Furniture designer to industrial designer
A furniture designer already meets 22% of what the industrial designer role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.
80.6/ 100
1 How much of what an industrial designer is expected to do is already part of a furniture designer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the industrial designer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An industrial designer role treats 6 of its required skills as things a furniture designer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- aesthetics
- design management
- design principles
- draft design specifications
- industrial design
- present artistic design proposals
What stands in the way is 14 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 12 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An industrial designer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a furniture designer background worth leading with.
- already held attend design meetings communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held adapt to new design materials information skills
- already held consult with design team communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held industrial design arts and humanities
- already held design management business, administration and law
- already held present artistic design proposals communication, collaboration and creativity
All 12 carried skills, including the 6 the industrial designer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 55 missing skills fall into 12 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn perform ideation activities required
- still to learn determine suitability of materials required
- still to learn draw design sketches required
- still to learn follow a brief required
- still to learn liaise with engineers required
- optional, not held adapt existing designs to changed circumstances optional
- optional, not held design package optional
- optional, not held develop jewellery designs optional
- optional, not held identify customer's needs optional
- optional, not held prospect new customers optional
- optional, not held think creatively about jewellery optional
- optional, not held collaborate with engineers optional
- optional, not held create a product's virtual model optional
- optional, not held design prototypes optional
- optional, not held draw blueprints optional
- optional, not held manage contracts optional
- optional, not held prepare production prototypes optional
- optional, not held write manuals optional
- still to learn engineering processes required
- still to learn engineering principles required
- still to learn manufacturing processes required
- optional, not held human-robot collaboration optional
- optional, not held types of glazing optional
- optional, not held types of toy materials optional
- optional, not held hydraulics optional
- optional, not held industrial engineering optional
- optional, not held types of packaging materials optional
- still to learn conduct research on trends in design required
- still to learn perform market research required
- optional, not held calculate design costs optional
- optional, not held analyse production processes for improvement optional
- optional, not held calculate materials to build equipment optional
- optional, not held determine production feasibility optional
- optional, not held monitor production developments optional
- optional, not held perform physical stress tests on models optional
- still to learn meet deadlines required
- optional, not held coordinate manufacturing production activities optional
- optional, not held perform project management optional
- optional, not held plan event marketing for promotional campaigns optional
- still to learn copyright legislation required
- optional, not held cost management optional
- still to learn mathematics required
- optional, not held pneumatics optional
6 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an industrial designer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 perform ideation activities practise this
- 02 engineering processes study this
- 03 conduct research on trends in design practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 12 skills that carry over
- already held aesthetics knowledge
- already held design management knowledge
- already held design principles knowledge
- already held draft design specifications skill
- already held industrial design knowledge
- already held present artistic design proposals skill
- already held 3D modelling knowledge
- already held CAD software knowledge
- already held adapt to new design materials skill
- already held attend design meetings skill
- already held consult with design team skill
- already held use specialised design software skill
The 6 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn ergonomics required
- optional, not held apply 3D imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held use CAE software optional
- optional, not held apply desktop publishing techniques optional
- optional, not held use CAD software optional
- optional, not held use technical drawing software optional
- optional, not held ceramic ware optional
- optional, not held jewellery processes optional
- optional, not held build jewellery models optional
- optional, not held build a product's physical model optional
- optional, not held produce sustainable products optional
- optional, not held CAM software optional
41 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held CAM software optional
- optional, not held adapt existing designs to changed circumstances optional
- optional, not held apply 3D imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held build jewellery models optional
- optional, not held calculate design costs optional
- optional, not held ceramic ware optional
- optional, not held cost management optional
- optional, not held design package optional
- optional, not held develop jewellery designs optional
- optional, not held human-robot collaboration optional
- optional, not held identify customer's needs optional
- optional, not held jewellery processes optional
- optional, not held prospect new customers optional
- optional, not held think creatively about jewellery optional
- optional, not held types of glazing optional
- optional, not held types of toy materials optional
- optional, not held use CAE software optional
- optional, not held analyse production processes for improvement optional
- optional, not held apply desktop publishing techniques optional
- optional, not held build a product's physical model optional
- optional, not held calculate materials to build equipment optional
- optional, not held collaborate with engineers optional
- optional, not held coordinate manufacturing production activities optional
- optional, not held create a product's virtual model optional
- optional, not held design prototypes optional
- optional, not held determine production feasibility optional
- optional, not held draw blueprints optional
- optional, not held hydraulics optional
- optional, not held industrial engineering optional
- optional, not held manage contracts optional
- optional, not held monitor production developments optional
- optional, not held perform physical stress tests on models optional
- optional, not held perform project management optional
- optional, not held plan event marketing for promotional campaigns optional
- optional, not held pneumatics optional
- optional, not held prepare production prototypes optional
- optional, not held produce sustainable products optional
- optional, not held types of packaging materials optional
- optional, not held use CAD software optional
- optional, not held use technical drawing software optional
1 further entry not listed here
13 held skills the industrial designer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role art history knowledge
- not needed by the target role build props skill
- not needed by the target role collaborate with a technical staff in artistic productions skill
- not needed by the target role design materials for multimedia campaigns skill
- not needed by the target role design original furniture skill
- not needed by the target role design props skill
- not needed by the target role develop design concept skill
- not needed by the target role gather reference materials for artwork skill
- not needed by the target role monitor art scene developments skill
- not needed by the target role monitor exhibition designs skill
- not needed by the target role monitor sociological trends skill
- not needed by the target role monitor textile manufacturing developments skill
- not needed by the target role transfer designs skill
17 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn engineering processes required
- still to learn copyright legislation required
- still to learn engineering principles required
- still to learn ergonomics required
- still to learn manufacturing processes required
- still to learn mathematics required
- optional, not held CAM software optional
- optional, not held ceramic ware optional
- optional, not held cost management optional
- optional, not held human-robot collaboration optional
- optional, not held jewellery processes optional
- optional, not held types of glazing optional
- optional, not held types of toy materials optional
- optional, not held hydraulics optional
- optional, not held industrial engineering optional
- optional, not held pneumatics optional
- optional, not held types of packaging materials optional
Other moves recorded from furniture designer
Common questions about this move
Can a furniture designer become an industrial designer?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A furniture designer already covers 22% of what an industrial designer is expected to do: 12 skills carry over, 6 of which the industrial designer role treats as required.
What skills does a furniture designer need to become an industrial designer?
14 required skills are missing, plus 41 optional ones. They fall into 12 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is perform ideation activities.
How hard is the move from furniture designer to industrial designer?
Its learning distance is 80.6 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.