Industrial Design Schools: Opinions and Questions

I just copied and pasted what NCSU has on their site for it. They do a much better job at explaining it of course:

The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Design Studies is a non-studio, liberal arts program that provides an interdisciplinary orientation to the history and theory of the design disciplines, material culture and design thinking. Design Studies focuses on the properties of objects and environments as reflections of the social, historical, technological and physical contexts in which they are produced. It presents the formative role of design in shaping human values and experiences. This major is for students whose interests and talents in design are more general, cross-disciplinary, and span the five disciplines offered in the College of Design. Source: http://majorsandcareers.ncsu.edu/major/design-studies

Essentially, I feel as if I am getting broad spectrum of design information and a lot of theory which gives me a different point of view on design, in a positive way. I feel as if I approach problems differently than most designers in the sense that I am learning about culture and contexts and how these things are incorporated. I’m almost thankful that I was not accepted into Industrial design because I am getting this broad view before I narrow my view.

Interesting. I’d still just transfer to the ID program though :slight_smile:

Haha, I get that. The only thing about doing that is, I would have to take the summer studio and this summer I am in Prague studying abroad. And the date to apply for transfer has already gone past. Do you see the predicament now? :frowning:

Hi Teresa,
Just make sure she understands that Industrial/Product Design is completely different than Engineering. As a designer she will spend most of her time in front of the computer except she will be doing research, sketching and 3D CAD modeling and Rendering. Over simplifying the career, she will be in charge of driving the aesthetic direction of the products.

Jacob,
A masters in ID will not provide you the necessary foundation training and education of a Bachelors in ID. It is a common misconception and some students think of it as a shortcut to getting an ID job.

If you are looking for an ID job the employer will be looking at your portfolio first and your education/degree last; unless you are applying for more of a theoretical design position.

I brought that up and I was told I will be a track 3 graduate student. This means that you have no degree pertaining to Industrial Design. It isn’t a shortcut because you will essentially be a Sophomore to Junior level design student but all of your classes will pertain to your graduate degree. So, the foundations and training will be in the track that I would be taking because it is geared toward someone who is supposedly new to design.

Looking for some suggestions and advice:

Got admitted into UC Industrial Design - Art, painting and new product design is my passion.
Also got admitted into 3 of the Direct Entry 7 year Medical Program (3+4) and Undergraduate Business program of a top tier business school

My heart is saying to join UC Industrial Design. However, not very knowledgeable about the career prospects of a product designer.

Any suggestions from the people who are in the trenches will be appreciated

Design, medicine, and business are quite different fields.

If your heart is in it for the money and the long term financial gains, then medicine and business certainly come out ahead (once you factor in paying off 7 years of med school debt).

But if you are passionate about design there are plenty of designers who have made great long term careers out of design and while we’ll never hit the same tax bracket as the folks on Wall St. it’s an extremely engaging, hands on and fun career path. The reason most of us spent our childhoods building stuff is because we love building stuff, design lets you do that and make enough money to have a good life.

There are a lot of branches that you can take an ID degree. My friends and former classmates have done everything from graphic design, web design, product design, User Experience, teaching, though some just shifted out of the field entirely.

Can you elaborate more about your question regarding Career Prospects? What are your concerns? What do you think you’ll be doing?

by Career Prospects, I mean

What is % of UC DAAP ID graduates are employed within 3 months of graduation and what is the average salary
What kind of demand the graduates have in employment market
% Growth in next 5 or 10 years
Average Salary of graduates who has 5 to 10 years experience and > 10 years Experience
Drop out rate within DAAP ID and Post graduation (Change of career)

Contact UC DAAP ID for their specific numbers. Talk to their department teachers/counselors to get a more first hand experience answer.
There are more graduates than demand I would say. Very competitive market. You also have people applying from different states, countries and industries.
Some general salary numbers. Industrial Designer Salary | PayScale - Salary will depend greatly on size of company and location. Consultancy vs Coorporate, etc.
It’s a very competitive field. I’m afraid you won’t like the percentages of people that actually work in ID after graduation.

You can look at the core77 salary survey as well: Creative Employment Snapshot

The numbers might be a bit daunting but I think that getting freaked out by these percentages before entering ID is the wrong way to go about tit.

Industrial Design, or Design in general, never struck me as a cushy money play anyway. If you want to play it safe, design isn’t it. It’s not a painting-by-numbers kind of job.
I liked what I recently read from Yo. That designers are more like pro athletes.
You go into this profession believing that the percentages of who makes it don’t matter because there is no way you won’t make it.
Who cares about the ones falling by the wayside? It won’t be you!

I believe that there is a good amount of, maybe sometimes delusional and often (so far) unfounded confidence needed to make it.
That you have something special to contribute that no one else could have done in that specific way.

This might sound very romantic but it does get you through school and if you can sell the believe in your abilities at your first interviews, it will get you your first gig too.

Well blackbelt is interested in numbers so just wanted to give him a head’s up. I think when I went to school the percentages were very low and decreased as time went by. I want to say less than 30% or so (don’t quote me) would work in ID after graduation.
Having said that, if you have what it takes and give it a 100% while in school you can have a great, fulfilling & fun career.

Agreed :wink:

Thank you very much to all of you for your input and advice

Hi all!

I’m a student from India and would really appreciate some advice.

