through a shared objective lens. This human-centered approach follows a structured seven-phase process, beginning with research. In the research phase, we conduct customer research, benchmarking, and create word banks. We then synthesize these findings into competitive maps, triggers, personas, and an opportunity zone to define and forecast product needs. Next, we identify key attractors that resonate with each product’s specific target audience, focusing on their “Moment of Truth.” This structured process ensures each product design is meaningful, strategic, and ready for execution.
Industrial Design Research
Research Capabilities
- Ethnographic Research
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Auxiliary Research
- User Interviews
- Opportunity Zones
- Human-Factors Testing
- Research Kits
Concept Development
We begin by translating research insights into meaningful design directions. This includes ideation, sketching, and early concept visualization to explore form, function, and user interaction. Our team generates a wide range of concepts that align with strategic goals and user needs.
Form & Function Development
In this phase, we evaluate how aesthetics and performance work together. Through iterative modeling, 2D renderings, and ergonomic analysis, we refine proportions, usability, and feasibility. This ensures our designs are both desirable and viable, standing out among competitive product designs in the marketplace.
Design Refinement
Once a concept is selected, we advance it to final detail. This includes CMF (color, material, finish) selection, mechanical integration, and collaboration with engineering teams to prepare for production. Every design choice is intentional, meant to elevate both experience and performance, reflecting the quality of our work.
Transforming Ideas into Impactful Design
Our industrial design process is a comprehensive journey that begins with an idea and evolves into innovative, human-centered products and solutions. We prioritize client success, drive innovation, and enhance quality of life, while addressing risk at every stage. Guided by defined design principles, our team transforms Key Attractors into tangible product elements during the design phase, ensuring every new solution and all of our designs are purposeful and impactful.
Industrial Design Process
Design Capability
- Concept Visualization
- Aesthetics Refinement (CMF)
- Human factors & ergonomics analysis
- Functional invention and feature exploration
- Physical model making & validation
- Material and detail specification
- Packaging design
- Sustainable design
- Integrated Design and Development
- Emerging Technology Integration
- Business Model Design
- Experiential Prototyping
Design Research
Human-centered research, when applied to industrial design, is a collaborative and cross-functional process. We begin our industrial design engagements by understanding the target customer for our clients. In this stage, we primarily focus on primary and secondary user research for problem-solving. Though we often use our ethnographic research capabilities.
Visualization and Sketching
Our designers generate multiple product concepts through sketching, 3D modeling, and collaborative ideation. We explore form, function, and CMF (color, material, finish) to create compelling design directions.
Refinement & Prototyping
Selected concepts are refined through CAD development, prototyping, and engineering collaboration. We test ergonomics, usability, and aesthetics, iterating quickly based on feedback and performance.
Beta Prototyping
Beta Prototyping is a quick and effective way of bringing proof of concept to life. It allows potential consumers the opportunity to evaluate, test, and share their feedback on a product. We use this feedback to make improvements to the design and functionality of a product. Internally, beta prototyping helps our team form accurate estimates of production and manufacturing times.We specialize in wireframing prototyping as well as physical prototyping. We use 3D printers, CNC Machines, and laser cutters to create prototypes in the studio. Having an in-studio prototyping lab allows our designers to quickly and efficiently bring sketches to life.
Intellectual Property Support
Patenting new device technology is critical in creating lasting value for our clients, their companies, and end consumers. We empower companies to protect innovations that strengthen their market position. We routinely assist attorneys and agents with the technical muscle to support the patent applications and information architecture for our clients. Our experts help patent professionals draft effective and comprehensive claims based on the invention and the characterization data. In addition to data, we provide clear technical support throughout the entire application. In the end, patents allow our customers to own outright the innovations and products we build together.
Deep expertise in all Major Sectors
Our work spans nearly every sector, enabling us to cross-pollinate ideas and create powerful Moments of Truth that lead to viral adoption. With expertise in industrial design, consulting, advertising, and mechanical engineering, we’ve helped thousands of companies discover new opportunities, launch successful products, and earn awards for outstanding designs.
