Commercial and Industrial Designers

Develop and design manufactured products, such as cars, home appliances, and children's toys. Combine artistic talent with research on product use, marketing, and materials to create the most functional and appealing product design.

Job Task

• Research production specifications, costs, production materials and manufacturing methods, and provide cost estimates and itemized production requirements.
• Supervise assistants' work throughout the design process.
• Develop industrial standards and regulatory guidelines.
• Develop manufacturing procedures and monitor the manufacture of their designs in a factory to improve operations and product quality.
• Investigate product characteristics such as the product's safety and handling qualities, its market appeal, how efficiently it can be produced, and ways of distributing, using and maintaining it.
• Participate in new product planning or market research, including studying the potential need for new products.
• Confer with engineering, marketing, production, and/or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for manufactured products.
• Coordinate the look and function of product lines.
• Design graphic material for use as ornamentation, illustration, or advertising on manufactured materials and packaging or containers.
• Direct and coordinate the fabrication of models or samples and the drafting of working drawings and specification sheets from sketches.
• Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design trends.
• Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, and/or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or computer-aided design equipment.
• Present designs and reports to customers or design committees for approval, and discuss need for modification.
• Read publications, attend showings, and study competing products and design styles and motifs to obtain perspective and generate design concepts.
• Advise corporations on issues involving corporate image projects or problems.
• Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/methods, and market characteristics.
• Fabricate models or samples in paper, wood, glass, fabric, plastic, metal, or other materials, using hand and/or power tools.

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