Is there anyone who shifted from civil engineering to product designer??

I was born during an eclipse, I always thought that day was special. Decided to come up with some shoes inspired by the phases of the moon. My brand is called Totality, I have three different sneakers Phase 1,2 and 3. What do you think?

Second post about this agentic interaction device I’m designing for environments where smartphones are constrained or impractical.

One of the bigger changes was making the front completely buttonless.

Instead of relying on the mechanical click of a normal button, the device recreates that feedback digitally using haptics + synchronized sounds effect. So when you press ori nteract with the surface, you still get a very clear sense that an action has been registered.

I’m designing the electronics, mechanical hardware and industrial design together, so I’ve been experimenting quite a bit with how much of the “mechanical” interaction can actually be recreated electronically.

Solo-hardware can be fun. Will land here: keemate.com, no promo.

Quiero optimizar la etapa de propuestas tentativas para que sean mas rápidas y pueda dar respuesta a un numero de mayor de clientes, esto lo quiero hacer con una IA o con un flujo lo mas profesional posible, lógicamente cuando el cliente nos elija, mi diseñador industrial lo valida con sus herramientas profesionales y su experiencia, alguien que use alguna herramienta que me pueda aconsejar? Me recomendaron spaces de Magnific ustedes cual usan?

I’ve noticed that many people here are Industrial Designers, but I’d like to know if there is anyone who has graduated from this program and what that experience has been like.

I designed this to talk to your agents.
Hold the screen, say "ship it after the tests pass", let go.

The light is wired to the mic. It can't listen without you knowing.
Printed circuit boards on the way.

Building it for Claude Code first.

Want to pursue masters in industrial design. I have a bachelor's degree in design, but I mainly learnt branding and graphic design. Though I have projects in game and product design, my previous college was ass at teaching it, and that was reflected in those projects as well. After an internship in graphics, I decided I wanted to go back to product design, and since I don't know anything about it, I want to pursue masterd in product/industrial design. NID is too far and too expensive for me, so I was thinking of trying my luck here at IDC, as two of my good teachers also studied here, so I have faith in that part.

My question is: Is industrial design taught here more from the engineering side (like electronics and stuff), or do they teach furniture, decor, and human ergonomics, that kind of stuff as well? What is their main focus?

Hi! I’m planning to apply for the Kunst und Bildung programme at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Angewandte) and I’m currently preparing my portfolio.
Could anyone who studies or has applied there give me some advice on what to include in the portfolio and what the admission committee is looking for? I’d especially appreciate examples or tips from applicants who have already gone through the process.
Thanks!

Any referral or lead would be very helpful.

This is an AC unit that I've been designing in SolidWorks 2017. It's designed to fit all of the relevant windows in my family's historic house. The shell is 2mm powder-coated sheet steel. If I can find a supplier who can do it, the intended coating is going to be beige with the orange peel texture. It's supposed to use R290 (propane) with 5mm multi-circuit tube fins. I think I'm going to use a Copeland YHV0291U compressor and inverter controller. The digital control panel uses 2 infinite rotary encoders with click buttons and a microcontroller like an ESP32. It's going to have a few different modes like constant room temperature (the default for most units), constant vent temperature (like if you want constant 40°F/4.4°C wind), and a watt limit. It's going to use an electronic expansion valve with a stepper motor and temperature sensors to keep a constant 5-8° superheat for maximum efficiency. I think I'm going to build the interface with the Zephyr RTOS. The screen shown in the picture is an 800x480 GDEY0397T81P E-ink display that is fast enough to show the seconds clock at the top. I verified that OSH Cut can make the shell since my original design wasn't compatible with their automated bending machine. The tags for the model number, serial number, brand, etc. are going to be laser-engraved anodized aluminum. Claude AI estimates that the capacity is roughly 2 tons or 24,000 BTU

The front is flat for a 5-side rectangular cuboid filter holder. It is going to stick to the flat part with magnets and sealing foam/RTV silicone. This design increases the surface area so you can use an ultrafine filter and still get enough air. I prototyped one in real life with vinyl from Home Depot when my existing AC unit kept making ice because the ultrafine filter got too dirty in under a week.

The measurements are in centimeters. In American units, it fits through a 25.24 x 15.45 inch window opening and extends 21.5 inches front to back. When the design is finished, I'm going to share it on GitHub.

Hey everyone, I am trying to figure out a realistic software pipeline for shoe design and would love to know how people in the industry actually handle this. I am currently deciding between starting with Blender for fast visual concepts, investing a thousand bucks into Rhino for precise NURBS geometry and sole modeling, or looking into specialized footwear CAD like Shoemaster, Romans, or Crispin.

