People who design and create concepts for various types of manufactured products like, home appliances, toys, vehicles and so on are called Industrial Designers. They are employed by all sorts of businesses.
What Is Industrial Design?
The study of Industrial Design involves getting trained in concepts of designing products and services that can improve the quality of human life by making tasks easy to accomplish. These products and services are designed to be used by a massive number of people on a daily basis in various environments such as, banks, offices, homes, schools etc.
Industrial Designers’ job is to utilize artistic and creative concepts and combine them with technicalities of engineering to create products that are to be used by common people in daily life. They are supposed to design products in a way that can save production cost while keeping the aesthetics of the product top-notch and making it user-friendly.
What Can You Do with a Bachelors of Industrial Design?
Typically, graduates of this degree choose one of two options. They either opt for an entry-level job in the field to gain experience or they decide to complete a master’s degree and advance their career. According to the data reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 2018-19, Commercial and Industrial Designers had the following salary and career outlook.
Median Annual Salary, 2019: $68,890
Average Annual Mean Salary, 2019: $73,820
Projected Growth Rate, 2018-2028: 3% (Industrial Designers)
State with the Highest Salary, 2019: Oregon - $88,100 per year
State with the Highest Employment Rate, 2019: Michigan - 4,520
What to Expect from a Bachelors of Industrial Design?
Industrial Design is a complicated field of study and each university designs its own curriculum. For example, the curriculum of Bachelor of Design: Industrial Design offered at the University of Washington includes courses like,
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Design Foundations
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Design Methods
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Intro to Industrial Design
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Senior Projects in Design
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Introduction to Typography and so on
Whereas, Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design offered at the Georgia Institute of Technology includes courses such as,
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Industrial Design Fundamentals
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Design Methods: User Centered Design
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History of Modern Industrial Design
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Digital Design Methods
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Introduction to Sketching and Modeling etc.
How to Choose a Bachelors of Industrial Design?
While choosing a degree in Bachelors of Industrial Design, it is better to choose an accredited degree at a university with a well-qualified faculty. Moreover, the requirements of graduation vary for almost all universities. For instance, students of Bachelor of Design: Industrial Design at the University of Washington must complete 180 credit hours work of coursework and projects to graduate. On the other hand, students of Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology must complete 130 credit hours to graduate. So make sure you have a look at the admission requirements before applying.
What Are the Admission Requirements of a Bachelors of Industrial Design?
Typically, universities in the US ask students to apply through an online application system for most programs however, there may be a few exceptions. In case you want to apply for the Bachelor of Design: Industrial Design at the University of Washington, you need to submit,
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5-10 samples of previously completed design work
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A letter of intent that explains your interest in this field
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A recent CV including your educational and extracurricular skills
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All previous transcripts etc.
For further details, please see their official websites.