There are a few things that I think every designer, in particular Industrial Designers should partake in during their time at school. First, take advantage of each and EVERY opportunity afforded to you. Talk to your professors, cultivate relationships, work hard, enter competitions, try and do some kind of study abroad or just go overseas, take economics and marketing courses. Honestly, I think marketing courses should be required for every designer. We have to work with them every day and it’s best to know the language in which they speak and be able to pre-empt the questions. As designers, it’s easy to get caught up in a know-it-all kind of attitude.

One book I wish I had in school ( I hope there are some professors out there buying this book and trying to use the principles out of it ) is Designing for the Digital Age. While I took courses in marketing, economics, human-centered design, communication, design and had additional experience in my cooperative opportunities, this book just puts everything together from start to finish in an amazing way. The methods of research, analyzing, presentation, design and more put all the information in my head (and things that weren’t) at my fingertips for reference.

This book is truly in the style of a text book with it’s high quality paper and printing, including full color graphics. While nothing supplants experience, we all learn in different methods. For me, this book put into a better perspective ideas and methods that I had previously had difficulty understanding or obtaining. Although I didn’t have this book in school, I have it now and coming from a source like Cooper Design, I know I have a solid source of methodology. In my profession as an experience planner, this has become an amazing tool.