surprise the designer

As an industrial design student, you are required to do roughly eighty ga-million sketches over the course of 4-5 years. The prompts for those sketches vary widely; sometimes they're extremely specific and sometimes they're as vague as 'do ten pages of sketches.' So it's inevitable that every student (and professional designer, for that matter) will get to a point when they just don't know what to sketch next. Over the years I've come up with a few ways to keep sketching, even when you're feeling supremely stuck. Fittingly, I put those tips together in a sketch in preparation for the evening class I'm teaching this semester. Do you have any tips for getting un-stuck?

Check out that 3D printed hand credit: http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/ 3D printing has been all over the news for the past year or so (see here and here .) It's been a source of media frenzy; this idea that some day soon every house on the block will have the capability to print small plastic parts on a whim. And I have been skeptical. Industrial designers have had a head-start with this technology. I first encountered a Z-corp powder printer as a co-op at Fisher-Price in early 2007. It was (and still is) an incredibly efficient way to prototype parts that were digitally designed. When I returned for a second co-op quarter a few months later, the shop guys at Fisher-Price had already started using more SLA (closer to plastic) prototyping. Even in 07, the field was evolving rapidly. It's an awesome process to watch —there's something magical to seeing an object appear where there wasn't one before. And it makes a lot of sense for product development. But w...

Industrial design is intriguing. People find their way to it from all different sorts of backgrounds (a constant topic of conversation in school.) Almost no non-designers know what it is ('you mean you design gears and stuff?') And it seems like a field with plenty of opportunity. Everything on this planet has to be designed, right!? Well, with great opportunity comes great responsibility. As well as the straight-out fact that industrial design is b-r-o-a-d. Industrial designers can design cars, hair dryers, kid's toys, or ketchup bottles. And these days, they can design services, consumer products, commercial products, websites, web apps, and many many other things. So it stands to reason that it can be hard figuring out what to do with an industrial design degree. Go work for a consultancy? For a corporation? Maybe try freelancing for a bit? And it makes me particularly excited to see one of my fellow industrial designers enjoying success by paving his own way. ...

This might sound obvious, but one of the greatest things about being an adjunct professor is the chance to share the knowledge you've amassed with people who haven't quite found it yet. Making a portfolio is a challenging process. You have to put your best foot forward, standing out enough to be noticed while blending in enough to appear compatible. Thanks to co-oping with four different employers (and professionally working with three more), I've made a lot of portfolios. So I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve. I gave this short presentation to the junior class at Wentworth today. It covers some of the basics: building blocks to eventually get you to the point where you'll be learning from yourself. Do you have any tips to add? Industrial Design Portfolio Basics from carlyhagins If you're looking for a slightly more in-depth guide, check out Hire Me! by the UCID class of 2012. 

2012 Portfolio from carlyhagins Putting a portfolio together is a daunting task. It can feel like every little detail matters: font choice, color choice, layout, the order of your projects, and how many pages you include. People say that a first impression sticks, and your portfolio is always your first impression on a potential future employer. No pressure or anything, right!? Well, this is my latest attempt at a stellar first impression. It's also the first portfolio I've assembled since being out in the 'real world.' That very fact brings its own challenges: how much weight to give to school projects vs. professional projects and how to structure things to help get the job you really want. Take a peek, pick your favorite page, and let me know what you think. More after the jump...