The process is comparatively simple.

The application must include a request, drawings or photographs of the product complete enough to show clearly every aspect of the design claimed, and a brief explanation. The brief explanation gives the product name, its intended use and the essential features of the design, and must designate the one view that best shows those features.
Design patents are not substantively examined; only preliminary examination applies. Once the application passes examination the patent is granted, the certificate issues and the grant is published. The whole process normally takes 4 to 8 months — far quicker than an invention patent.

Three points come up often.

Similar designs can be combined. Two or more similar designs for the same product may be filed in a single application, up to a maximum of 10.

Sets of products can be combined. A set means two or more independent products in the same class that are conventionally sold or used together and share a single design concept — a matching set of tableware, for example.

The drawings define the scope. What the drawings show determines what is protected. Inconsistency between views, unclear linework, or shading that obscures structural features can all leave the scope uncertain and give an opponent something to attack in later invalidation proceedings.