FUTURE CAREER ??

  • Trying to decide area of specialization. Wondering from your prospective which area has greater opportunity for advancement Automobile Design or Product Design?
  • What is work environment like in different industries?
  • Salary? I have looked at salary survey but it doesn’t break down ID to various area. WHat is difference in salary for product designer vs automobile or furniture designer?
  • Does working in a specific area get old?

Product (as if automobiles were something other) is obviously the larger playing field but I think you’re setting yourself up for failure by pre-selecting a specialization (another major no-no for any designer) based on salary alone. Go into what you are truly passioned about and even then you must work like a slave to prove your worth.

If wages were a top reason for selecting a career in ID, you are in the wrong profession my friend.

Also, check the average age of automobile designers in that industry. Styling is an easily disposable and replaceable skill set, i.e. a commodity only.

Good luck.

Pay is not top reason for picking ID. Reality is I will need to make a living. So if one area is more lucrative than another I would be interested in specializing .
Wondering why you think it is replacable?

Also where would I find average age of designers?

THanks for any reaponses.

Specialization right now (at this point in your ‘career’) is bad because unless you really really only want to do one kind/area of design you will find that you will get jobs in a number of areas.(exhibit/product/interface/auto/etc)
you can’t really be choosy until you develop your experience/portfolio.

look at it this way too, in a car company there might be a large design dept but only a few (relatively) companies and locations. but in product design there is everything from big corporations to small consultancies and freelance.

As a designer you will find that we are/can be jack of all trades and yes being specific gets old. (try designing high tech telephones for more than 5 years after your first few designs, with all of the accompanying crap with marketing and engineering and a micromanaging manager you’ll be dreaming of making macrame plant holders and hitting the craft show circuit)
this is just an anaolgy (based on experience)
but the grass is alwasy greener on the other side of the fence.

if you HAVE to specialize, I would get a dual major or a minor in something ‘useful’ like business, marketing, psych (for interface design) or another discipline like graphic or web design.