Industrial Design (ID)

If I were to manufacture furniture, accessories, or other goods, these would be

My design tenets:
{} Don't make your products exorbitantly expensive! No one said that it is only the rich who appreciate good design; there's nothing of the sort. If anything, I say they acquire a taste for it, for obvious standard of living reasons.
{} Function over form, always. It's not just art, we use these things and they have got to work. Refrain from purely aesthetical excessiveness. (Unless of course you are shooting for a spot in a museum archive.)
{} Don't simply try to follow or get ahead of trends. Come up with creative ideas that will last and become good investments for your buyers. If it never becomes all the rage, people won't get tired of it (so quickly). Think of all the companies that have been around for a very long time, like Levi's or Wilson Sporting Goods. They have lasted this long not because they started off riding the crest of a current trend, but because they saw a need and their products wholly addressed it. No, they're not necessarily being paraded around in by today's celebrities, but the brands that become American classics tend to cash in a lot more in the long run than ones that gained popularity (and lost it) in a particular season, like UGG Australia or Paul Frank. And when you have a steady flow of cash coming in, you can loosen your grip, revamp a part of your image and/or start up a new product line to target a more fashionable and younger crowd. Case in point: Wranglers Jeans. I recently purchased a sweet pair that cost me a pretty penny (designed for and marketed to the fashion conscious, worldly youth/hipsters/wannabies), but even when they fall out of favor with this fast crowd, the head honchos in charge know that their loyal cowboys and cowgirls will always keep them in business. So, build a trustworthy name for your company! After all, the turtle beat the hare.
{} Stay true to the craft. Once your main motive becomes monetary gain, your work will inevitably suffer.