The aesthetics of sustainable industrial design: Form and function in the circular design process

Abstract The relationship between form and function has long been a point of debate in the design community. Particularly, the famous principle ‘form follows function’ has been a focal point of such discussions. Since its introduction, many studies have been undertaken by theorists and practitioners to challenge or disprove this injunction. Furthermore, from the modern perspective of sustainability which has attracted global attention over the past few decades, there is a crucial link between design and sustainability. That is, poor designs, generally, lead to poor products which contribute to environmental and economic degradation. Consequently, understanding the relationship between form and function in design could contribute to a more sustainable environment. In this paper, first, we explore the views of some influential figures of the twentieth century's industrial design on this essentially philosophical, yet practically crucial, axiom of modernism. Then, we propose a design process model for aesthetic‐sustainable industrial design drawing on a theory of design aesthetics and the principles of circular design. This model integrates a circular design module into the industrial designer's theory of aesthetics to complement the design process in terms of sustainability. The proposed design process model could help designers establish an appropriate relationship between the form and the intended function of a product to contribute to lowering its environmental impact.