Engaging with industry
A vital element of product design education is its role in preparing you for a career in industry. Many universities and colleges employ instructors who are active designers with their own design consultancies and practices, bringing their extensive experience to the classroom. They can help to bridge the gap between industry and education through activities such as study trips to design companies and factories, setting up live projects set by industry, and helping students find internships within the design industry.
Internships
There are few better ways to obtain hands-on professional experience than through an internship, or placement. You should start considering your first job early in your college career, and at the very least try finding a summer job with a company that interests you. Many colleges offer students the possibility of a sustained period of work experience as an optional or compulsory part of their course. These placements are a fantastic way of gaining experience, and offer an insight into the different career paths available to product design graduates. They provide an opportunity to learn about a company or industry sector, develop a network of professional contacts, and can occasionally even lead to a full-time position.
Finding an internship can be as challenging as finding a regular job. You need to target companies you are interested in working with and prepare a résumé, cover letter, and portfolio along the lines described below. You never know who might have an important professional contact, and it’s always worth asking friends and family as well as instructors and alumni if they have any possible leads you can explore.
Some internships are paid; some companies offer unpaid work experience or merely pay expenses. While this can appear to be unfair, such companies will often point out that they are providing valuable professional training, experience, and networking opportunities, which will often result in a job offer if the student performs well.
“Work placements help you gain experience without getting paid. It’s a good way to gain invaluable experience as long as you make the right choice of placement. Work hard, gain contacts, be reliable, produce good sketching and conceptual ideas, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, and work long hours—a mixture of these will pay off!”
Preparing a résumé
Once you have completed, or better still before you end, your education or training in product design you will need to turn your attention to preparing your résumé and personal design portfolio. Both of these items should contain a clear, compelling, and impressive collection of work that showsoff your design skills, critical thinking, and practical capabilities.
A good résumé should promote the design skills, knowledge, and experiences that you will bring to the job. There are no hard and fast rules, but most résumés are made up of the following sections (not necessarily in this order):
Remember that an employer will read your résumé with one thought in mind: “Why should I hire this product design graduate?” Don’t be tempted to include information that isn’t relevant to that employer. If you want a design job and you have good CAD skills, include them. If you studied life drawing at night school, leave it out, unless you are applying for a job as a painter.
It is also important to get the length right. Ideally it should not be over two pages—but even so, busy employers may not even make it to the second page of a résumé if there’s nothing relevant on the first page. So cover the most relevant thing you have to offer (perhaps your degree or work experience) early in your résumé.
Finally, a note on presentation: the information in your résumé should be consistent and presented in clear, distinct sections. Check and double-check for spelling and grammatical errors (don’t simply rely on a computer spellchecker). Use good-quality white or off-white paper and present each page on a different sheet of paper, not double-sided. See page 218 for a sample résumé.
How to write a cover letter
Cover letters are a vital method of introducing yourself to a company. When writing a cover letter you need to ensure that you have thoroughly researched the company you are approaching and, if applying for an advertised position, that you have analyzed the job description. Try to demonstrate that your skills are a match for those required for the role, and mention your qualifications and portfolio as a means to showcase your talents and experience. See page 219 for a sample cover letter.
Résumé
Francis Woodman
[address]
Personal Profile
I am an innovative, multi-disciplined Product Designer with good experience in Graphics, Fashion, Web, Branding and Marketing, with a specialist background in Product Design research. Possessing well-developed communication and interpersonal skills, along with a high degree of technical competence with a commitment to quality I have a proven ability to understand client requirements and deliver effective creative solutions to brands and design. I am outgoing with excellent, strong and effective organizational and communication skills.
Your opening statement
Use this opening short paragraph to convince a potential employer that you are the right person for the job and express your interests and ambitions.
Education
MA | Product Design | Northumbria University, 2010 |
BA (Hons) | Design and Marketing 2:1 | Glasgow University, 2008 |
A-Levels | English Lit, Politics, Business Studies IT [Grades A—C] | Bradford Grammar School, 2003 |
9 GCSE’s | [Grades A—C] | Bradford Girls High School, 2001 |
Extra Curricular | Photography | Leeds F.E. College, 2000 |
Your key qualifications
List these in reverse-chronological order so that the most relevant and higher qualifications are read first.
Work Experience
Service Designer
Design Innovation Lab, London [February 2008 to present]
Professional experience
Also featuring the most recent first, list each company you have worked for as well as job title, length of employment and the main key duties. Decide whether any student summer jobs have relevant skills of if they are best omitted.
[list Main Duties]:
Freelance Graphic / Web Designer
Newcastle and London [2006 to present]Clients include: Saints, UES, Jenni Photography and Inamoco [list Main Duties]:
Assistant Designer
Boxfresh, London [December 2005 to April 2006] (placement) [list Main Duties]:
Key Skills
Software Proficiency | Adobe Photoshop/Adobe Illustrator/Adobe InDesign/QuarkXpress/Macromedia Dreamweaver/Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher and Access.
