I was reading posts in this subreddit and, once again, it was very sad.

While reading I had an epiphany: we in the west are just not necessarily anymore…

They learn and jump the middleman.

I studied in one of the best (if not the best) ID school in south America, never encounter a single ID job after my 5 year studies, I have graduated 7 years ago.

I like China, don’t get me wrong, I just want to understand better this new world that we are living.

Ps: I find my way in developing physical interaction for brands activations. I use a lot of abilities that I learn at university, but it’s not design in the methodology sense.

Ps ps: English is not my native language, sorry

Hi, I have done bachelor's in industrial design. What can be some good jobs along those lines or adjacent to it?

Hi, I am looking for a laptop recommendation for Industrial Design. Currently starting my second semester and I am not sure what laptop to buy, budget is between 1 to 2K USD.

My course recommends something along the lines of: • Core i7 de 10° a 12° generación / AMD Ryzen 7 serie 4000 a 6000 and for the superior option Core i7 or Core i9 / Intel Xeon / AMD Ryzen 9 Serie 5000 or 6000 • Minimum 8 cores • Nvidia GeForce GTX or RTX as the recommended option and Nvidia GeForce RTX / Nvidia RTX as the superior option • At least 4gb graphic card or 6gb+ for the superior option • Between 16 to 32 GB ram and between 32 GB and 64 for the superior option • 512 GB to 1 TB

I know my course includes the use of: •Rhinoceros 3D •Autodesk Fusion 360 •Keyshot

Any recommendations? All help is really appreciated

This will vary by the judging factor, but my assumptions are:

Average salary - Medical > Electronics > Home Goods > Sports > Automotive > Toy > Footwear > Furniture

Top 1% salary - Furniture > Automotive > Footwear > Medical > Electronics > Sports > Home Goods > Toy

Ratio of egotistic designers - Automotive > Furniture > Footwear > Sports > Home Goods > Toy> Electronics > Medical

Competitiveness to get a job - Automotive > Footwear > Toy > Medical > Home Goods > Furiture > Electronics

This is just my observation, and a vast generalization.

Hi everyone, I am trying to understand what goes into a RFP (request for proposals) for commercial office space. I come from a residentialdesign background so just curious to get your thoughts on RFPs in commercial. Is it usually pdfs or PowerPoints?

What goes into the RFP in terms of main points/renderings?

Any thoughts would be super helpful thank you!

So I was recently considering finishing what's left of my marketing degree and getting into a Product design Master's at upenn. It honestly is just something i've always wanted to study for years but never was able to do so. I know the market is extremely brutal right now, but I just want the opportunity to go to an actual college and study something I love, but has anyone tried getting. jobs out side of this field with this degree? Like when the market was so bad and you decided to leave or take a break, is this degree "usless" in that circumstance?

How did that go?

Hi all,

I graduated about a year ago with a bachelor’s in ID. I realized my senior year that I was woefully unprepared for the job market. My entire class’s portfolios paled in comparison to other schools’ programs. I’m now a year post-grad without an ID job. I crafted a portfolio to the best of my ability, reached out to countless industry professionals, and spent a small fortune on attending conferences and industry events. None of these things has helped. I’m based in the ATX area and I’ve sent hundreds of applications, even for unpaid work, and nothing.

I work in manufacturing now, generating 3D files and designing signs. It’s not really ID, but I’m getting by. My friends who did land jobs have horrible things to say about them. They’re not getting paid enough to live off of, and the job itself isn’t anything like they thought it’d be. Some of them have been laid off not even a year out of school.

I’m starting to question if I even belong in this field, if I’m better off pivoting to something else. I started a business this year selling my own products that Ive designed and manufactured, and I’m earning decent money. Im honestly so exhausted with the constant applying, the personal projects, the feeling of failure. I work 70 hours a week between my two jobs and I’m tired. I can’t even afford to live on my own, and I’ve invested so much time and money into a career that seems unlikely, and which won’t even pay any better than what I have now.

