Industrial designers?
- Thread starter dog boy
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daever
lunatic rant extraordinaire
I did the opposite, I went from industrial design to engineering. Stick with engineering. ID really doesn't pay well and there's really not much you gain from the course that you cant get yourself. For me I was very good at drawing and designing stuff and incidentally I never really felt like I learnt anything while I did ID. so I figured I'd go engineering because it will be a challenge and I'll learn something you can only get at University. Another reason was that; if I wanted to start design I can all ways put together my old design portfolio with a mechanical engineering degree.
Also, the market here in Aus is not ID friendly, most of my ID chums are doing other stuff - interior, architectural stuff, not really core ID. I make A LOT more than them doing engineering.
I still love design, and I'm not having a dig at it, it's just for the amount of effort and talent that you need to do good at it professionally, they pay off is very very minimal. Most of the guys I've met who are ID grads and make a "good" amount of gravy, are probably the worst designers by anyone's standards and get by on their business skills alone. But if you wanna go down that road, then its all about cheese and you may as well do fashion (they will be the first to tell you that).
at the end of the day I'm extremely glad I'm an Engineer, not an Industrial Designer.
Also, the market here in Aus is not ID friendly, most of my ID chums are doing other stuff - interior, architectural stuff, not really core ID. I make A LOT more than them doing engineering.
I still love design, and I'm not having a dig at it, it's just for the amount of effort and talent that you need to do good at it professionally, they pay off is very very minimal. Most of the guys I've met who are ID grads and make a "good" amount of gravy, are probably the worst designers by anyone's standards and get by on their business skills alone. But if you wanna go down that road, then its all about cheese and you may as well do fashion (they will be the first to tell you that).
at the end of the day I'm extremely glad I'm an Engineer, not an Industrial Designer.
daever
lunatic rant extraordinaire
ID first year is drawing basics,design process, a bit of useless science stuff, ergonomics, stuff with other students within the design faculty, creating drawing portfolio's... there was a workshop class i remember for creating blue-foam models of your designs. second year is more of the same with a 2 behind the course title and some CAD stuff thrown in there. basically you get a design brief and you spam out as many drawings relating to it as you can.
Come to think of it, we lost a lot of students after we had a career day and ID grads would come in and talk about their jobs. It was depressing... Spending all day in a cube drawing Dolphin torches or car bumpers, or logo's...
The perk is there's a lot more Girls in ID compared to Engineering. You've probably realized this already.
Come to think of it, we lost a lot of students after we had a career day and ID grads would come in and talk about their jobs. It was depressing... Spending all day in a cube drawing Dolphin torches or car bumpers, or logo's...
The perk is there's a lot more Girls in ID compared to Engineering. You've probably realized this already.
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dog boy
Likes Dirt
Thanks for the input daever,
This was the thinking that initially lead me to choose engineering over ID. I would already consider my self good at cad / Inventor, I made a mountain bike fork in grade 12 graphics and rendered it into a video of it compressing and rebounding.
Job websites are pretty much the only thing keeping me from changing to ID when you search both engineering and ID. I did have a student teacher who had previously done ID and was pretty successful, from what he said he was on a pretty nice salary, This and the fact that I am really over doing math is what made me reconsider.
This was the thinking that initially lead me to choose engineering over ID. I would already consider my self good at cad / Inventor, I made a mountain bike fork in grade 12 graphics and rendered it into a video of it compressing and rebounding.
Job websites are pretty much the only thing keeping me from changing to ID when you search both engineering and ID. I did have a student teacher who had previously done ID and was pretty successful, from what he said he was on a pretty nice salary, This and the fact that I am really over doing math is what made me reconsider.
bootsandall
Likes Dirt
Changing degrees
Hey Dog Boy
I'm not an industrial designer but work in the field of product development and production. How far along in you engineering degree are you? Is it focused on a particular discipline (Civil, mechanic, structural?) Where are you based?
I design and produce custom metal work for people mainly artist, as well as decorative lights for commercial fit outs.
What is it that interests you about industrial design? How much do you know about the field?
I think that most of the industrial design courses are more based around concept development and presentation, with CAD being a one part of this process. Not much time is devoted to the more technical end of the job (structural requirements, this is done by engineers) but I could be wrong, it might depend on the course your looking at.
I’m back a TAFE doing design engineering and one of the guys I study with did an ID course and is now aiming to go back to get his engineering degree.
