Hi guys!

I am posting this to hopefully reach a community of my peers, anyone who graduated this year and is on the job hunt. I just wanted to open a dialogue and see how everyone is doing, if you have landed a position yet, what you’re doing to increase your odds etc.

Maybe we can get a portfolio swap and critique going?

☮️ &🩷

Hi! I've worked as a web and graphic designer for over 6 years. I've decided to change careers and move into industrial design. I made this model following a tutorial in 4 days, and I'm really happy with it. I'm going to keep working through more lessons from this channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ProductDesignOnline. Could you recommend other useful materials, books, etc.? I don't know exactly which direction I want to go yet, but eventually I'd like to be able to make parts like this, or furniture. Thanks!

I’m very into consumer design but atm I’m struggling to work out what to do. In school I do Product Design A-level (Furniture and homeware products mostly). I really like the idea of doing Fashion/Footwear, Homeware, Furniture or even some sort of design for consumer tech products. My issue is ability, I’m 17 at the moment so I know I have time to learn stuff, like I design clothes for example but I don’t know how to actually make them. I can’t code so I couldn’t do any actual electronic engineering type stuff. I’m interested in making pretty stuff mostly for the moment but I don’t hate the idea of doing more practical stuff.

I have an issue right now of whether I specialise on something especially with the job market and how it is. Would it be a good idea to study industrial design, do you think something could be more suited? If you need more info about me let me know but I want to ask people who are really into design on their thoughts and opinions on what I could do!

Hello, i'm currently trying to design a multi-cam system, the goal being a 45° rotation when the holder is pushed forward on the axle, but i want a retaining system built in the cam track of the axle. I can only insert it from one direction, and i would like to make it self retaining by using the geometry of the cam track to insert it, turn it (maybe add a rotation limiting system in the holder?) and basically use the camtrack so the axle cannot be withdrawn as it is able to for now (you can extract it from the holder from the insertion direction, but i also want to retain the ability to isert and extract it from the holder by simply pushing/twisting it without a retaining feature integrater to the holder). Do you have any ideas, because i'm hitting a wall here?

This is a real product, not a render. This linear clock helps visualize how time progresses throughout your day.
A new block gradually fills up every 30 minutes. From these partially lit blocks it is surprisingly intuitive to read the time to a few minutes of accuracy.

People sometimes assume that fully automated production is always the best solution.

But for heavyweight spirits bottles, especially bottles with thick or heavy bottoms, the production process can be different.

This particular bottle uses a larger amount of molten glass, so a semi-automatic process can provide more flexibility during forming and handling.

Automated lines are excellent for standard, high-volume production. But certain bottle designs require a different approach.

Different designs, different manufacturing processes.

I have been working on a sensory board book for a while now and need help with the design and engineering of sensory elements (ex. beer goggles) in a book. Am I in the right forum?

We are currently developing a new glass bottle mold for one of our customers.

The customer wanted a bottle shape that wasn't available as a standard product, so the project moved into custom mold development.

I thought some people here might find the process interesting. The mold is one of the most important parts of glass bottle manufacturing because it directly affects the final shape and consistency of the bottle.

This is one of the stages that happens before sample production and mass manufacturing.

Been thinking about other careers to explore outside of the traditional.

Hi everyone,
After few years of work experience in Art Direction, I’m looking for recommendations for top Master’s programs in Europe focused on either Footwear & Accessories Design or Innovative Materials & Advanced Manufacturing Methods (3D printing, bio-materials, rapid prototyping).
I’m looking for programs that are hands-on, industry-focused, and actually lead to jobs through strong brand networks and career placement.
Key criteria:

Focus: Dedicated Footwear/Accessories OR Material Innovation/Manufacturing Tech.
Location: Europe.
Language: Taught in English.
Value: Programs with strong career placement, industry links, or good scholarship opportunities.

I’m aware of schools like IED (Spain), Borås / Beckmans (Sweden), and Arsutoria (Italy), but I’d love real feedback from alumni or industry professionals:
Which programs are actually worth the investment in terms of real-world skills and direct hiring? Any hidden gems or specialized labs/academies I should look into?
Thanks in advance!

Hello,
I am trying to understand how new product developers are looking at functional sound design. Especially for thing like home appliances that are still using buzzer sounds despite a lot of high end models having speakers and even OS.

EVs, Smart TVs, some personal devices, are already adopting a branded sonic identity as well as functional / HMI sound sets. Also Samsung and apple have a sound design department that create model specific sound suites.

