INDUSTRIAL DESIGN: the moment you stop being a designer

Written By Blair Hasty

If I could give young industrial designers one piece of advice, it would be this: protect your curiosity. Skills matter — taste matters — craft matters. But curiosity, that’s what keeps you from becoming a software operator with a portfolio nobody remembers.

Learn how things are made. Learn why people buy them. Learn what frustrates them, what they ignore, what they keep, what they repair, and what they quietly throw away. Talk to real people more than you talk to the algorithm. Ask better questions than the brief does.

Do not confuse clean geometry with good judgment. Do not confuse praise with growth. Do not build your identity around being the talented one in the room.

The designers who last are not always the flashiest. They are the ones who stay open, stay useful, and keep learning long after everyone else starts acting certain.

Blair Hasty
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