How to hire an Industrial Designer: 5 Things to look for
5 Things to Look for in an Industrial Designer
The life of a product begins when your good idea becomes a solid plan. This planning stage is the optimal time to hire an industrial designer. But who should you hire? The answer largely depends on you and your needs. So before you make any calls, ask yourself the following questions:
Who are you?
A solo inventor could get by working with a freelance industrial designer. Same goes for a small business owner with a small budget. But if you’re a “big” small business or a large manufacturer, look into hiring a design studio or firm.
What are you making?
Designing a car interior requires a degree of competency and experience that only a studio or firm could provide. But if you need a basic CAD design for your new 3D printer, a freelancer would be a good fit.
What’s the timeline and budget?
Most design studios or firms start with a minimum budget of 5-50k, and can often work on-retainer. If your budget is anything less than that, it may be better suited for a freelance designer.
Here are five things to consider before contracting with a freelancer, studio, or firm:
Once you’ve determined whether you should be looking for a freelance designer, studio, or firm, you can focus on hiring the ideal candidate for your product.
1. The Portfolio
Before you hire an industrial designer, ask to see an example of a past product they’ve designed, including the original sketches. A good designer knows that “sketches tell all,” which simply means that seeing a designer’s sketches will help you determine whether they’re the real deal or just full of hot air.
It can be tempting to focus on the fancy renderings, but it is far more important to see how the initial sketches differ from the final product. Ideally, you will discover a gradient, or gradual improvements over time. Improving upon the original design should be expected; completely abandoning the original design is suspect.
2. The Team
Good design is never done in isolation. Even if you’re considering a freelance industrial designer, it is important to assess their capabilities before hiring them. Do they claim to sketch, style, CAD, surface, render, and animate? Ask to see examples; it is rare for a person to perform well in all those areas. Also extremely important: are they organized? Creatives typically struggle in that area, though not always. Either way, it can be reassuring to find they keep a cat wrangler close at hand.
In our experience, we have found that multiple voices always amplify the result. We have had the pleasure of working with designers from many different backgrounds, and the products we produce as a team are always more compelling than what one person could have created on their own.
3. Personality
You want to work with someone who knows how to think, learn, ask good questions, and process collaboratively. And you need someone you can work with for the long haul.
Unfortunately, industrial designers have a reputation for being prima donnas. When you’re hiring an IDer or Industial Designer, consider the following: does the designer have a sense of humor? How does he or she refer to competitors or past clients? Does it appear he or she can work well with others? Especially important: does the designer work well with engineers?
Also, keep in mind -- there’s a big difference between arrogance and healthy self-confidence. It is important that the designer is able to present alternatives and push back when necessary.
4.Experience
It is important to know how well-established the designer is in their industry. How successful have their past products been? Does their experience lend itself to your product goals? Also important: do they understand brand identity? Ideally, the designer will want to understand your company’s mission and vision to ensure your product accurately reflects your brand.
5. Toolset
Free tools like Blender or Fusion 360 are great for freelance industrial designers, but you should hesitate to hire a studio or firm still relying on them. At minimum, any studio you work with should be proficient with Solidworks and able to pay the maintenance fee (as annoying as it is). You can read more about the pros and cons of these tools here.
Is Design Eye Q the right studio for you?
Our studio works with both small businesses and large manufacturers, designing everything from product molds to aircraft interiors. Our team is composed of experienced, good-natured, and (dare we say) brilliant individuals. And unlike some of the bigger design firms, our studio can please both marketers and engineers.
Interested in working with our studio?
DEQ can help bring your product to life. Contact us to learn more.