r/IndustrialDesign

Hello,

Im about to start a degree in BDes with an elective in ID, the program has some amount of coding and ofc rendering cad etc. Im looking for a laptop to buy for this, i was considering an rtx 5060 with an i7 14700hx.

However I've never really owned a powerful laptop, the fastest laptop ive had is a thinkpad t470 ( beauty) with an intel 7200u and 620hd graphics.

An rtx 5060 is abit too exp ( about 300USD above my budget). Is it worth it or do i even require a 5060?

Hi everyone!

I am thinking of going back to school to study industrial design. I’m particularly interested in furniture and homeware.

My current background is nowhere near ID, and the most creative/technical skill I have is sewing.

I am mostly interested in new learning opportunities and experiences in a creative field, though am flexible with my career path down the road since I still enjoy the options that my current degree offers me.

Would you recommend pursuing ID? Or should I just take other courses/workshops instead?

Thank you so much for your time and input.

I’m a second year industrial design student. I want to learn skill online from courses and get certification as well. Recommend course for CAD, sustainable design, materials etc which would best suit a beginner like me.

I’m also struggling to build a portfolio, so tips for that would also be of great help.

I just finished my 2nd year of my ID program and want to continue to practice and grow over the summer holiday. In what ways should I dedicate my time to practicing, and what should I practice?

In general I think sketching allows my thoughts and ideas to flow fluidly and I can improve there, not sure how to continue practicing over summer though.

Open to any suggestions regarding sketching, CAD, graphics, personal projects, etc

Hi, I’ve been working in consulting for 5 years. It’s great, I love ID. But I need a higher salary. I would be really interested in doing design engineering, or manufacturing engineering. Anyone make that switch? Any advice?

Wondering if I need more school, or just wiggle my way into a job that does more of that.

Or, just any other advice on how to advance my career, don’t want to do a hard pivot to something else. I just want a higher salary cap.

Thoughts?

Hey all, sharing a few projects from my portfolio as a 3rd-year Industrial Design student — would really appreciate honest feedback, brutal or otherwise.

A couple of these (Seido X1, an injection-training tool for hospitals, and First Strike, a drone-mountable firefighting attachment) are patent pending, so I've kept some of the technical/mechanism details out of the writeups — happy to talk process, research, and design decisions in the comments though.

Would love to hear what's working, what's not, and what you'd push further.

pOrtfolio

Hello,

I recognize there are many posts about engineers wanting to swap to ID, I apologize.

I’m entering my junior year of EE and have 3 semesters until I finish (I’m on a co-op so one semester is working). Work has actually made me start to realize I don’t enjoy the paths my EE degree is opening up. It’s not that I can’t handle it it’s just insanely technical and doesn’t give me that spark. I genuinely can’t see myself working in an office looking at spec sheets and using technical jargon for the rest of my life.

My favorite hobbies are 3D modeling/printing and the more I’ve looked into ID the more I could see myself doing to everyday for my life. Except, I’m too deep in to give up my EE degree and it makes more sense to finish it.

I was just curious what you guys suggest. I know most advise against a masters but what about in my case of a career swap? Technically you could just have a really good portfolio but that’s not how reality works, it wouldn’t be enough especially since I’d have to build it with no help.

Yes I understand the pay is worst and jobs are hard to find and people say to just be an engineer, which I can be until I find an ID job. I just don’t want to waste my life doing something I don’t want and be insanely bored just for a big paycheck.

Any thoughts or suggestions are very much appreciated!

I am currently in a very challenging position of deciding for a masters program after graduating from physical product design in Germany. I got accepted at TU Delfts Design for Interaction program that I applied for out of my strong interest in the relationship between product and user. Additionally I applied for a rather traditional ID program at FH Joanneum in Austria that has a very good reputation as well.

What makes this decision so difficult for me, is that for one I am afraid of regretting not having used my privilege of getting accepted to the prestigious TU Delft and for another that their program might be too theoretical for my German background that was heavily focused on creating balance between an impactful concept and a functional but aesthetically pleasing design. I want to become an industrial designer in the medical field, not a service designer, so maybe this is not the right fit for me? At the same time this theoretical emphasis could complement my current skill set and make me stand out in the industry.

Furthermore, my girlfriend will study at FH Joanneum too, so we would have to commit to a long distance relationship plus having a much higher cost of living and tuition fees. So what this basically comes down to is if the educational return at Delft outweighs my other option significantly enough to justify its disadvantages (cost, long distance, theoretical focus).

I just cannot make up my mind about this but maybe someone here has an opinion that helps me to decide.

I’ve been looking at my desk setup and realized that despite having a $3k workstation, I still reach for a basic, 10-year-old physical calculator for quick unit conversions.

I’ve tried using phone apps, but they never feel as "reliable" or as fast as a dedicated, physical button-press. It got me thinking: is it just habit, or is there something about the physical interface that we’re completely ignoring in modern software design?

What’s your take? Is the physical calculator a relic, or is it solving a problem with "UX" that we haven’t quite figured out how to replicate digitally?

Is it deemed strange to ask cad designers to sign an nda or at least ask in in writing for them not to share your design ideas? I have an idea I feel is unique and need to make sure it wouldn’t be shared.

I'll be starting college next month with Industrial design as my major, i have very little knowledge about the kind of laptop which would be best for this field , would appreciate suggest from yall