Basically, I’ve almost completely given up. I’m looking for advice if anyone has it, on what sort of roles ID skills can apply to. Has anyone else been successful moving to a different field with an ID degree? Should I pursue grad school instead? Is anyone else dealing with this?

Bit of a solution in search of a problem here, but there’s a long simmering discussion at our company about best practices for calling out a basic black color across different materials and vendors. Trying to find industry best practice if one exists.

Currently we have a Pantone TCX (That’s the fabric swatch standard, which is derived from our softgoods side of the biz) that we're speccing for some things but plastic parts we’re just calling out as “black”. It’s my understanding that black dye is black dye in the plastics world (carbon black dye), but that’s not quite the case in other materials like anodised aluminum and fabric. Bit of a concern that speccing anything other than just “black” might actually make a bunch of extra work for some vendors who aren’t that color savvy.

So the question is: Should we unify all our black callouts to be our Pantone TCX for consistency? Or should we change it to suit the material and industry we’re working with? How do yall handle it?

Hi everyone,

I currently hold a Master's in Industrial Design and I'm considering pursuing a second Master's in Materials Engineering. I'm looking for some insights:

How valuable would this combination be for a career in product design and R&D?

I'm particularly interested in R&D product design roles, but I'm concerned about being pigeonholed into pure materials analysis laboratory work. Is this a valid concern?

For those with experience in either field - would this educational combination open unique opportunities, especially in product development teams? Or would the Materials Engineering degree likely lead me away from design-oriented roles?

Thanks in advance for your insights! :)

Hi guys

In EU, so no imperial please.

When you design structures that use e.g. a metal frame to which a wooden panel gets screwed. How do you manage the details like holes (countersunk, regular, slot, ...) and wood screws? Are there standards you use for manufacturing in Europe and China? With bolts it's easy and built-in (currently using SW) but with wood screws I'm a bit lost.

Thanks for any help!

How can I hire industrial designers or product designers to design my product? Are freelancing websites the right place to look into? Are there any criteria for industrial designers that i should be aware of before hiring any?

Hi all! I'm new here and would love to hear any suggestions/advice from those who have designed their own products and had them manufactured (small scale).

From your experiences/opinions...What should I look out for or ask for when committing to a manufacture for my own product?

I'm from Sydney, Australia so i'd be keen on sourcing locally but understand that might not always be doable. For context I have a kitchenware product i'm looking to make but thats all I can share for now :)

Thanks!

Hello!

I am doing a survey for a subject in my master's degree in industrial design about the use of idea generation using AI image generation tools, such as Midjourney and similar. I would greatly appreciate it if you answered it. It takes around 5/10 minutes to complete. Thank you!

https://forms.gle/RpkDSHah5PvcD7ir8

Hi All, I’m a BSc product design graduate, with 1.5 years experience in a diverse luxury spirits packaging dfm/creative role.

It’s been a great starter opportunity but progression is limited and it’s not as challenging as I’d like. I’m interested in aerospace/defence but can’t accommodate retraining in an engineering role at the moment. I’m worried about getting pigeonholed in my current industry and want to know what opportunities there might be to escape into something more technical. I appreciate it’s a big jump so any advice would be great, thanks!

Hi All, I’m a BSc product design graduate, with 1.5 years experience in a diverse luxury spirits packaging dfm/creative role.

It’s been a great starter opportunity but progression is limited and it’s not as challenging as I’d like. I’m interested in aerospace/defence but can’t accommodate retraining in an engineering role at the moment. I’m worried about getting pigeonholed in my current industry and want to know what opportunities there might be to escape into something more technical. I appreciate it’s a big jump so any advice would be great, thanks!

Recently sent out my “happy new year/any upcoming projects I can help on?” emails. Wondering when is good to follow-up, quarterly? Monthly? I want to stay top of mind when they get work but also don’t want to be annoying.