Is there anyone who is willing to talk and educate me (about the scope of brands adopting it as a norm) from the perspective of a product designer, founder, etc.?

We recently completed a custom bottle project using a two-color finish combined with silk screen printing.

I’m curious how brand owners and packaging designers view decoration techniques:

Does color treatment influence shelf appeal more than bottle shape?
Which surface finishes do you think create the most premium look: frosting, coating, electroplating, or screen printing?

Would love to hear thoughts from people working in spirits, beverages, or packaging design.

read title. im making a projext with 3d componets to the geobasket and i need someone that can construct the shoe as its build is difficult to nail.

I wanted to share a project I’m particularly proud of, not only because of the result, but also because of how quickly it had to be delivered.
The project was the industrial design of an ultra-fast EV charging station, developed for an automotive manufacturer, for deployment to a national end-user/client.
-> The challenge: very little time.
The design study was initially planned to take around four weeks, but the manufacturer needed to present the project to their client very quickly. So I condensed the work into three weeks.
For their meeting, both clients were able to discover the project live through a short video I created, explaining my design approach, along with three design variations presented through 3D views and animation.
The result: one of the three proposals was approved immediately, with only a minor improvement requested.
And that’s when the real sprint began.
🏁 The goal: manufacture two fully functional charging stations, ready for an official inauguration in less than two months.
By quickly translating the design into 3D CAD, I provided the manufacturer with a directly usable foundation. Their teams then integrated the electrical and electronic components before sending the project to a local sheet-metal manufacturer for production.
The workflow was remarkably smooth:
Design → 3D CAD → technical integration → manufacturing.
And most importantly: both charging stations were ready on time, with no major surprises.
The inauguration was eventually postponed to October for urban-planning reasons. This additional time allowed the installations to be finalized, including energy storage, as well as communication, payment, and maintenance systems.
For me, this project remains a great example of what can happen when industrial design is conceived from the beginning to be coherent, manufacturable, and immediately usable by engineering and production teams.
There was no time for 25 rounds of iterations. The challenge was to understand quickly, make the right design decisions, and enable the other teams to take over immediately.
My only regret? I couldn’t hide the screws on the front panel… 😅
How far do you think we can push the speed of an industrial design project without compromising quality?

What is the name for this fitting between two pieces of tempered glass?

Sun and Cloud Shape Taco Holder

I made a task system. It’s comprised of 2 steel cards with a dry-ease coating, a pack dock with a groove for holding my pen and dry erase tiles for tasks and reminders.

I graduated with an ID degree in 2025…unfortunately my uni scammed the shit out of us just by focusing on blender and no with any cad. so now i have no idea where to go ahead ...I mostly have experience as Brand design intern and packaging designer. I am so lost and I see my juniors graduating and getting placed ( thanks to the new dean). I feel so lost behind and have no one to reach out to.

I take immense interest in sustainblity , like kind of materials, a product lifecycle. the whole economy and system of a brand and its products . I like doing installation design. and recently designed a public product installation for a competition. and I can see myself designing such stuff and I like furniture’s and lifestyle products and them to be accessible. inclusive and stuff. AND NOW IM LOST. AF. Idk if I should pursue master to niche it down or find another random job to survive..is there any scope for me and my interests?

And ofc I cannot forget about AI HERE..idk how it’s been in the design field with ai added. I’m aware of Vizcom and higgsfield And stuff ..idk if I’m missing out on anything else to upskill

In terms of hand sketching and rendering, what does everyone use and are there brands you trust? Amazon is filled with hit and miss products, reviews are misleading too as one persons good may be an ID professional or artists worst nightmare when it comes to coloured pencils.

I am used to sketching with STAEDTLER fine liners because other brands skip or fade when drawing lines too fast. I used to use expensive artist solvent markers too. £2.50 a pen.

But for the last many years my work only required a ball point pen or fine liners. I want to get back into sketching and improve my portfolio for clients but I currently don't have the funds to play trial and error. Thanks

Hello, I am currently a highschool senior who’s going to be choosing a college soon, and I wanted to know if ID was a good major to pick. I am interested in creating products and specifically was interested in becoming a toy designer for action figures and figurines. Thing is when I told this idea to my art teacher she asked me to reconsider it and to see if I could try something else that was connected but in the engineering or manufacturing sphere.

Is the ID market that bad? I had wondered if Ai was causing this because I’ve heard other designers online complain about it but so far everybody who has studied ID on social media seems to glamorize it. I don’t know any designers irl, so I have no clue what’s the current state of the job stability.

Any other careers where I can design things or create products or machines?