The Application of Green Design Concept in Product Design

The traditional green design is based on resources and environmental protection, and is based on the ecological environment awareness of the product's entire lifecycle design philosophy. That is, at the product design stage, it considers how to fundamentally reduce environmental pollution, save resources and energy. Therefore, the green design is a design that considers the product's environmental attributes (removability, recyclability, maintainability, reusability, etc.) throughout the entire life cycle of the product and uses it as a design. The goal is to ensure the product's functional, longevity, quality, and economy while meeting environmental goals.

With the development of green design theory, it is not enough to focus only on the product itself (ie, only the production environment that focuses on product cleanliness, cheap disassembly and maintenance, and recycling after retirement), but more content should be considered. Entering the information society, the scope of design is no longer limited to the product itself, but also the development of green related content around the product, such as product packaging, transportation, and the design of green factors in product marketing. Traditional green design focuses on the product itself and lacks consideration of the product or other factors related to it. Nowadays, industrial designers are required to adopt new ideas and methods in the development of their products to conduct systematic and comprehensive green design. Fully consider the green pleasantness of the product, discover the green opportunity of the market, guide the green consumption, and pay attention to the various green issues in product packaging design and transportation. Therefore, we believe that the concept of green design in product design means that in the process of product design, industrial designers take full account of social-economic-technical factors and rationally design the product's entire life cycle so that the product can be realized. At the same time as its own function, taking into account resources and environmental factors as well as the user's green practical perception factors, to achieve sustainable product development.

I. Analysis of Green Factors in Product Design

Introducing green design into product design must not only consider the relationship between products and resources, and the environment, but also consider the consumer psychological issues in the process of product use and recycling, and take it into consideration with various aspects of the product (such as functions, models, and man-machines). , color, etc., combined together into the product design system. From the industrial design theory system, the analysis of green factors in product design can be divided into five factors: 1. Environmental and resource factors. Product's impact on resources and environment in the process of raw material extraction, material processing, product manufacturing and manufacturing, product recycling and reuse. Product resources and environmental factors include product resource attributes and environmental attributes. This factor reflects the product's utilization of resources and environment. 2, the basic attributes of the product factors. The basic attribute of the product includes the function, shape and color of the product. The function of the product is the way to realize the value of the product. For the green product, the function of the product fully reflects the rational use of the resource. The product's shape and color are the embodiment of product style, and it is another green design factor that causes consumers to purchase desire. The design of these two aspects must consider its pleasantness and the relationship with the environment. 3, the user's use of perception factors. When users use green products, they can appreciate the joy brought by green design from the use of the product, and can appreciate the green pleasantness of the product. Therefore, the user's perception of use is more related to the human performance of the product. Green pleasantness can be decomposed into a green atmosphere and green usage. For example, in the green design of the interior environment of a car, green environment factors such as temperature, color, lighting, and odor in the vehicle should be taken into consideration. At the same time, consideration should be given to the effort, convenience, harmlessness, and safety of steering wheels, door handles, hand brakes, and other components in use. Other factors such as green use. 4, the product's full life cycle factors. Compared with the traditional product "cradle to grave" life cycle, green products have a full life cycle, that is, the product life cycle not only includes all the time from the design, manufacture, assembly, transportation, use until retirement. It also includes the time of recycling after the product is scrapped or stopped for use, and realized the whole life cycle from "cradle to reproduction". 5, the product's green marketing factors. The green marketing factor of a product refers to the factors that green products embody in marketing. It shows that when consumers purchase and use green products, the company instills the green concept to consumers to cultivate consumers’ awareness of green consumption and thus promote green. consumption.

Second, the green design method in product design

The green design methods in product design mainly include system theory design ideas and methods, modular design, long-life design, life cycle design, and recycling design.

A system is a collection of ordered elements with hierarchical relationships and logical relationships. Systematic design requires that designers take a systematic view of the development and design of products, and in-depth product design of green design factors, combined with internal and external, local and overall, in all aspects of the product and each level, And macro control of various design factors in order to effectively complete the design. Systematic design is not only a design method, but also a philosophical guide.

