I hope to be studying industrial design soon. And want to know if any of you pros have any advice for me. Such as books to read/buy/steal and stuff I should work on now. Thanks for your time and look forward to your replies.
Do a search VM. You should find the last post about ID from about a year or so back. There's quite a few of us here....most aren't as **** as me though!
Me and chopperdaddy, I'm willing to answer any questions if you want to pm me. also go to www.core77.com for some good reading
Machinery's Handbook - embrace it - love it It's spendy but just by a new one. Used ones only come up when someone dies. It's just one of those things you'll never get rid of.
Learn to draw! and draw well! If you don't like to draw your heading in the wrong direction! I can't tell you how many people I've interviewed for internships/jobs that absolutely **** at drawing. These are graduates too! Basic, traditional drawing skills ie, perspective, exploded views, shading, etc go a long way. My professor once said to me, " Your sketches should speak for them selves, if I have to ask a question about your concept/drawing then you really didn't draw it well enough!" Sketches are your credibility! And don't for 1 minute think that because you drew something on a Wacom tablet or in Illustrator it's good. The most important thing is still and will forever be the fundanentals. I use a Wacom everyday, but 9 times out of 10 I'll use pen and paper. You can't beat a good black pen on bond paper sketch! Second, would be learn basic mechanics and how things work. Take **** apart, build stuff, anything that's hands-on helps a ton. Basic skills like this come around full circle, it's crazy. What school you headed to? Get your hand son some Sid Mead books, they're pricey but worth it. Good Luck man, Casey
Casey's got good advice. I been out of the 'box for 16 years and there's no limit to all the stuff you will need to explain in a sketch, diagram, or exploded view. If you want to be very very proficient, study life drawing. It's been said that nothing is as difficult to draw as the human form. Everything else is a variation of that, or straight lines (as in architecture). There really is no experiance for putting mileage on pencil (or pen) and paper. Check out cardesignnews.com, and do a Google search for Industrial Design for any additional online reading. Check bookstores for (affordable) design books as well as Amazon.com PM me if you like. I got out of CCS in 1990. Been paying the bills with it since then. Check out my website for some of the art stuff I've done once the coffee kicks in. Best of Luck.
CCS and Art Center guys don't count! None of them guys can draw! Haha! You car guys blow my mind! Rad website too!
iam in a related field, 3D animation in generic terms. ive worked at big studios and small studios. my education is a BA in fine arts, but my drawing skills are more than likely a little rusty, its been awhile. without revealing too much of your personal finances, what are the hourly rates/salaries of an Industrial Designer with say, 5yrs experience? what would entry level designers make? are you guys freelance or staffers at a studio? what are the hours like? (ya, hours... broad question!!). i just got done with a job where i painted textures/built custom shaders for a boat and added lighting... it was a lot of fun, but entailed about 200hrs of labor to fix, and apply said details to several different scenes. do you guys use any 3D software? if so which ones? pondering a bit of change... thanks for any input
All- I try as much as possible to keep to a 40-hour week. I don't dive at the money and work crazy-*** overtime, because I'm not wired to keep juggling everything if I'm pulling a 70-hour week. I don't mind OT, but keep it in the winter, when I'm not as prone to a meltdown. For software, my home studio is Adobe CS2 now, with a Wacom pad, Canon Firewire scanner, hooked up to a Dual Processor G5. 410 GB storage, and 2.5 Gb memory. Not much will slow it down. At work, we have HP professional processors. I think they are dual 3.2Gb processors, hooked to the network. AutoStudio, StudioPaint (Alias applications), and the versions of Adobe prior to CS1. Fast enough, but the G5 will take it in a drag race, I am sure. For rate of pay, I will guess that I would be in the poor house if I were living in Cali. But I'm making enough to start a rod this summer so that's not all bad. The rates for MidWest designers range (I believe) $45K to over $100K, but you have to pick your town, field of interest, and gauge it by experience of course. Chicago, Detroit, New York, are the bigger cities for ID. There are also product design, graphic design, in smaller areas.