Industrial Design Markets
Industry Expertise
- Design and Development
- Emerging Technology Integration
- Business Model Design
- Experimental Prototyping
- Qualitative Resonance Testing
- Pilot Design and Testing
- Rollout Support
Medical Market
Designing life-saving medical devices and healthcare solutions that improve patient outcomes, strengthen company portfolios, and enhance user experience.
Commercial Market
Developing durable, high-performance industrial products optimized for precision and reliability in demanding environments.
Life sciences Market
Innovating tools and technologies that advance research, diagnostics, and scientific discovery.
Consumer Market
Designing intuitive, engaging products that fit seamlessly into daily life and deliver meaningful user experiences.
CPG Market
Crafting attractive, market-ready products that drive brand loyalty and consumer engagement.
Home Appliances Market
Designing practical and efficient appliances that simplify daily household tasks with style and functionality.
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Contact UsFrequently Asked Questions
What is industrial design?
Industrial design is a field that involves the design and development of a wide range of products used in everyday life. It is concerned with the creation of products that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional, efficient, and user-friendly.
Industrial design encompasses a broad range of industries, including furniture design, product design, automotive design, packaging design, and many more. The ultimate goal of industrial design is to improve the overall user experience by creating products that are both attractive and functional.
Industrial designers work closely with engineers, manufacturers, and marketers to create products that meet the needs of the user while also being economically viable to produce. They typically use a range of tools, including sketches, computer-aided design (CAD) software, 3D modeling, and prototyping to develop and test their designs.
What does an industrial design firm do?
An industrial design firm is a company that specializes in designing and developing a wide range of products for various industries. The primary focus of an industrial design firm is to create products that are functional, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly.
Industrial design firms typically have a team of experts who have expertise in various areas, such as engineering, product design, material science, user research, and marketing. They work together to create products that are not only visually appealing but also meet the needs and desires of customers.
Industrial design firms typically engage in the following activities:
Product research and development: They research and develop new products, starting from ideation to the creation of the final product.
User research and testing: They conduct user research and usability testing to identify user needs and improve the user experience.
Concept design: They create sketches and mock-ups to visualize product concepts and develop product specifications.
3D modeling and prototyping: They use 3D modeling software to create product prototypes and test them for functionality and durability.
Manufacturing and production: They work with manufacturers to produce products at scale and ensure that the products meet the required quality standards.
What is the difference between industrial design and product engineering?
Industrial design often happens in conjunction with product engineering. Industrial design is the process of defining the requirements of a new product and then turning those requirements into a visual, tactile, or digital product. Product engineering determines what and how technologies can be used to fulfill the design requirements. Often there are many iterations of a product at various stages of completion to allow key stakeholders to make decisions. There can be multiple phases of design, including an ideation phase, a sketch phase, a CAD phase, and multiple prototyping phases. Product engineering should happen in conjunction with design to ensure that decisions can be manufactured while maintaining a viable price point for market acceptance. Product engineering is the process of combining or creating technologies and materials to implement the designs.
What are the types of industrial design?
There are three main types of design: experience design, interface design, and product design. Experience design usually encompasses the second type of design because it refers to the holistic experience of a product. Interface design, also known as user interface design, is often for digital products and refers to the way users interact with digital elements on a screen. In the world of XR, interface design can also refer to pseudo-real elements. Industrial design is a type of product design referring to physical products which may or may not be used for industrial purposes.
What are the industrial design processes at RKS?
Our core design process is Psycho-Aesthetics, a human-centered design-thinking methodology created by RKS Founder Ravi Sawhney. Psycho-Aesthetics has seven main phases: Research, Synthesis, Key Attractors, Hero’s Journey, Design, Execution, and Moments of Truth.
How do you become an industrial designer?
One of the best ways to become a industrial designer is by designing! Formal education can help you build a portfolio, which is critical in attaining a position at a design firm or on a design team. If you don’t have a formal design education, then you should create some side projects that show your design ability. If you already have a portfolio you can apply to a designer role at a design firm like RKS: RKS Careers