Making “cheap” products look expensive

For everything from coat hangers to cars, industrial designers use tried-andtrue tricks to make economical products look expensive. For example, how do designers create an attractive coat hanger for mass production that can be sold for $15 each? To start, they use an inexpensive hardwood with a highgloss finish and use simple pegs that require minimal tooling to hold the parts together. They also design hangers to be lightweight to keep down shipping. Those tips alone helped designers create a coat hanger that’s been bought by the hundreds of thousands at big-box stores.

Some companies such as housewares supplier InterDesign in Solon, Ohio, demands this simple, modern approach. That’s why the housewares section at your local Target features so many low-cost items with trendsetting finishes and textures, sleek styling, userfriendly operation, and colors that work well together.


Target recently selected InterDesign’s Buzzo rack for its Cool Stuff Collection. The rack is made of stylish silver-plated, low-carbon steel wire and wood balls. The bars are flattened and pierced for a cost-effective, yet elegant mount. Designers extended the line simply and inexpensively by adding a twohook rack with the same distinct look as the larger four-hook rack.

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