There are a lot of ways that we can all become invested in new topics and interests, and if you’ve been looking for a great way to introduce yourself to the world and business of product design, MAKO has the best recommendations for resources that can help you start off on the right foot!
A great way to thoroughly learn about and become invested in a certain subject is to read well-made and detailed books that delve into topics deeply to help you understand and have a permanent reference to look back to. Here are MAKO Design + Invent’s topmost recommended book on the business of product design to help inspire, inform, and motivate you on your journey through successful product design!
How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses
Recommended by our very own Senior Product Strategist Ryan Davidson is Jules Pieri’s ‘How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses.’ While a lot of people may believe that books can contain outdated information, Pieri takes into account our current major trends affecting our economies, such as the new age of the internet, technology, and newly emerging innovative platforms.
She gives the reader a thorough and detailed guide through every step of the consumer product design process. This book will help you get a better idea of how to develop successful product design, formulate a strategic business plan, explore innovative ways to market your product through packaging, manufacturing, and distribution, and tips for expanding your business to the global marketplace.
One of the best aspects of this book is how it uses real-life case study examples, facts, and true evidence to explain why the lessons taught in this book are relative, informative, helpful, and applicable to the real-life product business realm. How We Make Stuff Now is the perfect introductory book to welcome yourself into the world of successful product design and business.
Seth Godin’s ‘Purple Cow’ on Creating Successful Product Designs for Your Business
Standing out with its unique name, Purple Cow is a book written by Seth Godin – a notoriously well-known author, entrepreneur, and innovator. He’s written multiple critically acclaimed books in the past that revolved around different aspects of business and marketing in hopes of revolutionizing and providing eye-opening insights into the world of marketing and entrepreneurship.
His book ‘Purple Cow’ focuses on what makes successful businesses successful. While most people assume that large companies are successful because of years of work and accumulated profits, Seth Godin points out that each successful business has one thing in common – A Purple Cow.
A Purple Cow can be described as something unique, phenomenal, exciting, and unbelievable. It contrasts the mundane and boring, tired products and services that people are so accustomed to seeing in their day-to-day lives. In ‘Purple Cow,’ Seth Godin discusses how you can create a Purple Cow, or successful product design, for your business and use it to bring your business to spectacular success.
Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations
From renowned designer and philanthropist Tim Brown, ‘Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations’ looks at how design thinking works for creative leaders looking to integrate design thinking into all aspects of their business or products to drive new and innovative businesses into society.
The book presents a great list of key takeaways from what we can learn from design thinking and how it can teach us valuable lessons and practices that not only work well within the product design world but also within our emerging new small businesses.
Some of our favorite key lessons include not settling for the first good idea you come across, allowing “flowers to bloom” for full divergent inking, how design thinking begins with divergence (expanding range of options), and taking a human-centered approach, such as observing real-user behavior and emotional meaning vs. functional performance.
Tim Brown is a well-known designer, thus ‘Change by Design’ is sure to have many more important lessons to help you learn how to make a successful product design for your business.
If you have a great new invention and you’d like to learn more about this process, get in touch with MAKO today and visit our website to find out more. Or feel free to give us a call at 1-888-MAKO, and we can set you up on a call with our product strategist!
About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!
1-888-806-6256
info@makodesign.com