Career Overview: What I Do As a Product Designer
Good design balances form, function and aesthetics while making the work inconspicuous. A beautifully crafted object can be useless if it does not fulfill its function; Likewise, something as mundane as a stapler can be aesthetic. It’s a balance that the best designers make effortlessly.
We spoke with Jeff Miller to learn a little about what goes on when designing everyday products. Jeff currently works at Poppin , a company that develops modern office and work supplies. He has previously worked with some of the biggest names that come to mind when you think of well-designed products, including Herman Miller, Bosch, and others.
Tell us a little about yourself, your current position and how long you have been in it.
I’m Jeff Miller, VP of Design at Poppin, a one-stop shop for work style. For over four years I have been responsible for the design of all the products we manufacture; from pens and notepads to desk supplies and furniture. Prior to joining Poppin, I ran my own design practice, combining research-based consulting experience with a more personal elementary approach to a range of consumer electronics, furniture and interior design clients including: Bosch, Cuisinart, Herman Miller, Panasonic and Samsung. At the same time, I was the creative director of Itoki Design , the New York branch of one of the largest Japanese office furniture manufacturers. Several years earlier, I was a longtime member and VP of design at ECCO Design in New York, where I have been involved in product development for global brands for over a decade, including: Apple, Colgate, Corning, LG, Motorola, OXO and Procter & Gamble. …
What prompted you to choose your career path?
From an early age I was interested in art, I was gifted with drawing and sculpture, but had no ambition to create art for the sake of art itself. I knew I wanted to create things, and that left architecture as a realistic professional occupation, but the scale and scale of the development of buildings did not appeal to me. I was more interested in how plastic flip-top shampoo bottles work, considering why the underside of a phone can’t be as pretty as the top, endlessly reconfiguring bike components into new kinetic creations and of course furniture. So I always wanted to do it, but I didn’t know it was work until I found a book in my school library about the famous industrial designer Raymond Lowy. (There was no internet then)
How did you get a job? What kind of education and experience did you need?
After realizing the above, I started training as soon as possible. I sought out local design internships and summer high school industrial design programs at Rhode Island School of Design and Carnegie Mellon University. It armed me at a young age with a better portfolio than most others to enter design school, and so I studied at Carnegie Mellon for four years (with a summer internship every year in between), completed my BA in Industrial Design and graduated. … with honors from the university and faculty. At the time when I had these endless four years, I could not quickly learn the term paper and just wanted to become a “real” designer. But looking back, I am grateful for the solid foundation and principles that guide me, despite how much technology and product development have changed over the past 25 years. (I prepared my first professional projects on a drawing board with a pencil and sent the drawings to the factory. Now everything is in 3D CAD)
Do you need any licenses or certificates?
No – just BFA, portfolio and experience.
What are you doing besides what most people see? What do you actually spend most of your time on?
Think. I spend a lot of time in meetings and answering emails, but the most rewarding thing I do is think. I am not always at my desk, but when I am, I often sit with my eyes closed.
What misconceptions do people often have about your job?
This is all striking. That a good idea can catapult without intervention and evolution into a successful product. Design is an even mix of marketing, engineering and sculpture. Like a dance, if done well, the artifact seems light and predetermined. But in reality, the simplest ideas require experimentation and trial and error.
Do you have any design brains? I think about products where aesthetics is more important than function, and the like.
In fact, doing something complex is easy. It’s a lot harder to do something that is both simple and functional at the same time, but this has always been a personal goal of mine, and I found a great synergy with this direction and the needs of Poppin as a brand. We aim to create a growing collection of disparate products that create an overall aesthetic and a sense of family. We want to create things that are quintessential, that feel modern, timeless and comfortable in any environment. A gimmick or bloom can get instant but fleeting attention, while a rudimentary design that works generates enduring admiration.
What’s your average uptime?
In the office? 9:30 am – 6:30 am, five days a week. But I often lie awake, thinking about tomorrow’s work … but it’s not so much a job as a dream … just a night. I also fly 16 hour flights four times a year and I get a lot of emails and phone calls late into the night with our overseas production team.
What personal tips and shortcuts have made your job easier?
Waiting. It’s an illogical shortcut, but if you put something off for a while, the next time you pick it up, you’ll usually have the right answer.
What are you doing differently from your colleagues or colleagues in the same profession? What are they doing instead?
I have had the opportunity to work on a variety of luxury items that use premium materials and designs. In Poppin’s particular business (as in most others), we always balance cost and value. Rather than emulating finishes and out-of-bounds processes, I believe that the greatest merit and beauty lies in showing basic construction and honest materials.
What’s the worst part of a job and how do you deal with it?
It’s actually not that terrible, but we understand how best to do something after it’s already done. Happens almost every time, be it the best performance, cost, function, finish or shape. Just get over it. Nothing is perfect. There will always be another way.
What is the most enjoyable part of the job?
Start and end of the project. In the beginning, endless possibilities open up. It’s nice to delve deeper into this opportunity and sail towards meaningful currents that represent the best ideas. At the end of the project, if well thought out and well prepared, the result will be a very satisfying climax and realization of your vision. Moreover, if he is successful in the market, if others want and appreciate him, then this is the highest satisfaction.
How much money can you expect at your job? Or what is the average starting salary?
The corporation pays more. Consulting pays less. If you own your own consulting business, or own your own production of your own product, or if you are paid royalties on products that are produced in hundreds of thousands or more, you can produce more.
How are you “progressing” in your field?
Internal corporate design and large consulting firms must climb the ladder just like any other business organization. If you have the skills, experience, and a few good opportunities, you can beat your competitors by going out on your own, potentially making a name for yourself, potentially paying yourself more, potentially failing magnificently. At least on the way it will be great.
What do people underestimate / overestimate in what you do?
They come into play after I’ve already played half of the match. I have my own standards and ideals for what is right for our company and our clients, and my ideas are already more focused on likely outcomes than they might have expected.
What advice would you give to those who want to become your profession?
Come in early and often, just like me.