I’ve seen a lot of people say that ID is a really time-intensive major at college, and that you’ll spend almost all of your time in the studio.
My questions are the following: How true is this? Do have spare time to actually “enjoy” college? And do you feel that you still got to be apart of the college atmosphere even while being an industrial design student?
If you could list the school you attend/graduated from, it might be helpful.
ok, if spending “almost all of your time in the studio” is not your idea of “enjoying” collage, then I don’t think ID is the program for you.
I am certain, this is true for all good and serious design schools.
Yeah i have gotta echo the above comments, i’m not always in the studio but you can be certain i am always doing something design related whether it be at home or in the studio. Further more my mates do the same, we love it.
That said we do still chillout on a friday evening, bit of wii, few drinks then head out.
Imo the best parties are ID parties, especially after a massive deadline hand in, simple because the majority of people who have busted their arse over a project for quite a long time and then afterwards its time to let your hair down. The old work hard play hard balance
If you wanna get sucked into the whole out every night, lots of sport, lots of other activities then dont do ID.
Ditto all comments above. College is a hell of a lot of fun. And spending endless hours in studios with close friends is better yet. And I can guarantee, there is no group of people that can party harder than a group of design students right after a critique. It was customary for many of us to head straight to a bar down the street (some times with professors in tow) and celebrate a job well done (or to drown your sorrows if you got shredded in the crit.)
I won’t say ID isn’t right for you if you don’t think you want to spend all your time in studios. You’ll quickly find that everyone is in the same boat, and everyone you meet is also spending most of their time there.
Work hard, play hard.
There was never a Friday that me and my studio buddys wouldn’t head straight downtown at 5pm after studio for a good night of drinking, pool, and greasy food.
Saturdays there would always be time to watch football, drink beer, relax, and still spend some time studying and getting studio work done.
Life is about time management. Learn to get your work done on time, deal with the all nighters through caffiene, and celebrate with good friends and good beer when it’s all done. Then repeat.
I don’t think you’ll find a single person saying they didn’t enjoy college as a design major. And if they did, it’s either because they’re now an unemployed hermit who can’t forge personal relationships, or they went to a crappy school.
I still go back to college twice a year to visit friends, professors, and imbibe the discount alcohol.
I’ll agree with all that’s been said. Art/design school is not just a means to an end like some other college programs. It’s hard to understand without being in the thick of it, but you’ll find yourself driven to dive in and be immersed in the experience with your classmates, or you’ll always have “better things to do” and lea And have plenty of time to “enjoy college.” You’ll just be more efficient at it.
Hmm. Can anyone go into a bit more detail on how it all works? I’d have no problem spending large amounts of time in the studio, but from the sounds of it, it’s 8 am - 10 pm every day. I haven’t been a really social person in high school, and I don’t want to continue that through college.
Here’s my impression of it and college in general, please correct me if I’m wrong.
Quality, state university, in a non-design major: spend about 20-30 hours a week on school work. Free time in between classes, time to pursue other interests and have a social life.
Design school: spend all/almost all of your free time in the studio, only have a few hours on the weekends for other stuff. Socialize with fellow design students, not a whole lot of time for anything not directly related to school.
Obviously these are generalizations, but let me know how far off I am.
I guess I’m just concerned that I’ll miss out on the whole college experience, which is something I really want to be a part of. I’m not a huge partier, but I don’t want to be locked up all day.
Thoughts?
Keifer, you worry to much.
if you choose to study ID then ID will be your college experience. Most people that do ID don’t see it as a ‘job’, its their passion, what they want to do, so being in the studio all day isn’t a thing to them.
You make it sound like being an ID student is like being in jail. It’s not ‘8am to 10pm’ everyday, it’s what you want it to be, how much effort you put in. There’s people in my class that are in the studio every day, some I don’t see for weeks. Some go out every other night and get wasted, some once a week…
There’s no word count in ID, you push yourself because you have to push yourself to succeed.
You’ll have plenty of time to socialize, it’s really not that bad. IDers aren’t hermits, they party and get laid just like every other college student they just have to manage their time effectively.
I guess I’m just concerned
You really just have to grow a pair and drop yourself in the thick of it. The answer to a lot of your questions depends on you. Whether you want to spend all day in the studio, whether you want to design beautiful peices of furniture, or well thought out problem solving medicine equipment - its all up to you.
You start a the bottom of the pyramid, if you get a project designing something you despise you do it and get the best grade you can and try and steer your portfolio/career away from that side of design. There’s no avoiding this, its part of life and part of being a designer.
All I can say is go for it, you’re worrying about stuff not worrying about, as someone in the middle of my education you honestly have no reason to worry about your social life because of ID.
