We get asked this a lot and there is no easy way to answer it, if you ask many of the designers in the industry how they started you will find that they will have a huge range of qualifications and experience. If you want to design cars then you spend all day doodling, then send your portfolio to the RCA to get on a Automotive Design Course. At one of the college shows a guy from Volvo gives you a job and hey presto you find yourself living in Gothenburg, driving an XC90.

The outdoor industry is slightly different as there are so many disciplines. Climbing hardware is very engineering based so the technologies involved are quiet different to that of clothing manufacture. It is very rare that the designer of a carabiner would get involved in the development of the next Pro shell range.

This means that you either have to make your choice early on and specialize, or just get into the industry, find a company and learn on the job. As i said before there are many people that have found themselves in amazing jobs working in in incredible locations   through hard work and passion. Tom Routh who has designed some amazing garments for both Arcteryx and Burton started up Cirqueworks himself, after a stint in Dana Designs. He now owns FYI Design Dept.     

http://www.fyidesigndept.com/#/fyi-design-dept/media/p=1&d=3
http://snowboarding.transworld.net/2000/02/22/profile-tom-routh/

Who the hell wants to be an accountant.

Cheers

Nick