My mate is a lecturer at Canberra Uni in the Industrial design department, I have a few mates who have completed the course and work in the field. One mate worked at Holden and designed door handles for a while, but chucked it in and is now an architect. Another works for point of sales and promotions, she designs the cardboard cut outs that litter the isles at your local shops.
Hey Dog Boy
I'm not an industrial designer but work in the field of product development and production. How far along in you engineering degree are you? Is it focused on a particular discipline (Civil, mechanic, structural?) Where are you based?
I design and produce custom metal work for people mainly artist, as well as decorative lights for commercial fit outs.
What is it that interests you about industrial design? How much do you know about the field?
I think that most of the industrial design courses are more based around concept development and presentation, with CAD being a one part of this process. Not much time is devoted to the more technical end of the job (structural requirements, this is done by engineers) but I could be wrong, it might depend on the course your looking at.
I’m back a TAFE doing design engineering and one of the guys I study with did an ID course and is now aiming to go back to get his engineering degree.
My mate is a lecturer at Canberra Uni in the Industrial design department, I have a few mates who have completed the course and work in the field. One mate worked at Holden and designed door handles for a while, but chucked it in and is now an architect. Another works for point of sales and promotions, she designs the cardboard cut outs that litter the isles at your local shops.
dog boy
Likes Dirt
I have just completed first year at QUT Brisbane, I have chosen to major in mechanical and will start that in February. I like the idea of designing things that either don't exist or can be improved and then see your design made. For example I would love to be employed by a bike firm designing frames. I enjoy the 3d computer generated modeling side of things. I like the idea of designing with pen and paper sketching as opposed to designing with math and forces :/
Ideally somewhere between ID and engineering but that doesn't exist to my knowledge.
Ideally somewhere between ID and engineering but that doesn't exist to my knowledge.
daever
lunatic rant extraordinaire
Yea the math is one of those things... It gets easier with practice, and you don't have to be a superstar at it to be an engineer. It's pretty full on 1st and 2nd year, but gets easier. Your actually in a similar predicament as me - what you like doing kind of falls into both fields! But like I said before, engineering gives you more options... And don't think design will be easy either, their workload is HUGE.
dog boy
Likes Dirt
Haha yer cheers for helping me get my head round why I should stick at engineering just do the math and accept it just has to be done. I really need to commit more with study in the math department.Yea the math is one of those things... It gets easier with practice, and you don't have to be a superstar at it to be an engineer. It's pretty full on 1st and 2nd year, but gets easier. Your actually in a similar predicament as me - what you like doing kind of falls into both fields! But like I said before, engineering gives you more options... And don't think design will be easy either, their workload is HUGE.
Hopefully one day after I graduate I will have a light bulb moment design something awesome find myself on the new inventors and have my idea bought for millions.
I'm working as an Industrial Designer and don't really want to get into the old Engineer vs Industrial designer argument so i'll just address your questions.
Good Bits:
Variety of work is awesome, depending on if you're in a consultancy or in house it varies but overall it's pretty good.
Seeing something you came up with in production is pretty cool.
You learn a huge amount throughout the design process, from manufacturing processes, material science, ergonomics, market research and psychology amongst others. Again depending on the kind of projects you work on this varies. If you're in house you'll be an expert on every aspect of the companies product and if you're in a consultancy there's pretty much no end to the stuff you're going to learn.
Work places are usually pretty chilled, of course there will be exceptions but overall designers are a pretty relaxed bunch.
There is a surprising amount of responsibility throughout the whole process. In my experience it's up to the designer to pull everything together to get a product on the shelf.
Bad bits:
Long hours... along with responsibility comes a lot of work.
Dealing with lack of respect from other disciplines can be a challenge at times. Sometimes people think all you do is make pretty pictures and at times you have to fight for what you know is a better solution.
There are some awesome jobs out there but there are crappy ones too, designing Point of sales displays for example...These crappy design jobs might leave you wondering why you're just deigning more landfill.
Having to explain what an Industrial Designer does to everyone you meet gets annoying.
As far as job opportunities go, there obviously aren't as many design positions as there are engineering positions... we are china's sandpit after all. Unlike other professions where all you need is a degree and to nail an interview to get a job you're going to have to work on a folio highlighting your skills. From my experience your uni work isn't going to cut it which means you're going to have to put a lot more effort into your job hunt. The pay is pretty good, it's not mining engineering good but you won't be going hungry.