Can’t wait for your next question.
Quality, state university, in a non-design major: spend about 20-30 hours a week on school work. Free time in between classes, time to pursue other interests and have a social life.
Design school: spend all/almost all of your free time in the studio, only have a few hours on the weekends for other stuff. Socialize with fellow design students, not a whole lot of time for anything not directly related to school.
That may be a bit over generalized. Yes, you’ll spend most of your free time in studio on the build up to deadlines, but its not like you do that every day/night from first day through finals week. There is still plenty of time to be social, have fun, experience college, etc. I’m the product of a state school, so I know there are plenty of opportunities for fun around every corner. Those of you out there from design/art schools can probably agree with me.
Don’t think of it as over bearing. School becomes your life pretty quickly, and you will find you aren’t alone in this feeling. I’d do what you feel is the best decision for you after school, but that can be a difficult decision when you’re a senior (or younger?) in high school.
Good luck, and I guarantee you college will be fun.
Well that’s reassuring. I just had the impression that everybody in ID spent every waking moment on it.
The main schools I am looking at are Cincinnati and Virginia Tech, if that makes a difference.
Hopefully there’s some freedom in projects, or that they are varied. Furniture doesn’t interest me whatsoever, but a lot of other stuff does.
And the main reason I’m concerned about the whole social thing: due to various factors, I haven’t been a social person in high school, and I regret it. I feel that if I don’t dramatically improve this in college, that I won’t be as well developed as a person. So it’s something I’m really considering. But from the sounds of it, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue with ID.
Let me ask you a question, why do you want to get into ID?
…I don’t know, but it starts to feel like you need a little bit too much convincing.
The whole college experience… Parting is not college, you did not go to college to hang out with your friends and do whatever. You went to learn. Now that dose not mean that you will learn everything in a classroom, or a class. I can sum up some things I learned in college.
Be nice, be polite, be cut throat.
College is not about seeing what you learned it is about seeing how much crap you can put up with.
and (I am sorry that this something that was taught to me, I disagree with it) If at anytime anything ever gets remotely difficult, cut and run.
oh yeah, 8am to 10 pm. more like 8 am on sunday til 10pm on tuesday.
I echo this. You seem to be asking the same questions over and over.
My question back to you is…Do you enjoy design? Is it something you can see yourself doing?
Me personally, I love design. Not just ID but all aspects of design. I think it is amazing how a well designed product, package, building, interior, etc… can completely change a persons life. This makes it more than just a job to me. Do I have days where I don’t want to go to work and rather hangout at home…Sure but even on those days when I am at home I am still thinking about design. This is more than a job it is a passion and a life.
Wow I regret to hear that! College to me was the only time where I can be true to myself and make decisions that I believe in even though these decisions may not affect anything beyond school. When it’s time to step into the industry for real, that’s when you need to be polite and cut throat at the same time. Oh, and the amount of crap to put up with will be way beyond any student’s imagination.
Back to the question. It depends on what you mean by socialize. I don’t care about pointless drinking just to thrash talk. We all spent a great amount of time working. Put it this way, you got 4 years. That’s how much time you have. 24hr cycle doesn’t apply in college. There’s no routine, no 8~5. If you have 34 hrs 34min and 24sec to the next deadline, that’s how much time you got and you better use it wisely.
In such condition, you learn your limits and capabilities by really stretching yourself. So when someone gives you work and ask you how much time you need, you can easily gauge that. Knowing your limits well also helps you to break it.
In the four years of college, I used my time reasonably comfortably. Surprisingly, I’ve never missed a class or deadline. I socialized with friends and buddies who are just as passionate, and get inspired by those who try even harder.
So in college, I learn about time management, how to accommodate alternative opinions and the fact that what I don’t know is way beyond what I know about, and most importantly, the courage to explore it.
Anyways, after having gone through that, I thought a 8~5/6.30 schedule will be awesome, but it turned out to be too predictable and boring. Most importantly, a fixed schedule can mean losing the dynamism of a lifestyle. Of course, if I have a family, it will be different.
Your generalizations are EXACTLY that. College is what YOU put in and what YOU get out of it.
Again, you keep asking questions, getting answers, and then saying stuff like “Well I heard in design school you’re in the studio till 10pm” Not 8pm, not 11pm, but 9pm.
Thats a generalization, and its totally wrong.
Most of the time I was in college I slept till 11-12 in the afternoon. I spent I don’t even know HOW much time playing video games, drinking, riding my bike, going to football games, working on my car, doing freelance design work for cash, etc.
