Who is an industrial designer and what do they do? Industrial designers in the wood and furniture industry propose and work out in detail designs of new or developing products, mainly furniture and furniture accessories. However, wood is not the only material worked with, as it is often combined with plastic, metals, textile or leather.
What are the activities of the industrial designer? Working out the optimum design of new products, selecting suitable materials, selecting components that will be used in the designed product (e.g. locks, handles), making calculations and determining the technical conditions, deciding the norms of proportion, of the quality of material to be used, etc., cooperating with technologists who propose the techniques of production, overall processing of the technical drawings and other data related to the construction of the whole composition as well as separate components of new products, changing the existing documentation, preparing descriptions and directions for use, managing the construction teams.
Where is it done and under what conditions? In design offices, drawing offices and studios.
What tools/equipment do they use? Drawing instruments and equipment, and computers (mainly computer assisted design (CAD).
What do you need to succeed? You need vocational education, higher professional education or university education in the field of the wood industry or construction in mechanical engineering, technical understanding, inventiveness and creativity, spatial awareness, precision and ability to learn. Some designers may also enter the occupation from art and design schools or colleges.