François W. Beydoun

My role as an industrial designer is to create new or develop existing ideas. The appearance of products that are to be made is essential, but before embarking on the form, my task as a professional is to consult with all the teams concerned: engineers, to find solutions that match the aesthetics that I propose with the functionality of the product and its feasibility for them; at the same time, if possible, I contact the marketing, production and sales departments to come up with a good idea beforehand and create a product which meets market needs, or the other way around, create a market need, for example: in the past we could do without microwave ovens… but now they have become indispensable for most of us!

Raymond Loewy, one of the pillars of modern industrial design in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s said: “Ugliness does not sell”, and it is true! The profession of the industrial aesthetician was born with Raymond Loewy.

To put it more poetically, when Michelangelo spoke about beauty, he said: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” This is wonderful and is exactly how creators work, because they imagine their project and in the process of giving it a concrete form, they “set it free”. In general, industrial design is based on factors such as attractive appearance, design and function. Then there is the choice of materials and engineering methods, not forgetting that the production cost depends on the production method and affects the final market price… And finally, anticipation of the demands of the market (for which you need to have a sixth sense). The design of today is the product of tomorrow!

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

Michelangelo