Industrial designers make products easier to use, attractive, and economical to manufacture. They are employed in manufacturing companies and in private design firms. Companies hire them to improve their competitiveness by developing new products of distinctive identity and improved value.
As an industrial designer, you must have a real understanding of your client's product requirements. When working on a product, you research as wide range of issues such as the characteristics and needs of potential users, and the product's safety. You also research the product's market appeal, how efficiently it can be produced, as well as ways of distributing, using and maintaining it.
Your job is to develop a design solution for the product and describe it to the client by means of drawings, models and reports. Designs are discussed and refined, often by means of working models. You then translate the completed concepts into technical drawings and specifications ready for final production.
Typical industrial designer projects include mass-produced products such as consumer products, furniture, business equipment and instruments. You may also be consulted on corporate image projects, and coordinating the visual appearance and function of product lines. Other areas of expertise may include graphic design, package design, design of store displays, interior space planning, exhibit design, museum design, and signs.
The work is usually done in cooperative development teams that involve other professionals including managers, marketing and sales experts, engineers and production specialists. As an industrial designer, you are likely to be salaried though some are paid per contract.
Your industrial design expertise can also be applied to administrative problems, such as the development of industrial standards and regulatory guidelines. You may also be responsible for developing manufacturing procedures that will improve operations and product quality.
You will enjoy industrial design if you are inquisitive about how things are made and why they work the way they do. The job is best suited to creative people who enjoy challenges, who are good at problem solving and who like to draw, tinker and build things.
To be good at industrial design, you need to be open-minded and sensitive to social trends, cultural influences and the environment.
What You Need
Candidates must possess creative ability as demonstrated in a portfolio of samples of their work. When they have acquired a combined total of seven years of formal education and work experience of proven quality, industrial designers qualify for membership in the Association of Canadian Industrial Designers.
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