Product design - 3 locations and lots of business

positiveholes

Compared to U.L's course it doesnt appear to be what it once seemed
I could be a first year going in.

experiMental

3 locations is great, you get to travel around Dublin and observe things as they happen around you. It beats staying in the studio all day, you can get ideas/inspiration a lot easier IMO.

What do you mean by lots of business? Business studies are a part of every single course, and it might help you in the long run, especially if you want to get funding or launch your own product.

If you want to do the kind of product design that you see in magazines, you'll have to be good at time management and learn rendering packages. You won't have time for renderings, but you will have time for thinking about great product ideas.

positiveholes

cheers for the reply.
I dunno ive talked to lads doing it down in UL and they say its mostly studio work and drawing/sketching/etc. I understand trying to launch your own product its vital and i like the idea of marketing cus its solving a proplem with a solution but also making it inviting to the consumer but ive never done business cus its boring to me. I doubt if i got hired some wer that theyd leave the marketing and business side up to me.
I would rather end up as a total package designer industrial and product and even buildings if i wer lucky......well thats the dream any way lol......and as for 3 locations im a late kinda person lol so having go diff places doesnt bode well for me .

experiMental

It will take you a while to get to the stage where you could be purely 100% product designer, so you shouldn't really be worried about confining yourself to the type of stuff you want to learn.

I think that its better to travel around and observe things rather than be in the studio all the time. However, that's my opinion, don't take it too seriously .

As for course choice, go with your instinct. Ideally, UL is a bit better because you have a professional practise bit, where you will be working with a design office as part of your studies.

68 lost souls

Im going into final year in Product Design, like you I didnt do any business subjects in school, I dropped all business subjects after 3rd year and found that all my best subjects in product design were business. Its weird, there is a little bit of work in them but they are much better then business in school.

In a business even if you are not in charge of any business decisions it is good to understand the business end in your design for many reasones. There is an excellent video we watched in marketing class about the "Levis brand" and it showed the confrontation between designers and marketing. It made it really clear as to how importnaat it is for the designers to understand the business end. There are at times sacrifices taht need to be made in your design for the sake of the business front wether it be from a cost front or a branding front. Even down to the market research involved in understanding your target market it is important. In the real world you are not going to always be designing products for you or even products you have an interest in so it comes down to the business end to help you understand the target market and their wants/needs and trends.

Being in 3 locations has its up ands downs. You get an oprrpotunity to see business and design from different perspectives and you get a better overall knowledge of the business.

I would certainly recommend the course to anyone. I went in from a purely science/engineering background having down chemistry, physics, biology and applied maths for my leaving cert and not having done art since primrary school and I loved it. I was surprised at the bits that interested me and that I was good at. It really does include every aspect of the business.

positiveholes

well iv since declined my appectance into the course and taken a plc in art and design and what ever is said bou that it will be benifiical for product design or industrial in ncad or architecture if i decide that to be my plans.... iv no doubt i wuda learned to enjoy the course the topics and the subjects and as for products for me that doesn exist nor do i belief a product solely for consumer it should be a fusion. to take on the proplems find the solutions in a clever way depending on budget or material that must be used life span or target audeince . i myself did physics a. maths art and technology for l.c so surely youd think hey this is the course for you! lol i dunno y i complained bou the bussiness side because large part me wants to go all out for architecture which of course requires buissness aspect....bu building object or product i belief a designer should adhere to his clients needs in a way which leaves ter mark and not sacrifice....i suppose thats loosely similar to the fountainhead isn it?
i may be in this course next year after sum more mulling over

experiMental

Good choice. Now try drawing some album covers for bands and do a bit of graphics work as well on the side. That will teach you how to deal with clients, and will definitely get you in the right set of mind for negotiating deadlines. It will make you more knowldgeable about design process as well.

When you will go into college with this experience, you will find it a lot easier. Also, it would put you in a better position to apply for internships.