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Mary Khoun is an industrial product designer for Conair Corporation. She designs for many of their brands, from hair and grooming products (such as Conair, BelissPro, BabylissPro) to kitchen and travel (such as Cuisinart and Travelsmart).

"I chose design because I wanted to improve lives through innovative products," says Khoun. "Often I pick up a product and question why this was done and how I would have approached it differently. On the other hand, I've picked up products that I found so innovative it blew my mind.

"People need to become more aware that a functional product can be beautiful. Art and design is an experience visually, emotionally, and physically."

Asked to describe the personal qualities that product designers need to have, Khoun offered the following:

- You are mainly a problem solver. A problem is placed in front of you and you need to try to find the best approach to the project that appeals to yourself and your client.

- A sensitivity and understanding of color, materials, and form is a big part of designing. How to make it all work together in unity and work with your client's budget, yet won't deter from your design intention.

- Working as a team. You will be working with other designers, marketing, clients, and manufacturers on a project to bring it to real life.

- Understanding your market and consumer experience. You can't design a good product that is both functional and well designed unless you know who you are designing it for.

- Finally, the ability to multitask and perform many functions. For example, draw, think, sculpt, present.

Chris Kowal, a 3D renderer and designer, says attention to detail is an important skill for this line of work.

"You've got to think in three dimensions," says Kowal. "You've got to be pretty good at spatial relationships.

"And you have to want to waste your life in front of a computer," he says with a laugh. "It's a lot of work."

Kowal earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts before attending an architectural technologist diploma program at a technical school. "In architecture, I'm the cheapest person to build the building," says Kowal. "I'm going to be the first person to discover, 'Oh, that doesn't work... this detail's not finished, this floor height doesn't work...' You're the cheapest person who's going to put that building together first and find all the problems."

"There are many personal qualities required for this line of work," says Dwayne Ellis. He's the president of a 3D rendering and design company.

"Some include self-motivation, self-confidence, artistic ability, technical ability, communication, creative problem solving, determination, eagerness to learn," he says..

"Some of the not-so-glamorous ones are [the ability to] work long hours, function well on little amount of sleep, patience with client changes, ability to sit at a desk for long stretches of time, [and being able to] juggle and prioritize time."

Ellis's company offers four basic types of 3D visualization services -- forensics (e.g. recreating vehicle accidents), architectural, product design, and visual effects for TV commercials and films.

"The common theme is that we provide our clients the ability to see something in three-dimensional space that they couldn't practically see otherwise," says Ellis.

Ellis became interested in this field at a time when it was still very new.

"In the beginning, I was drawn to it because there weren't very many people doing it," says Ellis. "There were about four schools in all of North America offering 3D modeling and animation programs.

"The technology back then was extremely cutting edge and I suppose the challenge of that was also what drew me in," Ellis says. "The most rewarding thing about this type of work is that you can be any kind of artist you want, all without leaving the 3D medium.

"You can, paint, sculpt/model, light design, animate characters, simulate fire and other effects... The possibilities of what can be done are only limited by one's imagination. Making clients say 'wow' is also rewarding!"

Khoun is also passionate about her work as a 3D renderer and designer.

"I love my career," says Khoun. "It's my passion and it's something I chose because I enjoy it and can see myself happily designing and 3D modeling for the rest of my life. Choose your path because you love it and it's fun."

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