Realize that college works on a credit system. At most schools you’ll be taking 15-16 credits a semster, but usually only 8-10 of those will be design, and then you’ll have other electives. I focused myself on my design studies. Likewise all of my liberal arts classes I found good ways to get good grades without ever actually going to the class. I used said hours to relax and focus on the design work.
I had plenty of friends that were always studying, always in studio, and did very little in their free time, but that was THEIR choice. There is no rule that says “You must be in studio till 6am”. Time management is a discipline. There were certain studio projects where I absolutely would be up till 3am cranked out on Red Bull and huffing marker fumes.
Then there were projects that I didn’t care for, didn’t put a huge amount of time into, and I spent those weeks relaxing, partying, and enjoying college.
There is always time for things if you make it. Other majors are no different. Many other fields either require MASSIVE amounts of studying (unless you’re a natural genius), tons of lab work, writing 20 page reports, tons of reading, etc.
Design is great because instead of spending 20 hours reading we can spend 20 hours drawing. And since as designers we ENJOY design, now you understand why some of us stay up till 6am working. Because we love it.
You’ve posted here a million times and either you just don’t get it, or you’re just too afraid to make a jump. It sounds like you’re a smart kid with a very narrow viewpoint and the notion that your preconcieved ideas are right because you’re so smart. If you like design then a design education, particularly at a large university (I am a Virginia Tech Alum) is diverse, incredibly satisfying, and incredibly enjoyable.
I think we may have been the same person in college Cyber…
In comparison to other non-design/non-art majors it will seem that you spend quite a bit of time in a studio away from whatever it is that is going on. It has already been said, but time management is what it comes down to in the end. I know most people involved in sports ended up leaving the sport or leaving ID so in that case it is tough but not impossible.
What is really great about design is that you get people who are honestly interested in what you are working on in school instead of the old…“What’s your major? oh great thats cool.” People will be curious as to the what and why. as you’re explaining these things and talking to these people you’ll end up getting to know people well this way.
Then you’ll go out and have a good time and college will be alright.
Let me ask you a question, why do you want to get into ID?
…I don’t know, but it starts to feel like you need a little bit too much convincing.
I want to get into ID for the following reasons:
I like building things.
I’ve always been interested in how things work/ taking them apart.
I’m a pretty good at drawing (at least I think I have potential; the few times I’ve drawn something it was good)
I’m always thinking of ways to improve products I use.
A career that enables me to work almost anywhere would be great, and it seems like IDers are needed around the globe.
If you like design then a design education, particularly at a large university (I am a Virginia Tech Alum) is diverse, incredibly satisfying, and incredibly enjoyable.
Any opinions on Cincinnati or Arizona? I am looking mainly at those schools (and also possibly Carnegie Mellon, if I get in). Co-op at Cincy is making it a top choice if I go into ID, for the experience and also so I can travel a lot.
I just visited Penn State though, and the whole rural-ness of the campus didn’t do it for me. I’m an urban person, so I’m not sure how much I’ll like Virginia Tech .
And sorry for asking the same questions, but they don’t really seem all that similar to each other, to me at least. I’m just trying to soak up as much info as I can before April 1 when I have to decide which school to attend (I’m still applying to ID schools)
I want to get into ID for the following reasons:
I like building things.
I’ve always been interested in how things work/ taking them apart.
I’m a pretty good at drawing (at least I think I have potential; the few times I’ve drawn something it was good)
I’m always thinking of ways to improve products I use.
A career that enables me to work almost anywhere would be great, and it seems like IDers are needed around the globe.
Well if this is more important to you than keg parties, there is your answer.
Being talented is one thing, but without commitment, you’re just dead weight in the system.
If you think, it will be a hard for you to sit in front of a computer doing rendering, being in the studio building a chair or sitting down and drawing on a Saturday night when your friends are out having a party, then ID is definitely not for you.
I love to go out, meeting friends in the park and so on but if I have to finish a project than that always comes first and my friends know that.
This field is so competitive and labor intensive, that only people who are committed enough should take up the seats in the collages.
I got waaaaay too many slackers taking up space in my school…
Well if this is more important to you than keg parties, there is your answer.
Being talented is one thing, but without commitment, you’re just dead weight in the system.
If you think, it will be a hard for you to sit in front of a computer doing rendering, being in the studio building a chair or sitting down and drawing on a Saturday night when your friends are out having a party, then ID is definitely not for you.
I love to go out, meeting friends in the park and so on but if I have to finish a project than that always comes first and my friends know that.This field is so competitive and labor intensive, that only people who are committed enough should take up the seats in the collages.
I got waaaaay too many slackers taking up space in my school…
Man’s got a point. This doesn’t sugar coat it at all, and thats what it is. But whether you’re in ID or Psychology, you’re going to have to learn time management.