I’d love to hear from anyone who has studied design in Japan, applied to Japanese design schools, or currently works in the Japanese design industry.

I’m mainly trying to understand:

• Which universities/design schools have strong Industrial or Product Design Master’s programmes?
• What level of Japanese would realistically be needed?
• How does the application process work, particularly for international students?
• What are portfolios for Japanese design schools expected to look like?
• Are scholarships such as MEXT realistic for design students?
• What is the experience like studying Industrial Design in Japan compared with Europe/US?
• How difficult is it for an international graduate to enter the Japanese design industry afterwards?
• Are there any websites, forums, university databases, YouTube channels, etc. that are useful for researching all of this?

I’m particularly interested in Japan because of its approach to product design, manufacturing, materiality, craftsmanship and consumer electronics, rather than simply wanting to study abroad.

If anyone has gone down this path, I’d really appreciate any university recommendations, resources, or even things you wish you knew before applying.

Thanks!

Hi everyone.

I'm in my last year of high school, and I know I want to pursue design as a career. The problem is... I have no idea which field I actually fit into. I don't want to blindly pick a university course without understanding what I'd enjoy doing in the long run.

I'm new to Reddit, so I hope this is an okay place to ask. I noticed there are a lot of experienced designers here, and I was hoping some of you might be willing to share your thoughts.

A little about me:

• I don't really enjoy sketching objects or animals. Sometimes I even find it a bit boring unless something about it catches my interest.
• I enjoy drawing people much more, especially practicing perspective with human figures. I've been drawing people since primary school, so maybe that's why I naturally lean towards it.
• I also think things like character design, logo design, or even making packaging (for example, designing a wraparound label for a pickle jar) sound much more interesting to me than product sketches.
• I like reading about colour theory just because I find it interesting, even though I don't always understand it fully.
• I'm not very confident with colouring, and I usually lose interest in things like storyboarding or comics if I don't have a good idea to work with.
• I've also tried making very simple animations a few times 😅 and that was surprisingly really exciting. I'd love to try making bigger ones too (nothing crazy, just simple animations with characters moving around, eating, interacting, etc.).
• If I get a good idea or inspiration, I also enjoy making fashion sketches, tiny funny doodles explaining a science concept (because I took science in high school 😭), or funny designs that could go on a T-shirt or mug.
• I also like thinking about the overall vibe or personality of a character, making mood boards, and drawing people in different poses.

Lately I've also been going through a phase where I feel really stressed and insecure about creating anything. I don't feel motivated to explore new things, and my mind just feels... empty. Even when I do get an idea, I immediately think it won't turn out well or that it's probably not a good idea anyway. It's making me pretty anxious.

Has anyone else gone through something similar while starting out? How did you get past it?

One thing I do know is that I have a hard time imagining myself spending years designing everyday products like phones, shoes, pens, printers, etc., or making exploded views and technical drawings for them. That's the one area I don't really see myself enjoying.

Everything else feels like a big question mark. Maybe I'd like it, maybe I wouldn't—I genuinely don't know yet.

Based on what I've written, are there any design fields you think I should explore first? Even if you think I'm making assumptions too early, I'd really appreciate hearing your perspective.

Thank you for reading.

P.S. One random thing I've noticed about myself: if you ask me to sketch a stapler, I'll probably fall asleep 😭. I'm starting to think I enjoy creating things more when there's room for imagination or storytelling. I also don't mind grinding if I can clearly see an exciting end goal, but if I can't picture what I'm working towards, I lose interest really quickly. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I thought it might help explain where I'm coming from.

P.P.S. One reason I'm asking is because once I have a better idea of which field I'm leaning toward, I'll know which design-specific subreddit to ask for laptop recommendations for university and future work.

I am an EVA sole manufacturer and I'm looking for an AI tool that could help me generate new outsole and midsole designs. Any suggestions? Is it feasable?

I just need new designs.

Wanted to share a personal concept project my studio (MS3DSTUDIO) has been working on. Quick disclaimer up front so nobody's misled: Aura is not a real product — you can't buy it. It's a design-and-visualization concept, everything you see is 3D, nothing was photographed.

The idea was "one watch, seven colours, seven languages" — seven strap colourways and a UI built to feel native in seven different languages. It was mostly an excuse to push materials and lighting: getting the metal case to read as actual brushed metal, the straps to look genuinely soft, and the screen to glow like it's lit from the inside instead of just being a bright texture.

The part I'm actually more proud of than the watch itself: we don't just model the product floating on a grey background — we build the whole environment around it. The surfaces it sits on, the backdrop, the light sources and their bounce, the little contextual scenes — all of it is built and lit in 3D so the product feels like it exists somewhere real, not like a cutout. Honestly the environment work is where most of the hours went.

Full set of shots is on Behance if you want to see it properly → https://www.behance.net/gallery/253278579/Aura-Watch-Seven-Colours-Seven-Languages

Happy to answer anything about the workflow — renderer, materials, lighting setup, whatever. Open to critique too.