Hey all. Finally narrowed down my school that I hope to attend.
I was wondering, I’m a industrial design major, and wanted to back that major up with either a minor or double major+minor.
I was thinking about this: Major in Industrial design+Marketing, with a minor in Anthropology. OR Major in Industrial design, with double minor in marketing and anthropology.
The reason why I want to do that is because I’ll only be 2-3 classes away from a minor in Anthropology. So that’s an easy one. But I’d have to attend school for about 1 more year to also get a B.A in Marketing (so three years total instead of two, I’m a transfer student).
In the design roadmap at SFSU, there is 3-4 classes in marketing that you can take as electives, and a few in Anthropology as well. But I feel like the fact that design is such a time consuming major, double minoring would be a better option.
I just want to have better job prospects IF I can’t find a job in design, and if I do find a job in design, I want to be heads and tails above the other people I’m competing with for the job.
I know design is “portfolio based”, but I feel like someone with a more rounded education/understanding has better earning potential and better job potential as well, rather than the slew of students who just major in design.
I believe, unless someone can argue against it, that a designer, with a job in marketing and anthropology, completely understands not only the human function and behavior, but also the marketing side of people, HOW to market to them and what is desirable… and can make better educated guesses about the path of a product in the pipeline.
So. Fellow experts.
Double major+minor? Or Major+ double minor (I also feel like minors are useless, so if someone can explain that to me, I just feel like they’re slightly glorified AA degrees).
I was also thinking of getting my AA in Mathematics.
Finish my schooling by 33, that way I have no shortage of potential job prospects.
And if it helps you guys when forming arguments, I live in Silicon Valley, to give you an understanding of job prospects/competition.
“I believe, unless someone can argue against it, that a designer, with a job in marketing and anthropology, completely understands not only the human function and behavior, but also the marketing side of people, HOW to market to them and what is desirable… and can make better educated guesses about the path of a product in the pipeline.”
Why? Do you have something specific you want to study, or do you just feel like you “need” a minor or another major? Because you don’t - it’s fine to “just” be an industrial design major. If you’re not even in college yet (which it sounds like), you can also wait and see what your workload looks like in the ID major.
Just because it would be “easy” to do doesn’t mean you should do it. I mean, by all means, go ahead and add a minor if you really want to. But you could also spend those 2-3 classes learning another skill and/or taking something else. You should only minor in anthropology if you have an actual interest in anthro.
In theory, yes. I work with designers, and it’s always great if they have an understanding of human factors in industrial and engineering design - they’re better able to tailor their products to what works for actual human people. So it’d be good to have that additional knowledge. But there are many ways to develop it without a minor, and most of the designers I know did not minor or double major in another field. You can take a few classes to supplement, or you can learn it on the job.
Great points. The reason why I picked these two somewhat random fields is because I do have a big interest in them.
I’m not doing it just to “fluff” a resume. I’m doing it because I enjoy the research side of design, rather than hammering out 500 drawings. I like studying people, the market, etc. It just so happens that to minor in both, I need a handful of classes, on top of my I.D course work.
I’m really asking, that IF, I wound up double minoring, if they would even be relevant in the job market. Will I still minor in them? Probably, because I enjoy both (or all three, rather) subjects.
I’m also trying to “future proof” myself, if that’s even possible, that IF I don’t or can’t find a job as an industrial designer, I can use the other skills/knowledge to get a job doing market research for a company, or being a project manager.
If minoring is irrelevant, I’d rather focus on ID now, and do really well in that, and pick up minors at a later time, if I could. If minoring IS relevant, I’d rather finish them up now, considering I need only 2-3 classes in both marketing and anthropology, which can be done in summer/winter sessions, and focus my ID on Spring/fall.
And, yes I am in college, I’m attending SFSU in the fall of next year (hence why I don’t need many classes to double major, or double minor).