What does an Industrial Designer do?
Industrial designers combine engineering, art, and business to develop the concept of manufactured products. They work in many industries, primarily in offices, but may travel to a testing facility, a design center, a user's home, or a workplace. They continuously create new product designs developed through sketches, prototypes, renderings, and communication with manufacturers and regularly present design work to various decision-makers.
Industrial designers develop products from concept to factory production, adhere to budgets and timelines, identify suitable manufacturing partners, source components, and negotiate cost and price. They advocate for new products throughout the entire design and production process and collaborate with marketing teams when it is time to promote new products. They identify problems, develop products that solve them and are mindful of resolving any issues that arise while bringing their concept to life. Industrial designers need a bachelor's degree in industrial design, architecture, engineering, or related fields.
- Collaborate with engineering and product marketing to innovate, design and implement design solutions.
- Design printed circuit boards (PCB) to meet customers quality and delivery requirements.
- Engage directly with suppliers at trade shows and material workshops.
- Help to further refine workflow processes to enhance the product development process.
- Provide the communication and tools needed to motivate the team to achieve key KPIs.
- Build CMF strategies that connect social/target consumer lifestyle trends with material technologies and product concepts.
- Partner with leadership to determine product design strategy and priorities.
- Drive ideation sessions, multi-functional brainstorms, and research activities on users, trends, materials, and processes that may be applied towards development of future products.
- Work with outside consultants when vital to drive design projects outside scope of internal team skill sets.
- Create visual and functional prototypes for research and internal review.
- Support cost reduction while maintaining design intent and user experience.
- Deliver solid and rational ergonomics for best physical performance.
- Work with design engineers directly on CAD models to configure/package engineering concepts into the most compelling products in the industry.
- Bachelor's or Graduate's Degree in electrical engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering or industrial engineering, or equivalent experience.
- Experience with CAD, AutoCAD, and 3D CAD software.
- Experience with Adobe Photoshop, PCB Design, Adobe Creative Suite, and Keyshot.
- Demonstrated leadership and problem-solving skills.
- Sound critical thinking and computer literacy skills.
- Experience rendering, compiling, and drawing using assigned software.
- Can collaborate with others or work independently and utilize interface capabilities at all times.
Industrial Designer Salaries
Average Base Pay
Industrial Designer Insights
Deloitte“They gave me many opportunities to learn and grow in this field as a young designer.”
VinFast“Good and competitive.”
Style Print“Salary is good but not enough”
Habits“openness to everyone's personal initiative and support for personal entrepreneurship and personal development”
Nova (US)“Great team and fun projects”
Newell Brands“It's great place to work and develop”
Nikon“Good work and life balance”
Soft Serve Studio