As far as course work goes I know the QUT design course has changed since I went through so can't really comment. I do feel there were some useless subjects but I think you'll struggle to find a degree which doesn't have a few subjects you think are useless.
On a side note you're in the exact position I was in a few years ago. I had done a year of Engineering at QUT and decided to move to ID it was the best decision I made.
Good Bits:
Variety of work is awesome, depending on if you're in a consultancy or in house it varies but overall it's pretty good.
Seeing something you came up with in production is pretty cool.
You learn a huge amount throughout the design process, from manufacturing processes, material science, ergonomics, market research and psychology amongst others. Again depending on the kind of projects you work on this varies. If you're in house you'll be an expert on every aspect of the companies product and if you're in a consultancy there's pretty much no end to the stuff you're going to learn.
Work places are usually pretty chilled, of course there will be exceptions but overall designers are a pretty relaxed bunch.
There is a surprising amount of responsibility throughout the whole process. In my experience it's up to the designer to pull everything together to get a product on the shelf.
Bad bits:
Long hours... along with responsibility comes a lot of work.
Dealing with lack of respect from other disciplines can be a challenge at times. Sometimes people think all you do is make pretty pictures and at times you have to fight for what you know is a better solution.
There are some awesome jobs out there but there are crappy ones too, designing Point of sales displays for example...These crappy design jobs might leave you wondering why you're just deigning more landfill.
Having to explain what an Industrial Designer does to everyone you meet gets annoying.
As far as job opportunities go, there obviously aren't as many design positions as there are engineering positions... we are china's sandpit after all. Unlike other professions where all you need is a degree and to nail an interview to get a job you're going to have to work on a folio highlighting your skills. From my experience your uni work isn't going to cut it which means you're going to have to put a lot more effort into your job hunt. The pay is pretty good, it's not mining engineering good but you won't be going hungry.
As far as course work goes I know the QUT design course has changed since I went through so can't really comment. I do feel there were some useless subjects but I think you'll struggle to find a degree which doesn't have a few subjects you think are useless.
On a side note you're in the exact position I was in a few years ago. I had done a year of Engineering at QUT and decided to move to ID it was the best decision I made.
Gluey_trails
Likes Dirt
Currently studying Industrial Design at UTS. Planning on doing an engineering degree post ID in the hope to open up more opportunities and to cut the middle man in some aspects. I'm enjoying it and that's the whole reason why I'm here. It's creative, fun, diverse and interesting.
Here's the Outline of the first two years so far and photos of the projects we did:
First Sem First Year:
Design Thinking: An multi-disciplinary subject (with Fashion, Viscom, Interior) about design styles and trying to reshape the way we see design. Pretty boring and simple. Waste of Time in my opinion.
Industrial Design Communication: An awesome subject in my opinion. An introduction to Drawing, CAD, Illustrator and Photoshop. 16hours a week, 4 of drawing, 4 of CAD, 4 of Illustrator and Photoshop.
Understanding Three Dimensional Form: An introductory class to the workshop and making models. Also touched on sketching and communicating a 3D form effectively on paper. Also touched on basic engineering principles (which you'll be sweet with)
Aesthetics in Industrial Design: A pretty freaking boring subject with a very simple course plan. One of the assessments was to look at the aesthetic of a product and how it changed over time and trying to decide the companies justification for it. Maybe looking back at it now it seems lame and self explanatory already but it's catering for the dullards. Also incorporated sketching techniques and workshop use.
Second Sem First Year:
Researching Design History: A theory based subject which was to teach us how to use the library properly and read articles. A few essays and analysis of the style and how it emerged in the period.
Informing Industrial Design: Can't really recall what this one was about, from memory we were interperetting previous designers style and recreating it by designing a sharpener. Not sure, still pretty vague on this one.
Industrial Design Communication: Same as before, just more indepth
Problem Solving in Industrial Design: The worst subject I've experienced so far, but oddly, the one which seems to keep influencing me most. The subject was based around the concept of brainstorming and mindmapping. I think we all understand the concepts already and understand they're suitable uses, but an entire subject on them is too much. We don't need to specify the size of the palm card or define which way the circle goes when in a group... or how we put up our hand.
First Sem Second Year:
Object and Accessory Design 1: My elective. Going into a long indepth design development and refinement stage to design a lasercut fruitbowl. A good subject for someone who may want to do some freelance stuff and making small niche products on the side.
