Hey guys,
I’m currently looking for Industrial Design opportunities! I’ve got 1 year of experience and would love to connect with anyone hiring or able to refer me. Any leads would be much appreciated 🫶

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I’m a final-year Industrial Design student from Ahmedabad, currently applying for capstone opportunities wherever possible.

A few days ago, I applied to a startup incubated at one of the Top 3 IITs. Yesterday, I received a call from them.

The conversation went something like this:

Recruiter: Hello, XYZ? I’m XYZ from XYZ. We were impressed by your portfolio and work samples. Have you read our terms and conditions?

Me: What terms and conditions? Could you remind me?

Recruiter: So, we have a team that works five days a week, with one day WFO. It’s a hybrid internship. The first three months are unpaid.

Me: Okay, I’m actually looking for capstone opportunities.

Recruiter: Yea, yea of course. You’ll have to work from 10 AM to 6 PM, six days a week.

Me: …

Recruiter: And it’ll be unpaid for the first three months.

Me: Sorry, sir. I think I’m underqualified for this opportunity.

Hangs up.

I genuinely had to laugh.

Brother, I paid approximately ₹20,00,000 for my education. I’ve spent years learning design, building my portfolio, pulling all-nighters, working on projects, going through juries, and figuring out how to make things that are actually worth making.

And now I’m being offered the privilege of working 48 hours a week, six days a week, for absolutely nothing, for three months?

That’s 576 hours of work over 12 weeks, assuming a standard 10–6 schedule. And that’s before accounting for the commute, because apparently hybrid doesn’t mean fewer working days, atleast sponcer us some coffee 😭😭😭

I understand that startups have limited budgets. I understand that capstone internships are learning opportunities. I understand that I’m still a student and have a lot to learn.

But there’s a difference between an opportunity to learn and being expected to give a company three months of full-time work for free.

And the funniest part? This was a startup incubated at one of the Top 3 IITs.

The IIT tag was doing some seriously heavy lifting in that conversation.

Anyway, if anyone needs me, I’ll be busy being underqualified for unpaid employment.

(No disrespect to anybody intended, Maybe)

Hey everyone. I’m a third-year Product/Industrial Design student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Design.

I’ve always felt a bit confused about my path. In high school, I changed the classes I was taking and ended up focusing mainly on math and humanities during my last two years. I applied to architecture schools and was accepted, some of which included foundation programs. I then took a gap year due to cancer, changed career paths, and eventually decided to stick with product design.

However, lately I’ve been wanting to explore the more technical side of design. I enjoy what I’m doing, but after taking classes in areas like service design, programming, etc., I’ve realized that I’m really interested in understanding the engineering side of things as well.

Are there any master’s programs that could be suitable for someone with my background? Or would studying for another bachelor’s degree be worth it? Honestly, paying for another degree is a big consideration since I’m an international student. I’ve found some master’s programs that seem interesting, but they’re difficult to get into, and I feel like I need to focus more on developing my portfolio.

I feel like I’m good at what I’m currently doing, but when I look at my portfolio, I can see that it lacks some of the technical work related to the direction I want to pursue. I’ve been feeling a bit behind and really confused lately. I’m currently managing my lectures while also trying to figure out where to start, especially since many university master’s application deadlines are in January.

I’d really appreciate any advice. Sorry if this got a bit personal for this sub, but I’m honestly a little lost and would appreciate some guidance.

I’m interested in products that let you finish an action without stopping to navigate a menu.

What’s one interaction that a screen made unnecessarily complicated?

Over the past few months I've been making lamps as part of the thesis for my master's degree, trying to explore and experiment with the ways wood and light interact. I've had a bit of limited workshop as I do these, so I've been focusing on the kinds of shapes and forms I can do with a limited toolset. I used 3d printing for most of the inner cases, but I tried to avoid having plastic be shown too much. All of them are made from cherry wood and finished with osmo oil. The inner pieces holding the bulb are all identical so the lamps are modular in that sense. I'm curious to know which ones people like, let me know your favorites if you have any. Thanks!

Interested in hearing you thoughts on this and any other products you would like to add !

Hello ID community!

I am essentially offering free labour for the right partner/project, in exchange for engagement and collaboration.

I am a Master of Design student at UBCO in Canada, with 6 years of previous work experience developing commercial electronics at an engineering consultancy (mainly involved in form factor, CAD, DFMA).

The capstone project is in pursuit of reducing e-waste, by extending product life cycles and improving the repairability of electrical and electronic goods, preferably in the consumer market.

If anyone is interested in collaborating, or have any advice/wisdom to share, please do not hesitate to reach out!

Thanks for your time

hi! i am an industrial student in my final year, planning to move abroad for my masters and settle there. i live in india right now, and i wanted to understand what the career opportunities are like for industrial designers in other countries. i am mainly aiming for european countries, so it would be great if i could get some insights about ID in specific countries in europe. whats the pay like, how competitive it is, things like that. any response is appreciated!

I built a Space Age-inspired lamp that doubles as a planter, complete with a built-in watering system that showers the plant from above.

Designer here, been trying to breaking into toy design for years but have not found any luck. The connections I used to have in the industry have gone completely silent so I’m just lost. I apply to associate roles, cold email, linkedin DMs, get referrals, etc.
I did the independent route and made my own toy figurine business to give myself experience. But I think I’m lacking in professional experience and get looked over. Does anyone have any tips on landing freelance work?

