Industrial Designers
Career: Industrial Designers
Industrial designers develop a wide variety of manufactured products.
Industrial designers combine artistic skills and practical knowledge to create designs. They design cars and airplanes. They design home appliances, children’s toys, and computers. They also design many types of medical, office, and sports equipment. Most designers concentrate on one area. For example, a designer might specialize in toys or kitchen appliances.
The first step in designing a new product is to find out the client’s needs and how the product will be used. Designers talk to clients about what they want, and do research on products and design trends. For example, they read publications and study design styles. They also attend showings of new products in their field. To develop their designs, designers consider size, shape, weight, color, and materials to be used. To evaluate if a design is practical, they consider cost, ease of use, and safety. They also consider market conditions, or what is selling in the product area.
Next, industrial designers create sketches. They do this by hand or on a computer. Designers often use computer-aided design (CAD) tools to create products. CAD allows designers to create three-dimensional drawings of products. These drawings can be rotated, which helps designers better visualize the final product. Changes can quickly be made to CAD designs, which adds speed and flexibility to the design process. This reduces design costs and cuts the time it takes to deliver a product to the market. Industrial designers often use computer-aided industrial design (CAID) to create their designs. Designers who work for manufacturing firms may use CAID to send their designs to automated production tools. These machines ôreadö the designs and create products.
Industrial designers present their sketches to the client or design team. They also consult with the product development team, which may include engineers or marketing staff. Designers make changes based on the feedback they receive. They then create detailed designs of the product. These may include drawings, small models, or computer simulations. Some designers create full-sized prototypes of their products. In addition, designers prepare lists of the materials needed to produce the product. They also estimate costs.
Industrial designers may supervise assistants who carry out their designs. Designers who run their own businesses have administrative tasks. For example, they may do more product research than other designers. They may also hire and train new staff. In addition, they devote a great deal of time to developing new business contacts.
