Industrial design Service
45+ years of delivering timeless, user-focused product
design that drives market success
powered by Psycho-Aesthetics®.
StrokeDx – Rapid Bedside Stroke Detection System
It won the 2023 MedTech Innovator Global Competition and secured $5M in seed funding.
Discus Dental – Nuance Composite Syringe
Ergonomic handle designed for one-handed use, reducing hand fatigue during long procedures.
Synaptic Cryoablation System
Revolutionizing Cardiac Care with Accessible Innovation.
Crafting products with lasting impact
As a top industrial design firm with over 40 years of experience, we specialize in 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. Our proprietary Psycho-Aesthetics® methodology drives complex, insight-led 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
Concept Development
Form & Function Development
Design Refinement
Transforming Ideas into Impactful Design
Our industrial design process is a comprehensive journey that begins with an idea and evolves into innovative, human-centered 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 solution is purposeful and impactful.
Industrial Design Process
Design Capability
Design Research
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 and end consumers. 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 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 and launch successful products.
Industrial Design Markets
Industry Expertise
Medical
Designing life-saving medical devices and healthcare solutions that improve patient outcomes and user experience.
Commercial
Developing durable, high-performance industrial products optimized for precision and reliability in demanding environments.
Life science
Innovating tools and technologies that advance research, diagnostics, and scientific discovery.
Consumer
Designing intuitive, engaging products that fit seamlessly into daily life and deliver meaningful user experiences.
CPG
Crafting attractive, market-ready products that drive brand loyalty and consumer engagement.
Home Appliances
Designing practical and efficient appliances that simplify daily household tasks with style and functionality.
Clients that have moved with RKS
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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