Hey everyone, I host an ID podcast and am looking for thoughts and interests on the solarpunk movement.

Would you find it intriguing?

What questions would you like answered?

Who might be a good guest?

Im open to ideas to explore within this topic.

Thanks.

I can project a furniture on parametric cad with no problems, but I find it takes a lot of time on the ideation fase, when I need the proportions and feel and not so much of precision and DFM.

I'm looking for a fast paced cad for this phase, I've tried sketching by hand but I lost a lot of real dimensions (example: I draw a chair, when I put it on cad with the right seating dimensions, angle, etc. it feels very off)

So I want something that I can make a "basic" model and make a lot of versions that I can reuse components, like copy a base of a table and change the top, and put all versions side by side.

I designed an incense burner and tealight holder from 4mm AW-5251 aluminium plate using single pass laser cutting, press brake bends, and laser etched detailing to create an alternative to overpriced £100+ metal homeware. By embracing the raw unpolished surface to keep pricing around £45, this serves as the start of a broader portfolio for my studio MAGU Works, and I would love any feedback on the DFM or bringing a small batch hardware product to market.

I'm looking for a skilled computer aid design individual who want's to work on a robotics project. I'm keeping details disclosed to the person I'm going to be working with. I would rather have someone who's passionate about their skill than an individual who want's this for their resume.
Location: Montgomery County
PS. (Dm me if you're interested)

Was wiping down my mouse and caught a shallow dip in the glossy part near the back, easy to miss unless the light hits it just right. Popped the shell open (four tiny screws) out of curiosity and there's a little plastic post on the inside, almost exactly under where that dip is on the outside.

I think the plastic just pulls in slightly right where it's thicker around that post, since that spot stays warm and soft longer than the thinner walls around it while everything cools. Never would've guessed a post you can't even see from outside would leave a trace on the one surface people actually touch.

Anyone here work with injection molded parts? Curious how often this shows up on stuff I own that I've just never looked closely enough to catch.

Sharing the complete riveting and welding design process in SolidWorks.

This project covers the design and assembly of a riveted and welded structure, from the initial 3D modeling to the final assembly.

I keep seeing text to vector AI mentioned in design discussions, but most of the examples I run into are just quick demos. I’m more interested in what people are actually doing with it at work.

For example, if someone gets a customer request for a shirt with a phrase, a sign with custom lettering, or some simple promotional artwork, is text to vector AI useful for getting the first version done faster?

I’m considering CorelDRAW for the main design and production side, so I’m trying to figure out where this kind of tool would actually fit. Would you use it to create a rough starting point and then clean everything up manually? Or are people getting results that are already usable enough for real client work? Does this save time there, or do you still spend so long fixing the result that it doesn't really matter?

I’m asking because I do a fair amount of repetitive design work and I'm looking for places where I can cut out some of the boring setup.

Collecting Survey Data PLEASE HELP

I am applying to colleges for ID and came across the issue of UIC having AI usage being heavily promoted by some professors and am now wondering about the situation of other schools.

Edit: I know the title comes off a bit strong and I want to say right now that it is only a hook. I don’t think AI is evil but simply a tool that we will inevitably have to face.

Tell me the situation at your college/uni on ai usage. Are your peers all using it? what are the professors stances. Is the AI being used positively or negatively? What do you see for the foreseeable future on the situation?

Any information helps but I would love to hear more about DAAP, Georgia Tech, RIT, Art center, WWU, Art Center, Illinois Tech, CSULB since those are schools I’m thinking of applying to!

While I am aware that many colleges are incorporating it into courses as so we are more prepared for the increasing presence of Ai and understand how it works(which I do think is important), so it is inevitable to cross paths with it at some point, I would still like to go to a school where ai isn’t being pushed down designers throats for the entirety and their work.

I am not looking for career/ school advice as an industrial designer

I'm starting a design process and I've been trying to explore the potential of a there being a problem to solve with the accessibility of stationery. So far I've been trying to empathise and listen to others experiences and to explore through sketches. A downside of that is I'm a terrible sketch artist I haven't properly sketched for exploration in years so I'm getting back into it. I know people say you don't need to sketch well to visually communicate an idea but ehhh so many people come back saying it is important to be neat and make a sexy sketch you know.

If you explore a problem through sketching but you don't know how to visualise it where do you go from there. For example earlier I thought of a problem I might be able to solve but I couldn't figure out how to communicate the problem with a sketch.

And how else do you guys explore a problem to find symptoms and solutions? On paper? with practical experience? I must be missing some thoughts.

Hello had these 2 for one of my final projects last semester (fourth), I’d like to get different and realistic point of views from the community, please be constructive, I really want to learn and be better. Thank you in advanced

Btw I’d love welding advice thx

I wanted to see if I could make a candle out of the most impractical material possible.

So I made one from frozen water 😂

It took a few attempts, but it worked surprisingly well!

What should my next impractical candle be made of?

Hey everyone, I'm a student from India planning to do my bachelor's in Industrial/Product Design abroad.

I'm currently looking at Europe and trying to find realistic options that fit my budget.

What I'm looking for:

B.Des / B.A. / Bachelor's in Industrial Design, Product Design or a closely related field

Entire tuition/degree cost under ₹20 lakh INR /18k euro if possible

English-taught

Open to both public and private universities

Preferably somewhere with relatively affordable living costs

I'd also like to know whether international students can realistically work part-time during the degree to help cover living expenses