Commercial and Industrial Designers: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

Commercial and Industrial Designers develop and design manufactured products, such as cars, home appliances, and children’s toys. Combine artistic talent with research on product use, marketing, and materials to create the most functional and appealing product design.

• Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or computer-aided design equipment.
• Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design trends.
• Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/methods, and market characteristics.
• Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for manufactured products.

Salary

Commercial and Industrial Designers with little to no experience tend to make between $38630 and $51670 while the more experienced ones can earn over $87620 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Commercial and Industrial Designer is to move to a higher paying state like NJ. Right now, the highest paying states for Commercial and Industrial Designers are NJ, OR, WA, AR and MA.

However, a higher pay at NJ doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at NJ might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Commercial and Industrial Designer is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Commercial and Industrial Designers what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by a College Certificate.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Commercial and Industrial Designer.

What is the job like

67% of Commercial and Industrial Designers said they were satisfied with their job and 44% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules..

They also like starting up and carrying out projects. They like leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

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