Modular design is to divide and design a series of function modules based on the functional analysis of products. Through the selection and combination of modules, different products can be formed to meet the market demand. Products that are implemented by a modular combination, such as a new mobile phone that combines shooting functions with communication functions on the market, not only facilitates people's use, but also saves the materials needed for manufacturing.

The long-life design is an effective way to make the best use of resources to ensure the long-term and safe use of products, reflecting the core connotation of green design. For the key parts of the product, such as the safety belt buckle lock design in a car that is related to life safety, it is a typical example that requires long-life design.

The life cycle design comprehensively considers the design methods of research, development, design, manufacturing, sales, use, recycling, processing, and other aspects of the life cycle that affect the environment and people; life cycle design often carries out life cycle analysis, ie, LCA (Life- Cycle-Assessment) is a comprehensive resource and environmental analysis and evaluation of a product's entire process from manufacturing to waste decomposition, and finds ways to improve it. The specific process includes: goal setting, inventory analysis, impact evaluation and improvement evaluation.

Doetz Germany acquires more than 5,000 old engines each year, disassembles them and reassembles them into 3500 "new" engines. Kodak Company of Japan has been producing recyclable cameras since the end of 1990. The camera's movable parts and electronic systems can be reused 10 times. In 1993, it sold 30 million in the world market, becoming the fastest growing sales volume of the company. Get the most profitable product. Recycling the original product and then applying the recovered component to the new product not only avoids repeated production of the product components, saves resources, but also greatly reduces the cost of the product and makes the product more economical.

Third, the application of green design in product design

The basic process of product design is: market research - sketch idea - program design. Specific to the application of green design in product design, the process can be divided into four phases:

1, market research

In the market research stage, the green factor of the product was taken as a key part of the survey. At this stage, the company conducts investigations and studies on the green defects in products, resources, and the environment, and analyzes them to form a rational research report. Through market research, you can discover the green opportunities contained in the products. You can make use of the green factors mentioned above to make a reasonable survey on the green factors in the market. At the same time, the green design requirements for future products are assessed and the gap between existing products and target products is pointed out.

2, concept design

In the specific product design process, through the green opportunities derived from market research, through the sketch design - program screening - program design process, functions, modeling, color, human and other factors into the product design. In this process, the design should meet two requirements: First, the characteristics of the product in saving resources and protecting the environment, so that the product meets the three major requirements of the green design: Reduce (reduction) Reuse (recycling) Recycle (cycle); The second is to create a green environment for products. Through the coordinated design of factors such as the shape, color, and human-machine factors in product design, users can feel the green factors of products when they use green products.

3, the program is determined

Evaluate the conceptual design and obtain the final plan. There are two aspects to the evaluation of the plan. First, in the process of designing, manufacturing, packaging, transporting, consuming, scrapping and recycling, the amount of waste is used as a measure to minimize the amount of waste in the process. Second, Look at the product in the process of use, whether it can make consumers feel the green factors of the product, can focus on the product's human, form and color.

4, detailed design

In the detailed design phase of the product, we continued to deepen the green elements of the product and conduct detailed product design. A detailed analysis of the product life cycle, from its processing of raw materials, manufacturing, sales, use to each stage of recycling, the product of all factors related to people, resources, and the environment must be carefully analyzed and designed. In this stage of design, product development can be achieved through virtual technology, product design can be performed in a virtual environment, and a soft product model can be generated to evaluate and test the form and function so that the energy and resources generated by the hard model can be avoided. The waste is conducive to shorten the product development cycle, reduce costs and reduce pollution.

The integration of green design into industrial design is an inevitable trend in the development of industrial design. It will make industrial design theory more fulfilling, and make industrial design more in line with the requirements of human social development. It is no accident that green design is proposed in product design. It is a requirement for the design and development of industrial products and is in line with the wave of green consumption in the new century. At present, China's green design is still in the primary development stage. In order to enrich the green design theory and improve the green design system, more designers, engineers, the business community, and the academic community need to work together.