The Ideal (Junior) Industrial Designer

Incredibly useful research for aspiring designer by Michael Roller, recommended reading for all years.

A few weeks ago, I initiated a project with the goal of uncovering information about how industrial designers process and evaluate the complex, nuanced combination of skills and traits that are thrown at them every time they look at a portfolio or meet someone for an interview. I sent out surveys to senior designers to get feedback that would help students and young designers understand where to focus their energy. After receiving 100 responses, I’m happy to say that this document confirms some things intuitively believed and also uncovers some interesting surprises. How important is good sketching relative to a good personality? As it turns out, they’re neck and neck.

OK, so it's America-centric, and it shouldn't be taken as gospel truth, but it's a bloody good start at researching what you're future employers are looking for. (Note some of the limitations of this research are in the report, and some are in the comments on his original blog post. PDT graduates should add more technical elements to this, as he's talking about a more conventional Industrial design).

I'll be presenting this in GDP2 or perhaps my session in the Cohort meetings this year.