Design vs Modeling

The distinction of design vs modeling is something I run into all the time. I try to be careful in the stuff I write to be clear that I don’t write about design nearly as much as I write about modeling.

Design is coming up with and developing the idea for the function or shape. Modeling is trying to make the design come to life. It’s like the difference between science and engineering. Engineering is more about the application of the scientific ideas to everyday life. Modeling is like putting details and actual reality onto a design. Design is a pencil sketch, where details are vague. Modeling is making sure the details work, that your design is actually manufacturable, and that it achieves what you mean for it to achieve.

Sometimes these happen together. This week I’ve been working on a model that has gone through a lot of iterations. I’ve got a general concept – a general design – in my head, but getting that into the computer and trying to put some real detail on it is difficult.

Most often these two functions are handled by separate people, but there also needs to be communication between the two roles. The worst possible outcome is a vague design that doesn’t really resonate with the person doing the model, and then the model is executed badly. A good design has a lot of views that try to establish a vibe, or personality for the design, which makes it easier to fill in the blanks later when the engineer has to interpret details while doing the modeling.

Good design also has to be flexible. Very rarely have I run into a design which stayed static from the top to the bottom of a project. Typically a design changes when the designer sees his ideas interpreted by someone else. Design by committee is rarely a good thing, but design on an island is also not what usually produces the best products.

I very much believe that a design should come from a single piece of cloth, to keep the same philosophy throughout the project. But I also believe that a single person can rarely see the problem from every necessary point of view. The best ideas come not from compromise, but from working out problems from multiple points of view. You get the most complete and most satisfactory solutions that way.

In design, ego tends to be a real problem. Everyone involved has to remember that it takes everyone involved to complete the project. The project isn’t completed by a series of throwing it over the wall, but by a fluid exchange of ideas and working out real solutions. Sometimes the idea from the packaging department really does need to set the parameters for the entire project. But at the same time, I don’t think you have to sacrifice a satisfying look to also optimize shipping cost.

I’ve worked on teams where things really worked, and we turned out great products that were optimized from multiple points of view. I’ve also worked on projects where a single ego gummed up the whole thing, and everything downstream from the design was a disaster.

Some of the good groups have been with big companies and some of the bad ones have been with small companies, so it can be hard to judge which system is going to work from the outside.

Personally I prefer modeling over design, because there is a more objective measure of success – if your model looks like the design, and you’ve made it functional and manufacturable, then you have succeeded.