Mechanical Engineering vs Product Design career: Which One is Right For You?

• The right path
• Money or passion?
• Pursuit of happiness
• The Pragmatic “Look in the mirror” test
• Ask the fish to climb a tree
• The power of doing your own research
• The world is emotionally driven
• Nobody knows your limits
• Bridge admission from engineering to Design school

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It all started about a year ago.
Louis discovered his passion for Product design and drawing.

And he asked me if he should:

• A: Quit his Engineering school to start a Design School

• B: Finish his Engineering school, then get an extra degree in Design.

Being hesitant to take the designer path, he also wonders about the chances to find a job as a Designer.

One day, a mechanical engineering student from India told me there are 2 types of engineers there.

• TYPE A: They love their job and excel
• TYPE B: They study there because it’s the logical path…
  (They live under the pressure of: “You better be a doctor, an engineer, or a lawyer”.)

I receive the same message from students from India, the USA, France, and China…
Maybe there is something wrong in our modern education that may mislead young creatives. I can’t tell.

Mechanical engineering is a wonderful discipline.
But does it suit you?

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The Right path

It is not easy to give personal advice on what you should do or not.
There are so many parameters coming in the pictures. (Career, family, finance, school admissions…)

But I know that our life is the sum of the decisions we take.

Louis’ story is similar to my story and maybe you too.

We went through the same difficulties struggling in studies we don’t enjoy.

So I thought I could share with you my thoughts through my real-life experience.

And if it’s relatable to you:

• You may see clearer,
• Feel lighter,
• And make a positive decision for your future!
• And become a wonderful Designer! :)

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Money or Passion?

Remember this.

“If you want to find a position that makes money, don’t chase money.
Look for a position you love, and you’ll make the best of it (and make that money or even more).”

Snoop Dog

This message is from Snoop Dog.

It may look easy to say now.
But when he started, he was a pioneer in the music industry.
Following the path of Rap was a damn daring move at that time.
And he became rich.

Whether you may like him or not,
we can recognize he became one of the greatest rap influences in the world.

When you choose your studies path, and you weigh the pros and cons, make sure to look at the bigger picture.

Remember that MONEY is not the opposite of PASSION.

They work great in duets. Passion is actually your best generator of (money + happiness) if you think long-term.

How do you think Apple succeed so well?
It’s thanks to their passionate designers, especially Jonathan Ive, and the leadership of Steve Jobs.
By the way, Apple is looking for new talents to join them including:

• Industrial designers
• Human Interface Design
• Communications Design

You can find them in the section of Design – Jobs at Apple

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Pursuit of Happiness

Have you watched the movie “Pursuit of Happiness” with Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith?

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you “You can’t do something. Not even me.”

Chris Gardner (Pursuit of Happiness)

It’s my favorite movie.

It’s a true story about Chris Gardner’s determination who went from single-parent homeless to a successful businessman. Life can be tough. But if you pursue what makes you happy, you’re gonna find the energy to beat the odds in your favor.

I know, some people may respond: “Oh, that’s just a movie.” “Oh, that’s an exception”. Yeah ok.
But ask yourself:

Who has the best position to write your own story?

Simply You. :)

When we understand this, we start to take accountability for all our good and bad decisions.
So we can keep going with a clear mind and get into that following test.

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The “Pragmatic Look in the Mirror” test

From a pragmatic point of view. Ask yourself if:

• Will you succeed in your Engineering school?
• If yes, will you become a qualified one, or just average or below?
• Will your Engineer job make you happy? How will you feel each morning you wake up to go to work?
• At the end of your working day, will you feel like trying to escape the office or would you be excited to go back the day after?
• At work, will you feel as bored as you are now in class?
• After x years of “career”, will you end up quitting or even “give up your life” and suffer all along till your retirement day?

These questions may be tough, but if you are honest with yourself, you could feel relief after answering them.

Knowing what you want is 1 thing.
Knowing what you DON’T want has equal power.

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Ask the fish to climb a tree

In my opinion, if you are a Creative person, choosing a career that is not related to YOUR PASSION is dangerous.

It’s like asking a fish to climb a tree – Like how Albert Einstein said so well.

No matter how fancy your future will look in your parents, friends, or other people’s eyes if your job feels meaningless to you. You may shine outside, but you might feel miserable inside.

That will affect not only your professional life but your (future) family as well.

I don’t have kids yet. But the day I will, I would like them to grow up with a dad that enjoys life!
I already see myself showing them how I like drawing, hoping they may too. :)

My parents immigrated from Cambodia, escaping the war in the ’70s. I grew up in a happy and working-class family. Moving to France, gave me an opportunity to thrive. That would be a pity to do not to take it.

Let’s straighten things out:

• A/ Follow your (recently discovered) passion for Product design?
• OR
• B /become an average (or mediocre) Engineer?

There are risks on both sides. But the Rewards have nothing in comparison!

Since I need to choose a risk, I rather decide which one to take by myself.

How about taking my passion seriously and making it a career?

I asked myself this question when I was a student.
It actually took me 4 years to really know where I wanted to go.