Design Futures: Creative Technologies: Don't Fucking Do It. Terrible elective which I was stuck with. I was sucked into the idea that it was based on emerging technologies and potential use to use them in future projects. Nope... it's a sci fi conspiracy theory mongering subject.
(Some stupid concept of a wearable womb)
Ergonomics and Industrial Design: Teaching us the importance of ergonomics and how to use suitable data to create a comfortable product for many users. Was tricky.
(Hose Nozzle Attachment)
Structure, Form and Material: An engineering based subject teaching us the basics of engineering and how forces are applied and effect products. Was fun, you wouldn't have any problems.
(Old Person's Trolley)
Second Sem Second Year:
Object and Accessory Design 2: A follow on elective from the first. This time looking at the slip casting process and making vases. Fun.
Computer Aided Design: In depth teaching of using Solidworks. Also Fun
[video=vimeo;30221971]http://vimeo.com/30221971[/video]
Material Manipulation: Learning the ins and outs of product manufacture, material usage. Hugely relevant and enjoyable. Time consuming
Sustainability and Design: Learning how to improve a product and to make it greener. Using Eco-Indicators to evaluate it's effect on the environment etc etc.
Click HERE to see a report for evaluating the enviro impact of matches n stuff.
Here's the Outline of the first two years so far and photos of the projects we did:
First Sem First Year:
Design Thinking: An multi-disciplinary subject (with Fashion, Viscom, Interior) about design styles and trying to reshape the way we see design. Pretty boring and simple. Waste of Time in my opinion.
Industrial Design Communication: An awesome subject in my opinion. An introduction to Drawing, CAD, Illustrator and Photoshop. 16hours a week, 4 of drawing, 4 of CAD, 4 of Illustrator and Photoshop.
Understanding Three Dimensional Form: An introductory class to the workshop and making models. Also touched on sketching and communicating a 3D form effectively on paper. Also touched on basic engineering principles (which you'll be sweet with)
Aesthetics in Industrial Design: A pretty freaking boring subject with a very simple course plan. One of the assessments was to look at the aesthetic of a product and how it changed over time and trying to decide the companies justification for it. Maybe looking back at it now it seems lame and self explanatory already but it's catering for the dullards. Also incorporated sketching techniques and workshop use.
Second Sem First Year:
Researching Design History: A theory based subject which was to teach us how to use the library properly and read articles. A few essays and analysis of the style and how it emerged in the period.
Informing Industrial Design: Can't really recall what this one was about, from memory we were interperetting previous designers style and recreating it by designing a sharpener. Not sure, still pretty vague on this one.
Industrial Design Communication: Same as before, just more indepth
Problem Solving in Industrial Design: The worst subject I've experienced so far, but oddly, the one which seems to keep influencing me most. The subject was based around the concept of brainstorming and mindmapping. I think we all understand the concepts already and understand they're suitable uses, but an entire subject on them is too much. We don't need to specify the size of the palm card or define which way the circle goes when in a group... or how we put up our hand.
First Sem Second Year:
Object and Accessory Design 1: My elective. Going into a long indepth design development and refinement stage to design a lasercut fruitbowl. A good subject for someone who may want to do some freelance stuff and making small niche products on the side.
Design Futures: Creative Technologies: Don't Fucking Do It. Terrible elective which I was stuck with. I was sucked into the idea that it was based on emerging technologies and potential use to use them in future projects. Nope... it's a sci fi conspiracy theory mongering subject.
Ergonomics and Industrial Design: Teaching us the importance of ergonomics and how to use suitable data to create a comfortable product for many users. Was tricky.
Structure, Form and Material: An engineering based subject teaching us the basics of engineering and how forces are applied and effect products. Was fun, you wouldn't have any problems.
Second Sem Second Year:
Object and Accessory Design 2: A follow on elective from the first. This time looking at the slip casting process and making vases. Fun.
Computer Aided Design: In depth teaching of using Solidworks. Also Fun
[video=vimeo;30221971]http://vimeo.com/30221971[/video]
Material Manipulation: Learning the ins and outs of product manufacture, material usage. Hugely relevant and enjoyable. Time consuming
Sustainability and Design: Learning how to improve a product and to make it greener. Using Eco-Indicators to evaluate it's effect on the environment etc etc.
Click HERE to see a report for evaluating the enviro impact of matches n stuff.
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