As a current student of Industrial Design at Western Michigan University I have a slightly different perspective than those who have jobs and are out of school, only because I haven't done those things yet. My tips: -Learn to draw very well, especially understanding the use of perspective in drawing. ( I wish I could master this, with practice I may become capable) -Be prepared to work long hours in school and pull all nighters for your design work (you have to love it) -Absorb as much as you can in school from every student and teacher, there is something to be learned in every ID project, even if its not your favorite. -WORK HARD and SMART from the start. You will never regret doing good work as a freshman because by the time you are a senior your work will improve to great, or outstanding. If you DO NOT work hard from the beginning your work may only prove to be "good" as a senior. Personally I have worked hard thoughout my career in school, constantly yearning to improve my skills, and creativity. Last semester I was invited to apply for an internship position at a top office furniture company in Michigan because they were impressed by the work I had done for them in a sponsored project. Hard work always pays off. Dont be scared of the workload however. As Thomas Edison put it "Many people miss opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like hard work" BTW where are you applying?
fellow industrial designer here. My advice is pretty much the same as everyone else: draw,draw,draw, get perspective down tight. You can learn all the flashy stuff on the computer, anyone can, do not depend on the computer to design, start with paper then go to the computer. Also learn as much as you can about manufacturing processes/techniques and as much as you can about materials as you can. one more thing, there are ALOT of ********ters in the design industry try not to become one.
I agree with most of what has been said here: - Learn to draw really well (practice practice practice -- carry around a sketchbook and draw anything that interests you). Slick rendering technique is great for presentations, but in the real world you will sketch a lot of stuff that merely needs to be clear and understandable. - Be willing to work long and hard. The best of your compe***ors will. - Learn all you can about manufacturing methods and materials. Additionally, not said yet: - Any sort of craft experience is useful to the designer. This experience could be metalsmithing, woodworking, sculpting/casting -- designers work in many media, both 2D and 3D. You'll use these craft techniques yourself to build models and prototypes, and your understanding of material properties will be transferable to the design of manufactured goods. - Design programs often produce idealistic graduates, who imagine that industry will share their values. In fact, designers are employed to enhance the commercial success of products. You may not be interested in the business of business, but it pays your salary. Understanding this early will reduce the rude awakening you encounter when you go to work.
Would that be Herman/Miller, Steelcase, or Johnson Controls? I got the oppertunity to tour all three while at a conference in Grand Rapids about 6 years ago. All three are totally awesome companies, but totally different in their approaches, products, and especially their headquarter's architecture. Listen to what 50Fraud has to say about business too. If a project is not going to make money for the stockholders THIS QUARTER, they probably don't want to hear about it. Also, if you tell someone you can finish a job in 5 days, they will say "OK" but will be back at your station in 3 days demanding you have it "finished" before lunch time. That's why you buy stuff and say to yourself, "If this product's tooling had just a days more work on it it would be perfect." Look at the finish on the next picture of a crash test dummy and you'll see what I mean, just a few more hours of fitting years ago and they would have been perfect. (I and Wife made 80% of the dummy patterns and molds you see used currently, and I recognize all the areas that needed just a half hour more work that were given the "That's good enough" by the boss and kidnapped away to production.) Scotty's padded repair estimates on the Enterprise were true statements about the way of business. Along with understanding business, please research and UNDERSTAND the History of the types of products you are designing. Otherwise, you end up confusing and losing loyal customers by making their Ford look like an old Plymouth, or their new Hoover look like an Electrolux.
Drawing isn't that important really, just make lots of call-outs describing everything and if you haven't figureed out how something works, make it kind of blurry. beer is a great source of inspiration. get some really gay shoes, people will take you way more seriously. the great thing about I.D. is that it's open to lots of fields after you're out. I've done product design, store design and right now I do exhibit design (I'm a great exhibitionist)... it's fun and all my friends who took it seriously and found design jobs after school like their jobs. that's right, they like their jobs!
Amen to this. If I had the math talent (yes, I mean talent, I've got the skill) and the artistic abilities, I'd be angling to become the next Loewy or Dreyfuss.
I knew there were a few ID guys around here Ididnt think I would get such a great response but thanks! I am a decent at drawing I allways seem to be drawing on napkins menus and anything really I love it. I am rusty thought i havent done anything challenging in a while is there a book of specific excercises you would reccomend? The school I was thinking of is BYU they have a whole program for ID and seems really good by the amount of cl***es they require.
