You have a brilliant product idea, but you don’t know how to bring it to life besides taking a few photos of it from different angles. Sometimes, even that seems like a waste of time and money, especially if you have to do it after every new prototype.
But instead of sticking to the same old photos and videos, you can try a more innovative approach: 3D product design
, a booming industry expected to reach $17,38 billion by 2030.As an agency working with numerous clients’ 3D projects, we can confidently speak to a few benefits of 3D product design and what the process looks like.
Ready to find out more?
Let’s get into it.
Why 3D Product Design Matters in Modern Commerce
Getting a product right the first time is harder than it looks (and it already looks hard). If you don’t have much time or budget to experiment, 3D product design which is a rapid growing market, can help turn your vision into something tangible, spot potential issues early, and refine your idea before it hits production.
In modern commerce, 3D products can lead to:
Faster prototyping and iteration
3D product design accelerates the prototyping process because it allows for the quick creation and testing of models.
Before 3D, traditional prototyping methods often involved time-consuming and costly procedures, which may even be repeated following product updates. With 3D design, this isn’t an issue because you can make quick adjustments and immediately visualize the changes, which significantly reduces development timelines.
If you want to try a new shape, adjust a feature, or test a different material, you can do it digitally in hours instead of waiting weeks (only to find out you don’t actually like it). As a result, you can also respond to feedback faster and confidently choose the product version your customers will love.
Reducing manufacturing errors
Nothing’s more frustrating (or expensive) than discovering a flaw after production has started. If you’re done dealing with such issues, you can use 3D design to catch potential problems before a single item is manufactured.
This approach will allow you to visualize and test every detail digitally so you can avoid mistakes, make sure the product works as intended, and avoid delays.
Plus, it gives your business a slew of competitive advantages.
4 Steps in the 3D Product Design Process
You’re intrigued, but still not sure what the process entails?
Don’t worry, 3D product design is a structured approach to making your products market-ready solutions. Plus, it’s also a systematic sequence that ensures your team covers every aspect of design before making your first prototype.
Here are the key steps in the 3D product design process:
1. Research
The foundation of any successful product lies in thorough research, and that’s the first step in a comprehensive 3D design process. Since 3D teams may work differently depending on project needs and company structures, we’ll outline what our team’s high-level process looks like to help you get a clearer idea.
At the start, the 3D team needs to understand the market needs, user preferences, and technological possibilities for your product. At EON, this process involves studying competitors, analyzing market trends, and creating moodboards to benchmark against.
2. Concept development
Once we gather research insights, the next step is to brainstorm and develop initial concepts. In this phase, we generate a range of ideas and select the most promising ones to move forward. However, at this point, your product doesn’t really look great as it’s meant to be a rough sketch of what we’re planning to do.
We then go on to sketch the products to visualize different solutions and assess the viability of specific concepts. When we find a winning combination that our team and the client agree on, we proceed to digital modeling. If we don’t, we go back to the drawing board and try a different approach.
3. Digital modeling
With a selected concept, the next step is to create a detailed digital representation using advanced 3D modeling software like AutoCAD, Blender, Corona, and Cinema 4D. The model you get during this step serves as a visual prototype and allows easy visualization and testing before physical production.
At this point, you can give the team feedback, which they can immediately implement digitally. This is also the step when your 3D design team can place your product in a modeled environment to see how it interacts with the objects around it.
Since we mostly work with furniture design and interior decorating, this is when we send full scenes using the specific models so that we can ensure the product looks as intended.
4. Refinement
The final stage of 3D product design is refinement, i.e., tweaking the digital model to ensure it meets all design specifications and is ready for manufacturing. In short, this means we enhance the model for performance, cost, and manufacturability – the step where your product really comes to life.
At this point, the 3D design team applies realistic textures, perfects the colors, and ensures consistency across all product components. Once this stage is finished, your digital model is ready for production.
Integrating 3D Design with E-Commerce Platforms
Bringing your new product online is one thing, but making it interactive and engaging for your customers is another.
Most of our clients don’t stop at design. Instead, they move toward integrating the digital models into their e-commerce platforms so that customers can explore every angle, zoom in on details, and even customize options in real time.
According to a study done by Threekit, products with 3D visuals increase conversion rates by up to 40% and decrease return rates by 35%.
Shopify, WooCommerce, and beyond
To keep up with the trends, leading e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce now support interactive 3D models and augmented reality (AR) experiences. This allows you to embed photorealistic 3D renders directly into your product pages, aside from your regular photos and videos.
When potential customers check the products, they can rotate, zoom, and visualize the items before committing.
So, if you run a Shopify store or a WooCommerce catalog, you can easily integrate 3D models to improve user engagement, drive confidence, and ultimately convert more browsers into buyers.
Some advanced platforms and plugins also allow for AR previews on mobile devices, but it’s best to consult your design provider on the specific plugin that could address your needs.
Contact our team for a free consultation and bespoke advice on approaching your 3D product design process before competitors outsell you.
FAQs
3D product design focuses on the process of creating realistic, visually compelling representations of products to showcase their appearance, features, and functionality. It emphasizes aesthetics and marketing appeal and uses techniques like polygonal modeling, subdivision modeling, and texturing to achieve photorealistic results.
CAD (computer-aided design), on the other hand, is the process of creating models that are precise, dimensionally accurate, and suitable for specific applications like prototyping and spatial planning. CAD models are essential, but they don’t offer the visual appeal and interactivity that 3D product designs do.
There is no one best software for 3D product design because the tools needed largely depend on the project needs and product specs. At Eon Eden, we work with a range of software, including 3ds Max, Corona Renderer, Adobe Photoshop, Cinema 4D, V-Ray, Blender, etc.
The duration of the 3D product design process can vary depending on the complexity and scope of the project at hand. Without knowing the full extent of the project, we can’t provide a specific timeline, because it can take somewhere from weeks to months. To get a clearer picture for your project, contact our team for an estimate
