This is very true. There are all kinds of designers doing all manner of design jobs. I know several graphic designers who design the gift items for brands like Papyrus. They didn’t have any engineering background, nor an industrial design background, but they always loved stationary and stationary product and that passion helped them to covert to what is basically an industrial design role, working with factories to design product that shows up in a lot of retail. On the flip side I know designers who won’t work on anything if they can’t make it themselves (at least in theory, if not in practice… but sometimes in practice. I know designers who spend all of their time, energy, and intellect on design strategy. Some of them have no clue how to make anything, but they are inquisitive and intellectual, and passionate about what they do. When other designers get involved and do the go to market design work they are just as proud of the result and feel they made an impact.
Looking through who responded so far there is a pretty diverse group who have worked across different kinds of fields. For me personally, I’ve always just be really curious how things are made, how they go together and why. I’m not an engineer, and I’m definitely not the best craftsman, but I love a good factory tour and I’ll bend an engineer’s ear off over beers asking questions. I get a lot of inspiration from sessions like that, but that is just me. I feel like I’m always squirting away what I learned and applying it to different industries or different problems.
It really depends on what you want to do and how deep you want to go. If you are working in house at a company you are likely going to go very deep on how things are made, but you will also be surrounded by a lot of experts in that field. If you are at a small consulting group, you are likely going to have to wear many hats and may not have the luxury of not doing something. If you are at a large strategic design consulting group then you might just do one aspect of the process for clients. If you want to make your own brands and product, you don’t need to know everything, but having a healthy curiosity and surrounding yourself with the right people will really help, like the 2 women who founded Away luggage. They didn’t know anything about luggage in particular, but they were driven and curious. Away Luggage Founders Talk Travel, Collaborations, and More - Coveteur: Inside Closets, Fashion, Beauty, Health, and Travel
Also, the kind of designer you are shifts as you take on new roles in your career, and not always in a linear way.
My point being, can you be an industrial designer, will you be a good fit? I can’t really answer that question. My advice would be to start with the end in mind. What kind of product (or service, thing, or non-thing) do you want to be designing in say 5-10 years (or your best guess) and then backtrack and figure out what you need to do/learn in order to do that. I always found it was helpful to interview other designers in my region. You will be surprised how much advice someone will give in return for buying them lunch or coffee.