I was wondering if here there were any designers who work for mobile phone companies (LG, Nokia, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, etc).
I’m an industrial design student and in the future I’d like to work in this field. So I’d like to know more about it…
Usually, how is a mobile phone designed? I mean… since it’s an electronic-radio device, you need to care also about the internal engineering part, etc…
so, what has to be done done first? What later? Who does what? (I’m not interested in the internal part, just external-related one)
Plus: some particolar studies needed? And…
Is it VERY difficult to find a job as a mobile phone designer?
I wouldn’t say it’s very difficult to find a job, but the cell phone business is tough these days. As the economy picks up people are hiring again, but there are major challenges in the post iPhone era.
As far as designing a mobile device, you generally work side by side with an engineering team who is responsible for all the internal components and boards. Antennas are a big deal, as is evidenced by the latest iPhone fiasco. Just goes to show you even some of the most talented engineers and designers in the world can screw up pretty big.
The external design and internal design go on in parallel. The designers are responsible for delivering on the external shape, and in the mobile device area one of the biggest areas is CMF - colors, materials, finishes. It’s the area that gets you all the cool metallic finishes, textures, and other innovations that you’ve seen on phones over the years, while the form factor of the phone itself has only changed so much.