Research and Analysis | Ability to seek information from a broad range of sources to evaluate and apply as necessary. Creative instinct for customer desire.
Market Awareness | Ability to research and analyse current trends in the marketplace through applying knowledge of branding and culture to better understand a product or company.
Website Design | Ability to design and create functioning websites through macromedia studio.
Visualization | Ability to visually translate design ideas into colour illustrations and present them in strong communicative layouts. Creating flat drawings and specification sheets.
Prototyping | Ability to produce quality 3D prototypes through a variety of means including machining, rapid prototyping, and hand finishing techniques.
What other skills do you have?
What other projects have you been involved in or courses have you completed that have given you particular relevant experiences or skills? Be specific and use examples where you can.
Personal Qualities
Design | Thorough and meticulous, fast and able to work under pressure, capable of diversity, not just my own styles, ability to stick to the creative brief and other guidelines.
Personal | Friendly, inquisitive, hardworking, funny, eager and passionate.
Interests | Interested in all facets of design, fashion, advertising, art, photography, technology, music, movies and retro gaming. Produced and presented own local community radio show (2000—1).
What else do you have to offer?
Transferable skills such as organization, motivation, or teamwork may be evident in your hobbies and personal activities. Choose those with relevance.
Cover Letter
Francis Woodman
[address]
21 April 2010
Dear [name]
Name of potential employer
Write to a particular person—even if you are “cold-calling,” try to research who you should address the letter to.
Vacancy for Product Designer
Please find attached my application for the position of product designer recently advertised on the B daily bulletin. I see this role as an excellent opportunity to use and further my range of abilities in an exciting and dynamic environment. I feel I have the necessary skills and experience, as well as the motivation to fulfil the potential that you are looking for in this role. My background is varied and I can lend my skills to many styles and feel that my designs both in print and digital would suit JUMP well.
Why are you writing?
Begin by stating the purpose of your letter.
What specific position are you applying for?
How did you hear about the job?
Did someone refer you?
Why should they hire you?
Creatively summarize what qualifies you for the position, your educational achievements, previous experience and skills, and how they directly relate to the position for which you are applying. Explain why you are interested in the position and why you are the best candidate for the job. Give specific examples of projects that you have worked on that demonstrate your abilities and how they match the job specification and duties of the position. Demonstrate that you have researched the company and know about them and the nature of their work.
I currently work at the Design Innovation Lab as a Service Designer. One of the main duties of this role was to develop a brand identity for the Design Innovation Lab, which led to launching the MDI range of products. Within this role, I have designed all promotional materials for the MDI and taken them through to print. This position is part design, part marketing and for the latter, I created an integrated campaign both internally and externally to recruit industry sponsorship. This involved creating and designing press ads, exhibition stands, viral marketing, online and offline marketing materials, product literature from concept to design, organizing and running photo shoots. Using our internal reprographics agency to develop the work for print, I created the design template, worked closely with them, successfully managing timelines and budgets. My current role also involves liaising with industry, developing a B2B relationship and attracting Industry to work with us on collaborative projects and provide sponsorship. This included a B2B campaign led by a launch event to bring industry together to raise awareness of the Design Innovation Lab, a follow-up promotional campaign included a targeted brochure, web content and e-communications to industry. I feel this has allowed me to develop confident communication skills to audiences of all levels.
I originally come from a design and marketing background. From this I developed an interest in graphic and web design, which led to a freelance role working for an array of clients. I undertook the service design role at the Design Innovation Lab as it allowed me to utilize my original design skills, and served as platform for the three constants in my life; brand, communication and design.
I am intelligent, have an enthusiastic, outgoing personality with a good sense of humour and a track record of success. I am flexible, able to work well under pressure and meet deadlines, as well as being committed to my responsibilities.
Initiate the next step
Refer the reader to the items you have enclosed (résumé, portfolio, references). If you are writing a speculative enquiry letter, say something along the lines of, “I will contact you the week of the [date] of [month] to discuss the opportunities within your company.” If you are applying for a specific job, simply thank the reader for their time and consideration and say that you look forward to hearing from them.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this role further with you and show you what I have to offer. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you require any further information and thank you for your time.
Many thanks,
Designing your portfolio
Having a great design portfolio is a must. Your design portfolio is one of the most important things you will create during your studies and is what you will mainly be judged on. It must, therefore, be well presented and include about five or six of your strongest and most impressive pieces of design work. Think about the kind of work the company you are applying to does and try to tailor your portfolio toward that. For example, if the company specializes in sports equipment and branding then try to include work of this nature in your portfolio.
