30 day free trial of Pro/E!

Sketch It. Tweet It. Rock It. Industrial Designers on Twitter *Updated*

by Josh on April 24, 2009 · View Comments

I’m happy to say that Industrial Design is alive and well in the Social Media sphere due in part to a select few Industrial Designer bringing things together to let everyone else know what’s up.

Industrial Designers around the world are getting organized on Twitter. The coolest thing about it? They’re not just using it to connect with other ID’ers, but to brainstorm designs, discuss how to use it and generally inspire the design each other.

If you’re an ID student, Professional or interested in what’s going on with ID, the conversation is going to be happening on Twitter. Here’s where to start.


ID’ers on Twitter
Raph Goldsworthy from Design Droplets has started putting together a ID’ers on Twitter list.

Twitter Hashtags (Searches)
#IDT001 – is for taggig the suggestions in using Twitter for ID
#IndustrialDesign – is for tagging all things ID
#IDComp – is for tagging design relevant competitions
#IDJob – is for tagging ID jobs you find which aren’t on dedicated, high-traffic job boards
#IDQuo – is for tagging ID quotes. Ideally it would accompany a link to an RFP

Thanks to @reBang for updates on the Hashtags!

Other Twitter related ID resource
Industrial Design Twibe – group of ID’ers on Twitter.

Discussion
If you want to find out more, talk about the Twitter craze and find out anything new going on check out the Product Design Forum Twitter Topic.

If your wondering about SolidWorks users, 3D CAD users, ID’ers, Engineers, Designers and other 3D industry peeps check out this list here and be sure to follow the @CADTwitList on Twitter!

Image: Space Invader table design Juan ValldeRutenon on Flickr

Tagged as: ID, industrial design, Social Media, twitter

  • DT
    I think #industrialdesign is no good. It's 18 characters out of 140, eats up a lot of typing space. I rather go for #ID that might be more micro-blog efficient?
  • That is definitely a good idea. characters are precious on Twitter. need all we can get.
  • Thanks for mentioning the list of Twittering Industrial Designers on Design Droplets. Anyone who's an IDer on Twitter please visit the list and leave your twitter name in the comments. Cheers.
  • No problem Raph. Thanks for starting the list. I had to start a CADTwitList profile on Twitter after a while because the list was getting so large and making it hard to update. I handle it all through that now, which also makes it easier to go a follow all the people at once.
  • Just added another:

    #IDQuo is a new tag for those soliciting industrial design quotes. Ideally it'd accompany a link to an RFP.
  • Unfortunately, the ID community hasn't quite caught on with the tags. That I've initiated two of the three you mention is unfortunate (and btw, there's another, #IDJob, intended for openings that quietly pop up on forums, in LinkedIn groups, etc).

    The #IDT001 (to be followed by #IDT002, aso) also hasn't caught on yet. As a consequence, I'll be giving some thought to how its use might be promoted. Having recently been reminded of Superstruct and all the ways people found to use free socnet applications to self-organize, I'll probably look into using Twitter as one part of a broader online Industrial Design community - even though, ironically enough, I've long claimed "Industrial" Design is dead; maybe I can help shift the community to a post-Industrial mindset which allows for the inclusion of emerging technologies (such as those offered by Shapeways, 3DVia, Ponoko, aso).

    The #IDComp tag was spurred by my frustration with design competitions employing draconian rules which, among other things, grab every entrants' intellectual property as a condition for entry regardless of whether or not they receive an award. The most recent competition rules I've read even prevent entrants from using their work in a portfolio. Hopefully the tag and the surrounding discussions will help alert young designers to the potential negatives and promote a bit more fairness.

    Thanks for posting them. I'm refusing to post any blog entries until I force myself to finish the series I started, so your doing so is appreciated.
blog comments powered by Disqus