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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

(Working Women) - April, an Industrial Designer for Mizuno

Today I bring to you an interview with April, who lives in Portland and works as an industrial designer for Mizuno, as in, the shoes that I've almost always worn for running (you know, back when I ran). I know April through my brother - they lived in Telluride together, prior to my moving there. In fact, I think she left right as I arrived from college. I connected with April in Portland, after several of my brother's visits, and am, in fact, looking forward to having her over for a BBQ this weekend while Uncle B is in town. I think of April as "a successful artist," in that she has a creative, artsy-fartsy degree that she actually gets to use. And not just to teach. Industrial design, according to Wiki, is the use of applied art and applied science for aesthetics, ergonomics, functionality, or usability of a product. I'm not one to ever think of the design, construction, or marketing process behind the products I use on a day-to-day basis; it is interesting to learn from April the back story, and to know how much work and creativity goes in to making the shoe or the purse or the bike just as you'd like it. Read on to learn about April's job in industrial design, and her path to discovering this field ...
 


Bio info - who are you, how old are you, where are you from, where do you live, what's your living/family situation, what are your hobbies, etc. Essentially, what's your story?

Hi, I am April. I am 34 and currently live in Portland, Oregon with my husband, Tyler, and our dog, Bella. We purchased a house in North Portland three years ago and have enjoyed remodeling most of it.

I mostly grew up in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Instead of going to college after high school, I moved to Telluride, Colorado for a few years to sling plates for a living, snowboard in the winter, and mountain bike in the summer. After a few years of this, I got a little restless and decided it was time to get an education. So, I moved to Portland in the summer of 2004 to attend the Art Institute. I initially pursued a Graphic Design degree, but soon realized everyone and their dog is a graphic designer, so I changed course to Game Design (not sure why I made that choice - just seemed new and exciting at the time). This was a huge mistake. After sticking with it for far too long, I switched to a newly introduced program - Industrial Design. I finally finished this program in 2009 with a BA.

Snowboarding used to be the main hobby, but now it seems we have shifted to mountain biking. Maybe it has something to do the weather or the longer drive to the mountain or the fact that I was super spoiled living inTelluride, and could walk a block to get on a chairlift. I also enjoy running, working out, yoga - all those healthy things people do to stay fit and active. Tyler and I really enjoy traveling. We have been very fortunate to have the extra income to visit at least one new country each year for the last six years.

April and Tyler in Thailand

Bella the Boxer

What is your current job/profession? What path did you take to get there? Any required schooling or training?

While I was finishing up my degree at the Art Institute, I started interning for Columbia Sportswear, designing color and materials for their children’s shoes. After my internship was finished, they hired me to design women’s shoes/boots. I did this for 4.5 years before deciding I was ready to find something new. Last year I was hired on at Mizuno to design running footwear, and I have been enjoying the new challenges and changes.

Without some sort of Art Degree, it would be difficult to get into this industry. Most of the time my colleagues have a degree in Product or Industrial Design. I have worked with a few people that have Fine Art degrees or Graphic Design degrees that work in footwear (either color designing or designing), but they are usually older and found their way through Nike when it was much smaller and tended to hire “creative” people from various degrees. It seems these days you can get pigeon-holed pretty quickly in this industry. I would love to move over to designing bags or apparel, but without experience in that particular field, it is tough moving over laterally. I would have to take an entry-level position (thus reducing my pay quite substantially).


What are the pros and cons of your current position?

Pros: I get to be creative most of the time. I work with some really fun people who are excited about running and about the products we work on. I get to travel to places like Japan, Europe and Asia. My day-to-day changes quite a bit, so I rarely feel like I am stuck in a routine.

Cons: The creativity that I work very hard to achieve gets changed/morphed/squashed/etc., on a pretty regular basis, due to things such as cost and development. My job seems to go on waves of being very busy to not busy at all and I can get fairly restless when we have downtime. The travel is fun, but can get a little taxing. For example, China trips are usually two weeks, so I lose my weekends on an airplane. Jetlag can be put a damper on being active. And sometimes while on the go you eat what’s brought to the table, which could be not so tasty and/or fatty.
Hong Kong street scene

Vietnam Factory

Walk us through a typical day, week, or month ...

Most days that I'm in the office I start off with emails - who doesn’t? My days are different depending on where we are in the product calendar. Here are some of the phases that dictate what I do on the day-to-day ...

Initial Stage:
The beginning stage of product design starts with project briefs created by our product manager. This will include price points, consumer profiles, and some sort of preliminary inspiration (if you're lucky). Then comes the need for inspiration. I spend quite a bit of time in front of the computer trying to find interesting articles, images, products, etc. I look at style sites online, read articles from places like Runner's World, or simply check out the latest images from Pinterest (what did we do before the Internet?).


