In 2001, Ignacio Ordoñez started Ordoñez Industrial Design- Oid. Since founding,
Ignacio’s goal has been to utilize design to strategically transform ideas into desirable
products.
Initially founded as a concept design studio, Oid has grown to become a 360°Industrial
Design service with international production capabilities.
360°Industrail Design: Is a fully integrated design service. Our interdisciplinary team
and methodologies provide customers innovative design execution as well as production
management locally and internationally. This 360°approach efficiently takes ideas and
realizes them into market-ready products..
A Founders Journey & Reflection
Ignacio Ordoñez, founder and director of Oid, graduated as an Industrial Designer and
worked in architecture prior to forging his own path in Industrial Design. As one of the
first industrial design studios headquartered in Argentina, Ignacio’s customer centric
focus has solved many complex design challenges. Over our 20 years in business we
have had the opportunity to help realize the design and product needs of various
customers, from large multi nationals to small startups.
MARKET ENTRY: EDUCATING THE INDUSTRY
Upon founding Oid, Ignacio’s goal was clear. He wanted to offer companies from
different industries ways in which they could improve their products. When it came to
discussing proposals he found that many of them did not even know that the profession
of Industrial Design existed. Those first interviews, more than helping him to sell his
services, helped educate the industry on the possibilities of design. A little more time
and understanding was needed before work = commissions.
Within year one, after meeting with a myriad of contacts from a variety of industries,
Ignacio began to receive orders. The first years of Oid were focused on providing
concept design solutions, offering advisory and consulting services, as well as solving
partial designs for developments that were already underway.
"At the beginning we were not necessarily designing a product in itself, but we were
offering technical interventions or incremental improvements. Sometimes we worked
on the technical documentation of parts made by the companies; engineers and other
times we focused on the aesthetics that the company wanted impart in their products"
- Ignacio Ordonez
INTERNATIONAL VISION AND 360° SERVICE
Five years after starting Oid, Ignacio decided to carry out a global strategy that would
allow the firm to expand to other markets. Argentina was going through severe and
successive political and economic crises, strategically expansion was necessary.
"The first step was to export our solutions to other countries, with the goal of growing a
global business. I didn´t want it to be a one-way service from Argentina selling abroad,
but to be completely global, utilizing our expertise in new places, offering different
services to diverse markets"
- Ignacio Ordonez
Today Oid has a presence and clients in different parts of the world. Our South
American design and innovation headquarters are in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We
proudly offer manufacturing production and expertise in Hong Kong, China.
"With our presence and production in Hong Kong we are able to complete the 360
design circle. Since this stage was added to our existing array of services: consulting,
conceptual development and implementation, we can now bring a concept from
ideation through to production"
- Ignacio Ordonez
A COHESIVE TEAM EXCITED BY NEW CHALLENGES
As Ignacio reflects on these 20 years of entrepreneurship and growth, he has a lot of
gratitude for his team. Some of his favorite times include innovation workshops in
which the team participates simultaneously, in a fun and relaxed meeting where they
draw and discuss ideas to solve the challenge on the table:
"We all participate in the projects at different times, but I like to meet and workshop, which is a very intimate situation for the team where everyone makes valuable contributions"
- Ignacio Ordonez
Another favorite moment that is integral for achieving a 360 design approach is the
prototyping stage, which according to Ignacio is "the first door to the materialization of
the project". When you go from the virtual or paper to something physical you can
touch and correct. This is a critical moment for the team and the clients, who are
prioritized and encouraged to participate as they want in all stages of the work.
At Oid we do not work behind closed doors, but share every advancement with our
client as they contribute incredibly to the process. They are the ones who identified the
design need and know the market and their competitors. They also know the
capabilities of their own factory and team. We take all that into account when making
a product, since it has to adapt to that reality and not the other way around. The
customer´s input is critical and strategic.
After 20 years of Industrial Design work and a postgraduate degree in Strategic Design
and Innovation Management. Ignacio highlights the value of doing what one enjoys and
doing it with passion and meeting other people who share that feeling. Running a design
business is full of challenges and progress that moves at varying speeds. Ignacio
understands that each step of these 20 years has been crucial for Ordoñez Industrial
Design to become the company it is today: A company that offers a unique experience
with a proven work methodology, a real interdisciplinary team and a true full circle
design service.
Ignacio feels confident in his team and excited by the new challenges in the decades
ahead in this very dynamic time in industry and technology.
