Industrial design board exam
- yes
- no
- only in certain states in US
- only for idsa members
- only for core members…well why not! you get an additional star
0 voters
should there be a board exam for industrial designers.
No - It’s a nice idea, trying to raise the bar, gain some professional respect.
Would it be similar to Engineers’ or Architects’? Either way it’s testing a relativly narrow scope of knowledge and skills, it would be only appropriate for the highly specialized designers. OR keep it broad and use it to test college seniors.
Regardless, it could have no enforcement and be moot in the marketplace.
What happens when a guy like me with no formal education passes it with flying colors?
I don’t think any form of standardized testing could reflect the scope of knowledge or skills used by designers.
that would be an extremely broad test to cover everything a designer is asked to do and know.
My office pimps me out so much for marginally related “design” projects that I should have honorary degrees in engineering, marketing, advertising, english lit, history, computer science, architecture, and cinematography.
…once upon a time idsa required a portfolio review and your ap had to be sponcered by several members and I know that at least some states require a board exam for interior designers (primarily to separate themselves from interior decorators to an uninformed general public)…even though, our profession doesn’t distinguish stylist from designer, we don’t usually hire out to the general public either…our clients or employers are typically savy enough to keep themselves from being duped by a faux designer (sorry about that)…also, a certificate will not protect you or the client from any legal liabilities…so, the only winners would the bureaucrats who dole out the worthless paper and collect the fees…
Okay, if not a full-on board exam, at least a spelling test…
first of all it’s not a certificate rather a professional license giving authorizition to designers to design.
interior design is not really design like architecture, engineering or industrial design.
clients 9 outta 10 have no idea who industrial designers are and how they design. they just look at their pocket and word of mouth.
some employers might know what IDers do but most frequently rely on their design staff which is questionable.
yeah i can see why architects have to take a week long exam to pay bureaucrats!!
…if you know how to spell aesthetix you can’t know anything about it…
you mean ESTHETIX! faux designer…
excuse me would it not be AESTHETICS …the word???..i don’t know just a thought
Interesting poll.
UFO: What would you put in the industrial design exam?
I can think of only two categories I would see in it. Human factors, manufacturing techniques. I can’t think of another category that is both used by all industrial designers and is something test-able.
yes and no
i think a college level test should be in place, something basic regarding design history and trends, if not things about form, function , color and material. There are too many people at my school who come in with no simple base knowledge of design or even a simple understanding of aesthetics. But a board exam seems dubious…what kind of ‘design gods’ would come up with the testable knowledge a designer should have? then again…
ufo posted a quote by Chris Bangle…and while appropriate, I consider Chris Bangle to be the biggest wanker in the design world. Look at BMW now.Style for styles sake? he shouldn’t be making quotes about function. If there was a board exam i’d want to flunk him out of field.
very good question.
i think most importantly there should be a formation or a group of analysts and experts in the fireld of Industrial design in US creating an official organization or group that can do this.
they have to extract all needed information regarding this process, then start sorting out the best ideas and solutions to see what’s better for the advancement of industrial design in the future.
they should clearly be able to define categories of design which are most sensitive and important. they should also be accredited individuals and most respected professionals in the field to perform such task. there should also be a consortium of some sort to define the initial protocol according to what’s available in the entire field of industrial design from schools and educators to companies and regulatory organizatons. because in the end it has to be given operational status and authority.
there’re many ways to approach this. i leave it open for others to propose their own idea.
here are some issues i think designers should be able to deal with which i think are important- feel free to add your thoughts and ideas to this section:
[1]find out about the industry standards of the design process-
[2]what is the focus today in
- technology
- safety
- manufacturing
- ergonomics / human factor
[3]availability and best use of material
[4] environmental issues and lifecycle studies dealing with
- energy
- time
*economics - money saving solutions in production and delivery
- logistics
[5]branding, identity
[6] consumer research
[7] future development and modifiction of a product according to predicted standards long term, mid term, and short term
[8] linguistics of industrial design as it relates to aestetics, form, function, interaction, performance, hidden or visual qualities of a product
[9] design strategy, management of resourcses and individuals, and maintenance of the procedure in a design process/logic from initial concept to the final product
[10] standard, modern, and creative tools for carrying out a process
[11]identification of resources for eventual use, research on modality and on advanced concepts for production.
[12] multiple task environments and management issues
[13] legal issues involving product design in US
[14] future technologies
[15] internet related functions and future development
and more…
feel free to discuss anything you don’t understand why it should be there.
here’s another quote from chris:
“Retro is like Hamlet; same words, same writer, yet audiences still like it.” Also… “the absence of an alternative makes retro acceptable.”
well, right now i think BMW is focusing on style because they had the same look for almost more than two decades. the stylistic approach known as “banglization” of BMW was probably unescapable. but i don’t really feel his styling is inappropriate considering that BMW has now some sorta platform to work with.
i know a lot of people like to design BMWs whether they’re students, amateurs or pros, looking just at the folios and competitions because they’re probably one of the most interesting cars with a long history of development to work with. but i guess not all people’s ideas are what BMW considers acceptable.
we have to see what happens in future when bangle leaves because right now it’s too early to tell.
ID is one of the few fields where the designer can control his/her own context- and, in that, a personal definition of design. Schools also teach very different programs in very different ways.
In this big world, this is perhaps our biggest asset. How can you standardize point of view?
(also, certification comes hand in hand with liabliltiy insurance).
just as you standardize a product.
you are the product that you design. that’s the end result. why not then make it streamlined from the begin part. you can’t have it both ways if you want to call yourself a product designer/IDer.
Chris Bangle, Director of BMW Group Design, BMW AG:
“A great airplane designer once said ‘pretty planes fly faster.’ And then came the Stealth, proving the paradigm wrong.”
he really say that? what does it mean? which Stealth? the F-117? the B-2? very different looks. without knowing which, the comment is meaningless.
“Retro is like Hamlet; same words, same writer, yet audiences still like it.” Also… “the absence of an alternative makes retro acceptable.”
“Retro is like Hamlet”? i think Shakespeare is being insulted. he writes about human condition. which is timeless. spans millenia. and cultures. thats what makes the literature great. and so enduring. retro is mostly about looking back to a time-forgotten period and attempting to recreate it (or the emotion behind it). not as much about “absence… makes retro acceptable”. people want to relive better times. and its a relatively recent term. not quite the same imo. i think these are terrible quotes.
would Bangle be a board member for this exam? i certainly would object based on the above quotes.
The correct answer is NO
a huge percentage of what we do is conceptual, creative, abstract, ARTISTIC. How can you apply a test to any of these things, the results would be completely subjective.
I could see some sort of certificate system Granted for technical knowledge
Materials
manufacturing
Structure
Oh wait nevermind then you’d be an engineer (nothing wrong with that, I’m just saying)
I’d be interested to know what the architects on this forum are thinking. After all these are people with streetable cred(entials). Not to say that the AIA system isn’t flawed - each state or province requiring its own certification, et al. - but practices have to make certain guarantees. The tower won’t fall down, the condo roof won’t leak, the house won’t fall into the river, etc.
But, there are many spectacular examples of this kind of “certified” work. Fortunately, as professionals, they are insured.
Would getting professional insurance be the only real benefit of certification? If so, would it then be better to have the insurance industry provide some of the parameters for the credential?
:)ensen.