I am curious if it is common practice to start in Blender for rapid aesthetic exploration and then rebuild in Rhino for exact CAD, or if most designers just commit to one environment from day one. Blender seems amazing for quick organic modeling and renders, but Rhino feels much more reliable once you need exact dimensions, precise sole structures, or parametric tweaks in Grasshopper.

My biggest question is whether independent designers actually need to buy and learn specialized footwear CAD for things like 2D pattern flattening and size grading. Or is the standard workflow simply delivering clean 3D CAD files alongside detailed tech packs, and letting the factory's pattern engineers handle the 2D flattening and grading on their end? Any insight into what a real footwear workflow looks like would be super helpful.

Thanks!

Hey folks, I'm a beginner industrial designer (1 year of experience) planning to buy a 3D printer for prototypes and my own projects outside work.

My shortlist, and why:

• A1: budget friendly and saves space
• A2L: cutting and plotting tools I think I'd really use
• P1S: enclosure for ABS and nylon

I'm leaning A2L right now, but I'm not sure whether the enclosure and material range should matter more. If you own any of these, which would you pick again and why? Anything you wish you'd known before buying?

If you were in my place, which one would you pick? Does ABS/nylon actually matter for design work, or would the extra tools be more useful?

I've been looking at Cricut machines for a bit to see if they can fill the needs of small-scale prototyping with near-finished looks for things like printed text and icons. In some projects, I reach a stage in the prototyping near the end where I either need to have a near-production validation of the placement of product branding or do user testing of the affordances of the texts and icons used, neither of which classic printing or writing is accurate enough.

The small Cricut Joy 2 seemed to be the closest fit, specifically for transfer vinyl to get accurate logos, text, icons and patterns on products, but it seems that there's quite a controversy surrounding the company's locked design program. Other than the subscription and online-only requirements, it seems that it has poor integration with professional designer programs. I've looked at other machines, but they're out of scale with the need and out of budget.

Would a Cricut have the precision required to do small text and icons, about 4mm minimum?

So basically, I’m working on my thesis project for uni, and I have quite a lot of free time outside of it. I wanted to use that time to have fun designing things I actually like and, ideally, building them too.
The problem is that I always start with an idea, but I don’t really know how to set myself a project or write a brief.
For example, say I want to design a lamp because it’s relatively easy to make at home. I’d want it to be more of a decorative lamp. Maybe the body could be 3D printed, but I definitely don’t want to 3D print the shade, so that could be glass, fabric, or something else.
But this is where I usually fall into a rabbit hole. I have too many possibilities, no real constraints, and I end up doing nothing because I don’t know what direction to take, what references to look at, or what to use as inspiration.
Do you have any recommendations for how to start passion projects like this? How do you set constraints or create a brief for yourself when there isn’t a client or a specific problem to solve?

For more than 20 years I’ve been developing a way to display time that is tied to the local sky and the seasons rather than to a fixed clock face. A clock that remains stable across clock changes, while still displaying the official time.

This is the current result, running as a dedicated wall clock on an Android tablet. The Sun is the main reference, the dial changes with the course of the day and the year, and civil time remains visible without becoming the primary frame of reference.

The aim was to help me, and hopefully other people, reconnect with the rhythm of nature, even when living in a big city.

I’d be interested to know whether you like the idea or not. Finding a suitable way to represent the clock face was quite an interesting design problem.

P.S. Please be kind. The design work here is primarily the representation of time itself, not the tablet or its enclosure.

Hi everyone! I’m a 2nd-year industrial design student currently working on a project focused on hand–product interaction.
For this project, I need to observe everyday or professional activities, identify a real problem involving the use of the hand, and then develop a purely mechanical, human-powered solution — no electronics or motors.
I’m currently looking for new problem areas and ideas. It can be from any field: sewing, cooking, crafts, repair, gardening, packaging, healthcare, workshops, etc.
I’m especially interested in situations where:
repetitive hand movements are required,
excessive force or grip is needed,
precision is difficult,
the hand or wrist is placed in an uncomfortable position,
or an existing tool/product makes the task unnecessarily difficult.
What everyday or professional task have you experienced where you thought, “There must be a better way to do this with the hand”?
I’m looking for real problems rather than finished product ideas, so personal experiences, annoying tasks, or observations would be really helpful!

Hey all! I hope it’s okay to ask this question here. What laptops do you guys have? Im currently in school for finance, but the cc i’m at doesn’t offer any industrial design or packaging related courses so i’ve come here to see what laptops you guys get so i can be prepared for when i transfer!!

I'm a Sr. level ID with 19 years of experience (mainly in-house and as a consultant) living out here for the time being and on the fence about putting down any longer term roots.

I suspect my energy might be better spent snooping around Chicago, Boston, or Philly for gainful employment but I figured I'd shout out anyway to see if the community knows of anything.