Product Designer

Behind every good product is a strong design team. If you have a reputation for quality product design done quickly and within budget, you could off er your services to such a team on a contract basis. If you can accomplish all of that, you stand a very good chance of building lasting relationships with product manufacturers. They’ll depend on your ?air and expertise to pull off challenging products. Your experience in design for manufacturability (i.e., designing products with the manufacturing team’s constraints in mind) will be a valuable commodity among your clients. They appreciate working with professionals who understand that good design isn’t just artistic; it’s practical, too.


You’ll need to invest between $10,000 to $20,000 in a high-end computer with a large monitor and a computer-aided design (CAD) software package. Mac computers are superior to PCs for designers. Since most of the people you might work with probably use Macs, compatibility issues can be minimized. Your advertising budget will be virtually nonexistent, because your area of expertise depends heavily on word of mouth. If you are successful in building the kinds of contacts you’ll need to survive on your own, you’ll be making anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 or more. Obviously if you’re working for large, well-known manufacturers, your earnings will be on the high end because these companies are more apt to pay big bucks for quality design.


Your work will not always be your own. Since you’ll be working on a contract basis most of the time, you will often be brought in to solve design problems or pick up where another designer left off—not the biggest outlet for your creativity, but an opportunity to be a creative problem-solver nonetheless. The work is solid, it’s demanding, and it’s profitable for the talented.

Approx. cost of start-up: $10,000 to $20,000


Approx. potential earnings: $50,000 to $150,000+


Typical fees: Varied according to project; can be as low as $500 for a simple design sketch to several thousand for a complete design/technical layout with product specifications


Where to promote: Direct mail, Web site with photo gallery of your work and links to related services with whom you are affiliated


Qualifications: Degree in product design


Things needed: Computer, computer-aided design (CAD) software, digital camera or scanner


Required staff: No


Hidden costs: Insurance, excessive changes in product specifications (make sure you’re clear on what’s expected—and get it in writing)