Industrial Designer

Industrial Designer Career

---

Industrial Designers are responsible for making physical objects both beautiful and functional. This is a huge field, and Industrial Designers are behind almost every manufactured product. Because the range of items is so broad—it includes everything from cars to furniture to MP3’s;you generally choose a specific area to specialize in.

Within the form/function spectrum you need to consider the style, quality, and safety of an object. Day-to-day tasks could involve testing consumers to see how they use products, working with engineers to understand how microchips need to connect with each other, or pitching a few designs to your team to see if they have suggestions. You also need to think of the issues that go beyond how something looks and works. If it is a toy car, is there a danger of a baby swallowing it? If it is a medicine, can you child-proof the top?

So as an Industrial Designer, it is your job is to give form to concepts. This requires a blend of art, engineering, imagination, and business skills, and the finished result is an object that fits into its future surroundings.

How do I become an Industrial Designer?

---

Industrial Designer is the broad name for a large group of conceptual engineers. A bachelor’s degree is usually needed to enter any of these fields, and many schools offer a degree specifically in Industrial Design. Generally speaking, however, a strong engineering degree with some design aspect will open up most of these doors as well.