These are specifically with clients I’ve done work with or with potential clients who have asked me to stay in touch.

Hello everyone! I'm a newly graduated Jr. industrial designer, currently looking for a job to start my career. I'm working on my portfolio and I would really appreciate if you could take a look and give me feedback. Anything like content, layout or general impression would be very helpful. Thank you very much in advance for your time and support.

Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/gallery/215892671/Industrial-Product-Design-Portfolio-2025

I'm trying to step away from the traditional 25-30 page portfolio, condensing my recent works into a smaller format. Something that I can have bound and shipped to potential clients/employers. For this reason, I'm writing this to see how y'all feel about this style of portfolio. Think the standard bio/resume on one spread, then 5 projects each one spread. So max 12-14 pages, no index, contact page at end. Each spread would show the product, some development on the left side. The right side is dedicated to manufacturing/drafting/documentation. Basically here's what I designed/helped design and here's what I learned/know. My reasoning is:

1. I'm not strictly ID, I'm a draftsmen as well leaning more towards design engineering, DFM heavy. Most my clients focus on hard skills and manufacturing, less care about sketches and storyboarding
2. Easier to print and mail
3. Quick for viewing and getting a summary of my skills without going through 20+ pages of content
4. Smaller file size to send

Alternatively, a website. Adobe portfolio specifically, pretty basic black n' white with multiple projects. Would include a lot more content such as smaller projects and even practice modeling, old drafts. I just hate the idea of building out an entire website as it seems like a huge endeavor and one of those projects that never end. The website is started at least but I got a lot left to fill in, vs. I think I can knock out the short format one quickly and make myself stand out, provide something short and sweet for viewing.

What do y'all think? Is a condensed portfolio for DFM silly? Anyone done something similar? Criticism welcomed, thanks.

About to start my honours year as an industrial design student. Trying to find a good monitor for 3D modelling, Adobe apps and rendering etc. I don't want to get anything too expensive e.g. the Apple studio or Asus ProArt but at the same time, I want something good enough to optimise work flow to a relatively high degree and withstand the test of time.

I know these are some things I'm looking for: 4K, IPS, 27" or bigger, 60hz, accurate colour. Mainly confused about the colour e.g. is sRGB 98 enough or should I be going for sRGB 100? And even then, is Adobe RGB or p3 colour gamut necessary??

I currently have an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 14" 3K 120Hz OLED Gaming Laptop (Ryzen R9)[GeForce RTX 4060] laptop.

Currently looking at these options:

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/lg-27-4k-uhd-60hz-usb-c-90w-pd-monitor-27up550n-lg27up550w?gStoreCode=220&gQT=1#specifications

https://www.dell.com/en-au/shop/dell-27-4k-uhd-monitor-s2721qs/apd/210-axfo/monitors-monitor-accessories#ratings_section

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/lg-ultrafine-27us500w-27-4k-uhd-hdr10-ips-monitor-ac80510?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkJO8BhCGARIsAMkswygAa6-3DpHn15dXfGGbgk-7MfqDGPLHiSlLlQnXtDFx24ZZ0mY3ZRYaAheWEALw_wcB

I'm willing to spend into the $500 range if it really does make a much bigger difference but would prefer to stick to the $200-$300 range if possible (AUD).

What do you guys think / do you have any good monitor recommendations?

So I learned a new sketching style on YouTube and I learned a strategy on how to sketch render. And this is one of my latest ideations. It’s supposed to be a stainless steel blender shield that is designed to muffle the noise of the blender like they do in the Vitamix the quiet one I drew that on procreate

Hello everyone! I am working on my thesis about the use of Artificial Intelligence as a tool in rendering. I have created a short survey to collect opinions and useful data from professionals in the field. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete, and I would be immensely grateful to anyone willing to participate.

If you have a moment, I invite you to fill it out:

https://forms.gle/FWYVbA2AnaN82PDp7

Thank you so much for your support!