Be prepared to talk about your product design work, what inspired you, why you approached the project in the way you did, even your choices of materials, colors, and imagery. Show the company some of your sketches and development work. Many companies will want to see your early development work more than the finished piece as it shows your design process and how you think and work through design projects.
Before taking your portfolio along to job interviews, make sure you show it to a few people such as your design instructors, friends, and other design students and talk them through it. Get them to ask you questions about your design work and practice and rehearse your responses with suitable answers. This will get you used to talking people through your portfolio, making you better prepared for that all-important interview.
A strong design portfolio opens doors, showcases your talents to prospective employers, and is a physical representation of your design ability, process, personal approach, passion, and skills.
The following step-by-step guide will help you create a personal portfolio you can be proud of:
Who are you?
Determine what you want your portfolio to say about you, who it is aimed at, and what they wish to see evidenced in it.
Creative selection
Choose a variety of examples that highlight your very best work. Demonstrate your skills and talents by choosing only projects that you can confidently discuss. Ensure that your portfolio presents a balanced body of work, including a variety of projects that demonstrate the breadth and depth of your work.
Show your creativity
Remember that you wish to work in a creative industry. There is nothing worse for an employer than spending a day looking at a load of portfolios all presented in the same unthinking way. Show how far your creativity can stretch by creating a portfolio that is personal, while ensuring it appeals to as many people as possible.
Less is more
You should edit all your previous work to create a concise summary of your work. You should not try to impress a potential employer with a portfolio crammed full of everything you have ever done. Their time is precious, and you should respect this. Simplify your presentation and try to think from the employer’s point of view.
Only show your strongest work
People don’t need an excuse to reject your work; one bad piece of work in your portfolio can prevent you getting a job, so don’t add any filler pieces just to pad it out. Learning to critique your own work is something that comes with practice. You need to be objective when choosing what pieces to keep in, and it often helps to seek out the opinions of peers and colleagues.
Stand out from the crowd
Employers look at portfolios all the time so yours needs to stand out. Many portfolios follow the same format so you need to make sure yours makes an impact. To truly stand out in an extremely competitive field, your work needs to show a thoughtful approach from initial concept through to presentation, indicating that you can reflect upon your work and refine it to a highly polished state.
Display your personality
Let the potential employer or client get a feel for the way you like to work so they can see if it fits in with their own approach. Just as your clothes can give a first impression, so too does the way in which you present your portfolio.
Show your ambition
Your portfolio should show that you can take creative initiative, resolve a wide range of problems, and complete projects from start to finish. Show that you can work with limited supervision, generate ideas, and motivate yourself and others.
Use your presentation skills
Show your full range of presentation abilities, including sketching, rendering, model-making, finished products, photography, and three-dimensional modelling.
Target your intended audience
Tailor your portfolio to the industry sector you wish to work within, and demonstrate your commitment to work in this field. You should rearrange your work based on the specific nature of each job application, position, and duties. Your portfolio should be able to evolve over your career, being updated as you develop your skills, ideas, and abilities.
Process
Demonstrate your mastery of the design process by including examples of work from research to concept and execution.
Have a web presence
Create a web presence that enables potential employers to view your work digitally. By uploading examples of your work on to your own website, preferably with your first and last name as the domain address, you increase your visibility in the marketplace. There are also a number of online portfolio websites that you can register with to promote your work, such as www.coroflot.com.
Digital
Create a DVD or CD with your digital portfolio that you can mail with a cover letter or leave behind after an interview. Remember to label both the sleeve and CD with an appropriately designed label that includes your name, address, telephone number, and email address. Ensure that your disk isn’t corrupted or carrying a virus, as this is a surefire way not to get a job!
Keep it up to date
Design moves quickly and you need to show that you can keep up with the current trends while retaining the individuality that will make you stand out from the crowd.
To stand out in an extremely competitive field, you need to show commitment, ability, and the passion that employers are looking for from designers. If you critically review and select your work to create a considered and creative portfolio then you will be ready to apply for that first design job.
“When I graduated, I presented my portfolio to potential employers through a CV [résumé], cover letter with images, and a smart business card with a website link. I exhibited at my degree show, before showing at a design store in SoHo and at the Funeria gallery in California. You need to show you have multidisciplinary design skills and thinking, communication skills, business skills, confidence, time management, selfpromotion and future thinking to find a job.”
Eleanor Davies, designer
CASE STUDY: Tom Harper
After undertaking an internship with leading design manufacturer Established & Sons, recent Edinburgh College of Art Product Design graduate, Tom Harper, chose to explore the potential opportunities of redesigning apparently mundane domestic cleaning products such as brooms, brushes, mops, and buckets for his final year self-selected design project, 2009.