"Mama's don't let yer babies grow up to be designers.... Let em be doctors and lawyers and such..." Prepare a canned speach for what the heck an Industrial Designer is! My grandparents still think I design warehouses. Other people introduce me as a graphic designer. Apparently we're still the best kept secret in design. Draw, draw, and then draw some more. Books: The way Things work, Machinists Handbook, get a book on marker rendering ( it's a dieing art, but if you know the basics, it translates to the computer) Magazines: Architectural Digest, ID, Dwell, Graphis, Metropolis Websites: Core77.com, IDSA.org Check out Mike Lin - this guy can friggin draw! http://www.beloose.com/index2.php Absorb it all like a sponge. We are junior Renaissance Men (and women). You have to know a little bit about everything, and be able to pull those s****s together at any given time to create solutions to a problem. Good luck! I sure enjoy it!
The only book that influenced my drawing style is a long-out-of-print little book called How To Draw Cars, by Frank Wootton, published in the UK in 1949. There are many other good ones, though; I kinda like Thom Taylor's book because it has examples of many different designers' work. I think I learned the most about drawing by looking at other artists' work, both at school and in print. My former business partner was a BYU ID grad, and he is sensational. How much of that was the school and how much was innate, I'll never know. A**** the people I've worked with, I've also liked the work of grads from CSCLB, Art Center, CCS, Stanford (part of the Engineering school there) and University of Cincinnatti.
my friend someguy on here is one from cal state long beach. he tells me that there are 2 types (at least back then) art center for designy car drawing or cslb for way more technical work, from cslb your more of an designer/engineer/draftsman/purchaser rolled into one. he also went back for a show a few years ago and he said almost everything was computer drawn......no hand.....i guess they're getting away from pen and paper. but he said it was rough..long hours, deadlines and more long hours. he stuck it out, i was going to school for architecture....but i'm a mechanic now, go figure, but i still do autocad stuff for side money .
That's funny! I used to get that too! I design point-of-sale displays (mainly semi-permanent) these days. Never really use a pen & paper (well, nothing that's seen by anyone else). All computer based and that's more specifically for tooling. You gotta learn to sell yourself though...and your designs. There's a lot of complete ****ers in Industrial Design courses....most of them drop out along the way....or become car designers!
they dont really care how the design is made (that's the engineers part and why you see so little of the car that was in the concept drawing) as long as the visual is good. where as true i.d people have the engineering background to make it work first. my friend was in the high end lighting (some of his stuff was used from outside vegas casinos to outside fastfood places), now he's at a place the designs everything in the bathroom (sinks, cabinets, toilets, showers, faucets....). i was lucky, got the free crash course education from him by reading his books, notes and helping a little. and yes almost everyone doesn't know what an industrial designer is....you get the graphic and interior ones first....i've seen it first hand.
Machinist's Handbook, Pipe fitter's handbook, and study up on your connections, weld symbols, concrete details, and basic engineering principals. I'm a designer by trade...been doing it for over 8 years, not nearly as long as some of these others cats on here, but if I can help, I will. Best wishes to you!!
hmm it makes sense that the car designers dont know how a car is made after reading about the guy who designed the shoebox ford he emphasized the fact he worked with the engineers to compromise on ease of buildability and design seems perfectly logical to me but artsy folk can be a pain.
it also seems to me that it's really hard to cross over between car designer and industrial designer (at least in the employers eyes). so if you had to pick between the 2 i would say that i.d gives you more of a general background to do various different jobs/tasks, wereas the car designer is sort of stuck in the one field. these are all just my observations and .02................
Oldtimer- You kinda hit it right on. I graduated in Product Design, and wound up designing automotive interiors right out of the gate. Interiors in auto design is easily 10 times more complex than exteriors, from understanding safety requirements to materials processes. Not just pretty pictures as someone mentioned above. But then again, exteriors are more empathic and require much more subtlety in surfacing (generally) than interiors.
i would like to design cars thats what initially caught my interest i wanted to design cars and saw that most were id's and then i realized an id designs everything so i realized i would be just about as happy designing doorknobs as cars.
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