I spend 2 years in DUTTC (Business)
+ 1 year spent without knowing much about what to do
+ 1-year Licence STIC (Multimedia)

On paper, it was great!
But in reality, I was bored.

Whenever in class I had 10/20 I was satisfied. If I got below, whatever…

I was an average student doing just ok.

However, I excelled in my internships and student yearly projects.

• I created websites,
• I learned Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver…
• I bought Computer Arts magazines as for my hobbies!

That’s how my hobbies, became my professional projects, and my internships!

Since I was able to choose the topics I liked and applied to companies I wanted.

Doing a website in 1999 was pretty much a badass move.

I passed and got graduated!

But, I still had no creative degree and was still a beginner.

I told myself:
How about taking my passion seriously and making it a career?

My friends were from business, IT, and engineering to become nowadays bankers, engineers…

That’s cool for them.

But how about the life I want for myself?

I have different aspirations. Why should I follow them?

• If you like Pistachio Ice cream, and you prefer Chocolate.
• Why should you take Pistachio and eat that same flavor for life?
• Some more drooling at people eating the Chocolate ones with yummy toppings.
• It would be such a frustration!

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The power of doing your own research

If you ask for advice around you, they may see you as a “clueless dreamer” and will stop you.
If you ask someone who succeeds in the domain of design, that person will encourage you to go bolder.

• Make sure to ask for help from the right people.
• If one day I need a lift, I won’t ask a friend who has no driving license.

It is all about common sense right?

Do the extra mile to get the info you need where they are the most accurate. Not the closest.

I did my own research. (I can tell there was not a lot at that time on the Internet).

• I didn’t have any designer friends, family, or network.
• So I couldn’t tell about the job or career opportunities.
• It just sounds crazy to make a living from drawing!

But I also asked myself, how the world could run without designers?!
Every single item around le (glass, table, chair, computer, phone, earphones, speakers, car, bicycles, beds, spoon, fridge, mp3 player…) must have started with a drawing.

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Today we can find online crazy a lot more info from the brands, or designers themselves sharing their experiences online:

• Apple Design Process
• Ikea’s furniture design for the mass,
• Samsung’s edge for innovation,
• Sony Creative Center
• … new application of design for the environment, the slow design, space design…
• … a school education specializing in smart cities…
• Netflix made a great series of documentaries/shows: ABSTRACT: The art of design.
  (For the fans of footwear design, you will discover Tinker Hatfield, an iconic designer for NIKE.)

It is even more obvious today that design opportunities are growing like crazy!

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But looking for information online is not enough to convince me.

• I went to Paris to visit a design school (Creapole-ESDI)
• And I met the director in person randomly in the corridors.
• The best students’ projects were displayed there like an exhibition.
• I had a chat with him and I could discuss it freely. What I heard was outstanding!

The profile of the designer he described was tailor-made for me!

I tell you more below as we need to understand why Design matters.

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A Designer understands that the world is Emotionally driven.

In the industrial era, the world was led by engineers. It was technology-driven.
For example, if you wanted to buy a Ford car, you had no choice than getting a black color.

“The story says that’s how Al Capone could escape from bank robberies since all the black were the same.”

We used to identify people’s needs using the “Socio-Professional Category”. Basically, if you had a certain age, are married, and do a certain type of job, you would have the same needs as all your pairs.

• Now, humans are more complex, plural, and have more advanced needs.
• Life has become even more fascinating. You could be a banker and love music festivals.
• We talk about tribes: How people gather around the same interests.
• We understand that the world gets emotionally driven.
• Instead of: “Ok we got this new machine and technology. What can we do with it?”
• Now we look for people’s needs, we look for solutions to solve them – then we go look for solutions to create the products to answer them.
• And if we need to develop a technology to get there, we’ll figure it out how to make it happen to better serve our people.

In case the engineer says: “Oh that’s not possible.”
The designer’s job is to challenge him, and together figure out an alternative way to push the limits of the possible.

A designer and an engineer work together.
However, to me, I am more fascinated by the designer’s role. : )

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DESIGNER ROLE?

A designer has multiple hats.

Drawing, imagination, but especially empathy.

• A good comprehension of the human is essential. If you understand the people you create for, then you are gonna make great designs that people will use.
• Better than marketing, you will get a sociologic approach.
• Of course, if you have some engineering knowledge, they are welcome.
• To be a good designer, it’s not only being good at sketching but having the willingness to create a better world. (I know it may look a bit cheesy, but it’s sincere)
• A designer will have to convince a lot of people to fight for his ideas.
• He communicates with the marketing department, the engineers, the costing, the management… but also approach the customers, even staff in shops…

What I like about being a designer is not having a comfy seat behind a desk.
Taking initiative to defend your project is quality.

You will somehow need to learn to be your “own lawyer” haha, but an artistic one. :)

You got an idea? Execute and Protect it.

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Invest in yourself

The day I decided to leave behind my past academic degrees to enroll in a design school, I decided to invest in myself. To become a new version of who I wanna be starting my Product design career.

I am pretty much introverted.
However, I knew I didn’t want to live a boring average life, but an extraordinary one!

