Love ’em or just plain don’t have time for ’em, social media platforms are here to stay. While you don’t necessarily need to be an expert at Tweetin’ or Facebookin’, there’s a lot to be gained from staying in contact with old colleagues or finding inspiration for your next side project. Of all of the social media platforms, however, Instagram has become one of the easiest ways to accomplish the basics of sharing and viewing content quickly and easily.

While following the antics of your in-laws across their European vacation or your old college buddy’s home remodel are certainly fun and all, the real muscle that Instagram provides for product designers and engineers is in its ability to quickly gain inspiration and insight from valuable sources while simultaneously sharing your own material with ease. Needless to say, it’s not uncommon now for individuals to launch entire brands using their Instagram network as a springboard for exposure.

Whether you’re already an Instagram Jedi Master with a loyal following or have been wondering where to get started, here’s a list of 20 of our favorite Instagram accounts for finding inspiration and staying ahead of the product design and development curve. Who knows, you might learn a trick or two from these guys and have your own loyal following before too long?

reid.schlegel

Reid Schlegel is a Virginia Tech ID Alumni and NYC-based industrial designer at Frog Design. Known for his fresh sketching style, Schlegel posts whatever he is working on near-daily which can range from treehouse concepts to ideation sketches of his current work projects.

mnmllymnml

Andrew Kim is a talented young designer fresh out of Art Center who works at Microsoft working on everything from the XBox to the HoloLens. His clean photography style highlights where he finds inspirations for his own designs. Needless to say, there are some good takeaways here.

A photo posted by Andrew Kim (@mnmllymnml) on

creativesession

As a collaborative between two industrial designer brothers, Creative Session is one of the most creatively diverse accounts in this list featuring everything from animation and branding design processes to more polished physical products.

Working out the pivoting mechanism. And the internal cavity. Next up the pads. #industrialdesign #productdesign #headphones #audiophile @go.hobo

A photo posted by Two brothers. One Passion. (@creativesession) on

scoro5

As one of the original design sketching teachers, industrial designer and concept artist Scott Robertson deserves a place somewhere on this list. More recently, Scott has been sharing the development behind a custom vehicle of his own design.

Not waiting for Inktober this year.

A photo posted by Scott Robertson (@scoro5) on

astrostudios

Astro Studios is a San Francisco-based multidisciplinary design studio. While their Instagram account is somewhat scattered across all their work disciplines, it does serve up a healthy dose of relevant musings from the world of modern design and technology.

d2lo

As one of the more vocal members of the industrial design community, Michael DiTullo has made a name for himself having worked everywhere from Nike and Frog Design leading to his current role as Chief Design Officer at Sound United. Expect everything from shots of rare cars to speaker sketches and even the occasional sketching tutorial.

sketchadaydotcom

Like Michael DiTullo, design sketching master Spencer Nugent has been one of the more vocal members of the industrial design community thanks in no small part to his devotion towards teaching the craft of ID sketching. As the founder of IDSketching.com, Nugent now shares his daily sketches on this Instagram account.

frog_design

With no less than two of the designers on this list having worked for Frog, it should come as little surprise that this design agency landed on our list. With everything from product teardowns to snapshots of their design process, Frog does a good job of making their feed worth your while.

yvesbehar

One of the most well-known industrial designers of our time, fuseproject founder Yves Behar shares snapshots of his design processes and what makes him tick.

blaster701

Industrial designer Jeff Smith – an avid SOLIDWORKS and Fusion360 user – shares his analog and digital design sketches with the occasional tutorial in between his skateboarding sessions.

Finally figured it out. This is very interesting! Thanks for all the motivation. #sketch #2015bestnine

A photo posted by Jeff Smith (@blaster701) on

mnml1

As an ex–Nike design director, successful Kickstarter brand launcher and founder of the multidisciplinary design agency MNML, Scott Wilson has seen it all. Keep an eye out for peeks into his design process.

Epik proto tooling #applewatch #makeitepik #detailsmatter www.EpikWatch.com

A photo posted by Scott Wilson (@mnml1) on

thesketchmonkey

For full-blown design sketching, Marouane Bembli delivers. Expect sketch walkthroughs of everything from cars to consumer products as well as sketching tool reviews.

flowalistik

Based in Paris, Agustin Flowalistik has made a name for himself by combining his passions for graphic design and 3D printing. The result is some of the cleanest 3D printed products we’ve ever seen. Look for his latest projects and glimpses into his design process here.

Sketching and prototyping under the sun ?

A photo posted by Agustin Flowalistik (@flowalistik) on

frank.howarth

Frank Howarth (AKA Frank Makes) is trained as an architect but has since turned into a woodworking celebrity on YouTube where he shares the processes behind creating his wood products with compelling videography. Expect behind-the-scenes snippets and updates from his YouTube channel here on his Instagram feed.

Diggin’ it out

A photo posted by Frank Howarth (@frank.howarth) on

mostmodest

Specializing in “craft-inspired technology goods”, Most Modest is a San Francisco–based design studio with a great looking Instagram feed that follows the manufacturing processes and final results of their small collection of products. If you’re looking for inspiration for launching a side project, these guys have done things right.

massmadesoul

Mass Made Soul creator Adam Richardson leverages his background in both design and photography to find the “soul” in mass produced products. Here, he shares snippets of what are a part of larger series of product studies on the Mass Made Soul website.

mxrxvs

Currently wrapping up his final year at school in Germany, industrial designer Marius Kindler has some of the most killer design sketches we’ve seen on Instagram – professionals and students included. Keep tabs on this guy.

hakangursudr

Having worked in the industrial design field for over 30 years, Hakan Gürsu has a level of experience we don’t see too often on Instagram. Here, he shares his various sketching projects – using the classic draw through method – and perspectives on everything from the state of industrial design today to various sketching tools.

 

filipchaeder

Swedish freelance industrial designer and illustrator Filip Chaeder shares both analog and digital sketches as well as his musings on various design topics. We chose to feature Chaeder because not only does he have sketch talent, he also has a penchant for framing his sketches nicely for Instagram’s limiting square format.

SolidSmack

Ah, yes. Where else will you turn to for your regular dose of rockin’ sweet product design goodness? Keep your eyes peeled for daily updates and exclusive content on the all-new SolidSmack Instagram feed.

Watch the mesmerizing 20-minute video over on SolidSmack (link in bio).

A photo posted by SolidSmack (@solidsmack) on

Did we miss somebody? We’ll be expanding this list over time. Feel free to let us know who to add in the comments.

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