Tom’s design interests concern everyday experiences, interactions, and environments. His project and portfolio clearly demonstrated his personal design agenda and how he aims to exploit subtle behavioural insights and observations and apply them to the context of designing understated yet luxurious products through extensive visual and physical testing, evaluation, and refinement.
Sketchbooks reveal a designer’s ability to produce a diverse range of concepts (left); extensive sketch modeling demonstrates that you can think in 3D and refine design solutions (right).
Paper test models (left); the final design collection of cleaning products (right) conveys a broad portfolio of design skills.
Getting a job
After the excitement of the degree show and graduation, the reality of getting your first job can be a daunting prospect. Only a very few lucky graduates are plucked from their college shows and set to work immediately. Most graduates take a number of months to find employment, and often have to start at the bottom, work hard, and make slow progress until reaching their goals. Your first job may not be the job of your dreams, but it will hopefully teach you basic skills and responsibilities and provide a stepping-stone to your next job and a successful long-term career in product design.
The following tips should help you find your first job:
“It is never easy to find the right job, but ‘design’ is such a huge and diverse discipline that my key piece of advice would be to really know what you want to do and what drives you. Always try to find a position that has room for growth and diversity.”
Tips for interviews
Interviews can be a stressful occasion. You are meeting new people, selling yourself and your skills, and often being asked probing questions to ascertain what you know or don’t know about design. Here are some interview tips to help you prepare for the event:
Career opportunities
Product design graduates have a wide range of career opportunities that exploit their knowledge and experience of the product design process. They may become a member of a freelance design consultancy, join a manufacturing company as a specialist within a product design development team, or decide to set up their own practice as a designer or designer-maker.
Transferable skills also enable graduates to work in diverse fields such as computer-aided design, marketing, retail, multimedia or management. The best courses often have strong links with industry to ensure that students are aware of the full range of possibilities and have access to them.
Product design students have a range of prospects, such as:
The product design industry covers a number of different sectors such as:
The range of skills developed on product design courses is wide. These and are adaptable across a wider range of organizations and roles such as:
In an increasingly competitive job market for graduates, more and more students are continuing their studies and enrolling on graduate courses. Masters and doctoral study enables you to extend your skills and thinking, and helps differentiate yourself from the competition.
Masters courses usually require one or two years of study, and enable students to deepen their knowledge and expertise within the discipline, providing a clear progression from undergraduate education while maintaining distinctiveness from industrial training. Masters students are expected to challenge boundaries, think originally, and develop intellectual and critical approaches to the discipline of product design.
Starting your own business
The decision to start your own creative business can be a daunting step for the young designer, but this offers a creative freedom and sense of achievement that can be hard to match working for a company. It requires commitment, energy, and a large amount of emotional investment. You’ll need to consider if this really is the right time in your life to launch a business venture, and why you wish to do this. But if you do, you need to ensure you have the tools to design, develop, promote, and control your business.
Building a business requires you to identify and define the foundations of your idea. Begin by asking yourself some challenging questions such as:
Having identified the key attributes that your business needs to be built upon, undertake a S.W.O.T (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of your business proposal to evaluate its strategic positioning:
Once you have explored your business idea, you will need to develop a clear mission statement and decide what impact you hope to make. This will help you to pitch your idea to potential clients, customers, and investors. Try to succinctly describe your idea/s through a one-minute short verbal description known as an “elevator pitch.” When trying to compose this ask yourself:
When you have developed your business idea and defined its aspirations, you will need to identify your customers and ensure there is a viable market for your product/s and/or services. If extensive research indicates that there are enough customers prepared to purchase your business offer then you should explore the relationships you will need to help you develop your business.
Every business needs a set of relationships to take a product to market successfully, develop a viable brand identity, and maintain a successful company. These can be categorized into four types:
When determining your business plan you should evaluate these relationships and carefully consider which activities you need to keep inside your business, and which can be outsourced. By carefully evaluating these relationships you will be in a strong position to bring your business idea and products to market.
Whatever sector of the product design industry you are entering, you will come across a unique network of must-know people. You should make a concerted effort to network as much as possible and ensure you make a positive impression on everybody you meet and have business relationships with. There is a wide range of support available for aspiring entrepreneurs, from government agencies, enterprise networks, and chambers of commerce, to trade organizations and national design councils. Much of the advice is free, so ensure that you make the most of these support agencies, and the advice of instructors, colleagues and peers, when deciding which jobs to apply for, how to work as a freelancer, or how to set up and run your own business.
Conclusion
Product design is an extremely competitive field, and you need to show your commitment to a challenging yet exciting discipline. Getting a job, launching your own company, or bringing a product to market may sound like daunting tasks, but the design world of the twenty-first century offers you great opportunities. If you study hard, take the time to review and select your work, and develop a thoughtful and innovative body of work, you will be rewarded with a successful career in product design.
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