Commercial and Industrial Designers

• Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for manufactured products.
• Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design trends.
• Direct and coordinate the fabrication of models or samples and the drafting of working drawings and specification sheets from sketches.
• Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/methods, and market characteristics.
• Present designs and reports to customers or design committees for approval and discuss need for modification.
• Investigate product characteristics such as the product's safety and handling qualities, its market appeal, how efficiently it can be produced, and ways of distributing, using and maintaining it.
• Develop manufacturing procedures and monitor the manufacture of their designs in a factory to improve operations and product quality.
• Research production specifications, costs, production materials and manufacturing methods and provide cost estimates and itemized production requirements.
• Participate in new product planning or market research, including studying the potential need for new products.
• Fabricate models or samples in paper, wood, glass, fabric, plastic, metal, or other materials, using hand or power tools.
• Coordinate the look and function of product lines.
• Design graphic material for use as ornamentation, illustration, or advertising on manufactured materials and packaging or containers.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Commercial and Industrial Designers.

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Operations Analysis - Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Commercial and Industrial Designers.