Design Time:
Next, it's design time. I will spend most of my days sketching and pulling my hair out (just kidding- sometimes it can be quite stressful though). Once I have a collection of concept sketches, we (me and the two designers I work with) usually have a meeting or some sort of check point to go over the materials we have. After I receive feedback, I will go back to the drawing board - sometimes it’s minor changes, and sometimes I have to start over.

Presentation and Development:
After a few more weeks of sketching and/or computer rendering, I create polished designs with materials and colors picked out, and I head to China. There, I present my designs to the global team and start developing samples with the team in China. After the two weeks are finished, I come home and make any more tweaks that need to be made, and then I have some down time to recharge. This is the time I usually get a little restless. I try and take vacation during this time.

Sample Check (global meeting):
After giving the factory time to complete sample,s the team meets in Japan for a week to go over all of the samples, colors, and materials. Once the feedback is given, I come home to make more changes and send via email to China.

Then the process starts all over again. There is overlap with the seasons, usually when we are making changes for the second time around (global meeting) we are already starting initial designs for the next season. I also attend sales meetings twice a year in Atlanta (Mizuno’s US headquarters) and we go on inspiration trips. Last year we went to Boston to see the Samurai exhibit and we went to Tokyo to the Designers Week. Inspiration trips are always fun and I am always hopeful to find something awe-inspiring that will kickstart my creative juices.


What is something about your job that other people might not know or expect?

I didn’t know this profession existed before I got into it. Growing up, I used to draw and sculpt and I wondered how I would make any money at being an artist. Now that I have gotten into this
industry, there are way more creative jobs than I ever thought.


What other jobs could you work with your education/training/experience?

With an Industrial Design degree, the options are pretty open. Anything involving products, really  - cars to toothbrushes. Here’s a list of related fields that could be pursued:
- product graphic design
- color designer
- material designer
- interiors for cars/boats
- apparel designer
- UX (user experience) design.

You could also get into the more research side of design. There are companies that compile loads of information such as consumer profiles, testing on current products, human behavior, etc.


How much do you make? (Too forward?!? Probably. But let's be real, a large part of the reason
we work is to make money - give us some deets about your income, as much as you feel comfortable sharing, whether specific to your personal salary, or generally speaking, as in, What Would Google Say).

Being at the design level 2, my salary range is 60,000-70,000 a year, with a 5% bonus if the company hits their targets.


Do you anticipate making any career changes in the next 5 to 10 years?

I would love to eventually work for myself. I do some graphic design on the side - mostly wedding invitations for friends, but I would love to do more of that type of work or even become a freelance footwear designer. I have also started designing my own website/blog about my travels www.our-pto.com . I have really enjoyed putting this together (minus the frustrations of not knowing what I am doing) and could potentially see myself in web design in the future. That is, once I learn a lot more.


If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?

I would get paid to travel. I have come across quite a few travel blogs where people are writing, blogging, or web designing, and traveling around the world while doing so. This would be awesome, but quite a big step out of my current comfort zone!


If someone else was interested in your job, what piece of advice would you give them?

A college education would be the first step. I wish there was another way around it, but
unfortunately, without a degree most corporations won't hire you, and even if you wanted to freelance, most places want to see your experience from other corporations. Also, most of my contacts/connections have come from school. My internship at Columbia Sportswear wouldn’t have happened unless I had attended the Art Institute. Where you go to school can have an impact on what design jobs are available in the area. For example, southern California is home to lots of surf/skate brands. Salt Lake City is home to quite a few ski/outdoor brands. And then of course there is Portland, home of the footwear brands. Personally, I wouldn’t be so stoked on designing just anything. I like to have some kind of personal passion/connection with what I am designing, so that is something to keep in mind.

I would also advise finding a less expensive school. There are plenty of colleges with good industrial design programs that are less expensive. The Art Institute was very expensive and I spent the majority of my college years worried I would never be able to pay back my loans. And because of my loans, I didn’t really have the choice to start my own business.


How do you balance work life and home life?

I feel pretty lucky. I have a flexible schedule. I can work from home from time to time. During the slower times I can take a 3 day weekend to make up for some of the lost weekends due to travel. I get pretty cranky if I am dedicating too much time to work, so I make sure to find time for myself and Tyler (as you can see from the photos below, a small representation of their many adventures, some documented on their blog).

Surfing in Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Mountain biking in Central Oregon

Snowboarding in Jackson, WY

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