I realized I was not only a dreamer.
But also someone with realistic goals and ambitions.

It was my duty to get the courage to decide for myself, to talk about my project to my family who supported me and to commit.

Nobody knows your limits. Even yourself.

Becoming a design student is not gonna be smooth every day. But I really enjoyed them.
There were among the best years of my life.

Competition can be rude.

Only a small % are going to join the biggest companies.
(You could also build up your own design studio!)

If you belong to the best, you shouldn’t get too much trouble finding a great position.
70 to 90% of the student become OK Students.

And I recommend you target the top 10% of students.

It s not a punishment. It’s a motivational goal to help you go beyond your limits!

In creativity, the sky has no limit! ☁️

Since you will love studying design so much! You will be wired to overcome all obstacles.
For example, so many design schools don’t teach you how to sketch… you gotta put a lot of yourself in!

Nothing must be taken for granted.

You gotta swap your complaints with: How to solve my problem and keep up?

I can tell you that student life is gonna be a great preview of the Designer’s daily life in facing problems.

Did you get the mindset?

You are not going to study for a degree. But a bigger goal to a life welcoming problems! Haha.

If you want peace and quiet life, don’t choose the Designer’s path!

A designer = A Problem solver.

Like how the Japanese say: “A problem is a treasure.”
(In other words, an opportunity to help people and make money!)

Sorry, I feel I am talking a lot.
But it’s a topic I feel pretty close to.

If I had any advice to give if you want to join a Product Design career: simply follow your heart.

And if you decide to bring him on the path of design, your mission is to make it love it to the max!

Why? Because once again, the best person to defend your dreams, is yourself.

I hope that will help you.

And choose well your design school, since they are all different from each other. :)

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Bridge admission to Design schools?

TIP: For mechanical engineering students, you may have a chance to get a bridge to go directly to the 4th year of design school. One of my students from Sketch Like The Pros did apply after going through my course and got admitted! (I didn’t know that was possible before he made it.)

Another alternative could be taking Adult classes after work.

However, since Louis, you are young and I assume no kids yet,
you could start in the 1st or 2nd year of school to build up your creative maturity, your style, and design mindset.

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Today Louis is an average student.
Tomorrow, when he will get on the right path, he will become an ambitious student full of potential!

And you, do you believe in pursuing your passion as a career?

Conclusion: Choosing Your Path at the Crossroads of Mechanical Engineering and Product Design

We’ve journeyed through the fascinating intersection of Mechanical Engineering and Product Design, exploring how these two fields blend creativity with precision.

Here’s a quick recap to help you make an informed decision:

• Follow Your Passion: If you’re passionate about design, don’t let the fear of the unknown or societal expectations deter you. Your life is the sum of the decisions you make. Choose the path that excites you, where your creativity can thrive.
• Money and Happiness: Remember, money and passion are not mutually exclusive. Pursuing what you love will likely lead to both financial success and personal fulfillment in the long run. Look at successful companies like Apple, where passion has driven innovation and success.
• Pursuit of Happiness: Life can be challenging, but if you’re chasing what makes you happy, you’ll find the energy to overcome obstacles. Be your own storyteller and make decisions that align with your vision of happiness.
• Pragmatic Self-Reflection: Take a pragmatic look at yourself:
• Can you excel in engineering, or will you be just average?
• Will an engineering job fulfill you?
• Are you prepared to face the daily grind if your heart isn’t in it?
• Embrace Your Uniqueness: If you’re a creative person, engineering might not be your best fit. Don’t force a fish to climb a tree. Choose a career that celebrates your creativity and lets you shine.
• Research and Seek Guidance: Do your own research and seek advice from those living the life you desire. Your passion for design has never been more relevant in today’s world, where emotional connection and user-centric design are paramount.
• Invest in Yourself: Choosing design means investing in a future where you’ll face daily challenges but also enjoy the journey. The sky is your limit when it comes to creativity.
• Problem Solver: Design is about solving problems, making people’s lives better, and pushing boundaries. It’s a challenge but also an opportunity to create something extraordinary.

In conclusion, whether you choose to be a Mechanical Engineer or a Product Designer, make sure your decision reflects your passion, aspirations, and what truly makes you happy. Your heart knows the way; follow it with courage.

Remember, the best person to defend your dreams is you!

If you’ve found these insights helpful or are still pondering your career path, let’s share our thoughts and experiences in the comments below or reach out to me at choutac@thedesignsketchbook.com.

Let’s keep inspiring each other to choose the life we want to live!

Cheers,
Chou-Tac

PS: For more example of career change, here is Jacek who went from accountant to Designer.

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“Hello Chou-Tac,
I have received the book, your book is greatly appreciated! I’m an Indonesian from South-East Asia, I’m a mechanical engineering student and found that sketching skills are really needed right.

I’ve been looking for various tutorials and was confused by explanations and stopped studying because my back hurts until I found your YT channel, and it was very helpful with the content that you have shared. I wish that the career I want to start, this can realize my goals. So I’m just looking forward to helpful and motivating content from you!

Once again, thank you very much!“