I did my undergraduation from a design college here about a year ago. Since then I’ve been working on low cost medical products in rural india. I’ve applied to a few schools in the US for a masters and really need some help picking.

I’ve gotten into

  1. University of Cincinnati
  2. Arizona State university
  3. UIUC
  4. Pratt Institute
  5. California College of Design

I’m also on the waitlist at RISD.

I’ve been considering going to a university and not an art school because I love multidisciplinary work. This narrows my options down to UIUC, UIC and ASU.

UIUC has offered me a TA which give me a full tuition fee waiver and a stipend which is a really sweet deal. (To attend anywhere else, I will be in a ton of debt; something I would rather avoid. )

So here’s my dilemma. Everything I can find on the forum about UIUC is a bit dated. The latest comments were from acm who did his undergrad in 2012.

My questions to anybody who have heard about the program to anybody who recently/seen portfolios/interacted with recent students:

  1. are the portfolios competitive?
  2. and consistent pattern in terms of skills the students seem to be lacking; straight out of college?
  3. any reasons for not attending UIUC and joining one of the other colleges?

I’m a bit hesitant about UIUC largely because I haven’t been able to find a lot of portfolios on behance or on the www.
I want to attend college largely for exposure to an international audience, and to polish my skill set; something there is dire need of.

Visiting the universities is not really feasible at this point so I have to make do with what I can find online.

Thanks in advance and apologies for such a long post.

Hi all!

I’m a student from India and would really appreciate some advice.

I did my undergraduation from a design college here about a year ago. Since then I’ve been working on low cost medical products in rural india. I’ve applied to a few schools in the US for a masters and really need some help picking.

I’ve gotten into

  1. University of Cincinnati
  2. Arizona State university
  3. UIUC
  4. Pratt Institute
  5. California College of Design

I’m also on the waitlist at RISD.

I’ve been considering going to a university and not an art school because I love multidisciplinary work. This narrows my options down to UIUC, UIC and ASU.

UIUC has offered me a TA which give me a full tuition fee waiver and a stipend which is a really sweet deal. (To attend anywhere else, I will be in a ton of debt; something I would rather avoid. )

So here’s my dilemma. Everything I can find on the forum about UIUC is a bit dated. The latest comments were from acm who did his undergrad in 2012.

My questions to anybody who have heard about the program to anybody who recently/seen portfolios/interacted with recent students:

  1. are the portfolios competitive?
  2. and consistent pattern in terms of skills the students seem to be lacking; straight out of college?
  3. any reasons for not attending UIUC and joining one of the other colleges?

I’m a bit hesitant about UIUC largely because I haven’t been able to find a lot of portfolios on behance or on the www.
I want to attend college largely for exposure to an international audience, and to polish my skill set; something there is dire need of.

Visiting the universities is not really feasible at this point so I have to make do with what I can find online.

Thanks in advance and apologies for such a long post.

Hi all!

I’m a student from India and would really appreciate some advice.

I did my undergraduation from a design college here about a year ago. Since then I’ve been working on low cost medical products in rural india. I’ve applied to a few schools in the US for a masters and really need some help picking.

I’ve gotten into

  1. University of Cincinnati
  2. Arizona State university
  3. UIUC
  4. Pratt Institute
  5. California College of Design

I’m also on the waitlist at RISD.

I’ve been considering going to a university and not an art school because I love multidisciplinary work. This narrows my options down to UIUC, UIC and ASU.

UIUC has offered me a TA which give me a full tuition fee waiver and a stipend which is a really sweet deal. (To attend anywhere else, I will be in a ton of debt; something I would rather avoid. )

So here’s my dilemma. Everything I can find on the forum about UIUC is a bit dated. The latest comments were from acm who did his undergrad in 2012.

My questions to anybody who have heard about the program to anybody who recently/seen portfolios/interacted with recent students:

  1. are the portfolios competitive?
  2. and consistent pattern in terms of skills the students seem to be lacking; straight out of college?
  3. any reasons for not attending UIUC and joining one of the other colleges?

I’m a bit hesitant about UIUC largely because I haven’t been able to find a lot of portfolios on behance or on the www.
I want to attend college largely for exposure to an international audience, and to polish my skill set; something there is dire need of.

Visiting the universities is not really feasible at this point so I have to make do with what I can find online.

Thanks in advance and apologies for such a long post.

To me, it seems like it’s a 1/4 way between a technical school and a design school. There is a huge focus on 3D, judging from their poorly designed web page.

I just see it being name-dropped all over the place, but I’m not finding anyone who’s attended or who can comment.

Thanks

Greetings everyone!

I’m a Mechanical Engineering undergrad from India looking to do my graduate studies in Industrial Design. I have received 2 admits for intake this Fall and wanted to know what opinion you guys have about the following Masters programs:

  1. Georgia Tech MID
  2. North Carolina State University (NCSU) MID

I will be coming with 6 months of experience from a design consultancy, so would be looking forward to a programs which would set a strong base of skills for me. I would be keen on a program which helps me be a broad, well-rounded designer strong at designing functional, user-centric products.

I have heard good things about both programs, but seemingly the course at NCSU is stronger.
Also, I see most graduates coming out of Georgia Tech on LinkedIn working in UI/UX. (Something I don’t want to restrict myself to)
Please let me know what you think about the above points.

Thank you for your help
Regards
Raunak Mahtani
raunakmahtani@gmail.com