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Industrial Designer
Designs everyday products — furniture, electronics, tools — for mass production.
Did you know?
Jony Ive's Apple design studio was so secret that only his core team of about 15 and top executives could go in. Not even his own children were allowed.
How subjects help
- Art & Design: Sketch and model a product so it looks good and people want to pick it up.
- Engineering: Choose materials and parts so a product can be made in a factory and won't break easily.
- Psychology: Watch how people use a tool so its buttons and handles feel easy and obvious.
A famous name
Dieter Rams: German industrial designer whose simple radios and gadgets for Braun inspired modern product design.
Try it yourself: Design a chair for someone's whole day
- Count the chairs at home. What kind is each one, and what is it used for?
- Pick one person you live with and think through their day. What do they need while sitting: a rest, somewhere to put a snack, a lift in mood?
- Draw a chair designed just for them.
- Label it: what it is made of, any moving parts, its colours, and give it a name.
Industrial designers and furniture makers start by watching how people really use things, then draw labelled designs showing materials and moving parts before anything is made.
Adapted from Design Museum: Lesson plan: design your own chair.
Also try: Draw your room to scale.
Known for it in
USA, Italy, Germany, Japan, Denmark