What does an Industrial Designer do?
Industrial designers combine engineering, art, and business to develop the concept of manufactured products. They work in many industries, primarily in offices, but may travel to a testing facility, a design center, a user's home, or a workplace. They continuously create new product designs developed through sketches, prototypes, renderings, and communication with manufacturers and regularly present design work to various decision-makers.
Industrial designers develop products from concept to factory production, adhere to budgets and timelines, identify suitable manufacturing partners, source components, and negotiate cost and price. They advocate for new products throughout the entire design and production process and collaborate with marketing teams when it is time to promote new products. They identify problems, develop products that solve them and are mindful of resolving any issues that arise while bringing their concept to life. Industrial designers need a bachelor's degree in industrial design, architecture, engineering, or related fields.
- Collaborate with engineering and product marketing to innovate, design and implement design solutions.
- Design printed circuit boards (PCB) to meet customers quality and delivery requirements.
- Engage directly with suppliers at trade shows and material workshops.
- Help to further refine workflow processes to enhance the product development process.
- Provide the communication and tools needed to motivate the team to achieve key KPIs.
- Build CMF strategies that connect social/target consumer lifestyle trends with material technologies and product concepts.
- Partner with leadership to determine product design strategy and priorities.
- Drive ideation sessions, multi-functional brainstorms, and research activities on users, trends, materials, and processes that may be applied towards development of future products.
- Work with outside consultants when vital to drive design projects outside scope of internal team skill sets.
- Create visual and functional prototypes for research and internal review.
- Support cost reduction while maintaining design intent and user experience.
- Deliver solid and rational ergonomics for best physical performance.
- Work with design engineers directly on CAD models to configure/package engineering concepts into the most compelling products in the industry.
- Bachelor's or Graduate's Degree in electrical engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering or industrial engineering, or equivalent experience.
- Experience with CAD, AutoCAD, and 3D CAD software.
- Experience with Adobe Photoshop, PCB Design, Adobe Creative Suite, and Keyshot.
- Demonstrated leadership and problem-solving skills.
- Sound critical thinking and computer literacy skills.
- Experience rendering, compiling, and drawing using assigned software.
- Can collaborate with others or work independently and utilize interface capabilities at all times.
Industrial Designer Salaries near United Kingdom
Average Base Pay
Industrial Designer Career Path
Learn how to become an Industrial Designer, what skills and education you need to succeed, and what level of pay to expect at each step on your career path.
Years of Experience Distribution
Industrial Designer Insights
VinFast“Good and competitive.”
Style Print“Salary is good but not enough”
“Variety of projects and really nice people to work with”
Habits“openness to everyone's personal initiative and support for personal entrepreneurship and personal development”
Newell Brands“It's great place to work and develop”
Nova (US)“Great team and fun projects”
Soft Serve Studio“It was challenging in the best way and great for personal skill development.”
Music Tribe“The best thing about Music Tribe is the people that I get to work with.”
Frequently asked questions about the role and responsibilities of an Industrial Designer
When working as an Industrial Designer, the most common skills you will need to perform your job and for career success are 3D Rendering, Cadence-allegro, Indesign Photoshop, Gathering and Keyshot.
- Creative Designer
- Design Manager
- Creative Director
- Designer
The most common qualifications to become an Industrial Designer is a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree and an average of 0 - 1 of experience not including years spent in education and/or training.