The profession of industrial design in Turkey: the correspondence between education and practice

This paper discusses the results of a survey conducted in Turkey to collect data on industrial design graduates' profile and employment history, and to investigate the correspondence between education and practice through a comparative study of the practitioners' and managers' views on industrial design practice. The findings of the survey indicate a significant discrepancy between the designers' self-perception and the managers' views of the designers' skills and knowledge, which suggests a major communication gap between the two groups. Although both designers and managers seem to agree on the nature of industrial design activity in companies as being mainly concerned with aesthetic appeal and functional improvement, the lack of design culture or awareness coupled with inadequate consumer and market feedback cause design activity to be dominated by the issues of production and cost. Thus the designers' technical background is perceived as being inadequate by the designers themselves, and as the very last qualification identified with the design professionals by the managers. The paper offers an overall interpretation of the conclusions drawn, and develops a set of suggestions for design education in Turkey.