Designing Your Future-21st Century Skill-Set For Industrial Designers: The Case Study Of Israel Design Field

This study focuses on the Industrial Design (ID) community in Israel in light of global shifts in the definition of the designer's role in the evolving business world. The study examines the relations between design and entrepreneurship, both in global and local context, as reflected in the professional skill-set of industrial designers in Israel. Just as there is a great value to Design Thinking in entrepreneurial ventures, there is also value in implementing entrepreneurial thinking principles in design processes. Entrepreneurship is integrated into design practice and Higher Education (HE), yet it is still perceived as a business-related education, rather than a required skill-set for innovative thinking. Evident efforts to top-down changes in local design HE is challenged by structural barriers. Therefore, this research leads us to developing a prototype that assists the empowerment of ID students as ` creative leaders' by using entrepreneurial thinking and supporting ' Life-Long Learning'.