Example Career: Commercial and Industrial Designers

Career Description

Develop and design manufactured products, such as cars, home appliances and children's toys. Combine artistic talent with research on product use, marketing and materials to create the most functional and appealing product design.

What Job Titles Commercial and Industrial Designers Might Have

• Design Engineer
• Industrial Designer
• Mold Designer
• Product Designer
• Sign Designer

What Commercial and Industrial Designers Do

• Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or computer-aided design equipment.
• Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for manufactured products.
• Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design trends.
• Direct and coordinate the fabrication of models or samples and the drafting of working drawings and specification sheets from sketches.
• Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/methods, and market characteristics.
• Present designs and reports to customers or design committees for approval and discuss need for modification.
• Investigate product characteristics such as the product's safety and handling qualities, its market appeal, how efficiently it can be produced, and ways of distributing, using and maintaining it.
• Develop manufacturing procedures and monitor the manufacture of their designs in a factory to improve operations and product quality.
• Research production specifications, costs, production materials and manufacturing methods and provide cost estimates and itemized production requirements.
• Participate in new product planning or market research, including studying the potential need for new products.
• Fabricate models or samples in paper, wood, glass, fabric, plastic, metal, or other materials, using hand or power tools.
• Coordinate the look and function of product lines.
• Design graphic material for use as ornamentation, illustration, or advertising on manufactured materials and packaging or containers.
• Supervise assistants' work throughout the design process.
• Advise corporations on issues involving corporate image projects or problems.

What Commercial and Industrial Designers Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Commercial and Industrial Designers Should Be Interested In

• Artistic - Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
• Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

What Commercial and Industrial Designers Need to Learn

• Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.