{"id":23180,"date":"2018-10-30T11:29:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T11:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/2018\/10\/30\/targeting-a-dream-job\/"},"modified":"2023-03-04T16:30:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T21:30:30","slug":"targeting-a-dream-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/2018\/10\/30\/targeting-a-dream-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Targeting a Dream Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rebecca<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the best thing ever! It is definitely a dream job,\u201d Rebecca Pezdek [BID \u201904]<\/strong> animatedly says as we discuss her love of being an industrial designer. Currently she a lead industrial designer at Target. We swap shopping stories and wholeheartedly agree that Target is an iconic brand and it would be hard to find someone who hasn\u2019t shopped there. \u201cTarget offers such a fun shopping experience,\u201d Pezdek says. \u201cIf you speak to anyone, they all share that they love shopping Target\u2014to just walk down the aisle and take in all the products.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a lead product designer, Pezdek is intimately acquainted with many of Target\u2019s home goods merchandise, including frames, lighting, clocks, mirrors, and wall decor under the brands of Threshold, Room Essentials, and Xhilaration. I ask her what its like to see products she designed on display in the store or in someone\u2019s home. \u201cI used to get really excited. I\u2019m still excited, but it is not as surprising,\u201d she says. \u201cI still go to Target, but I know what I\u2019m am going to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

In high school, Pezdek knew she wanted to do something creative and artistic, and it was then that she learned \u201cabout this thing called \u2018design.\u2019\u201dPezdek says, \u201cI didn\u2019t know what that meant\u2014I just knew that I might actually be able to have a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, at the time when I applied to NC State [College of Design], you didn\u2019t have to choose or apply to a specific discipline, which was great. Then through the first and second year, I learned about product design and loved it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As a product designer, Pezdek appreciates that there is a balance between creativity, process, and analytics. Being a designer makes her feel \u201cspecial and valued\u201d in her job. Through the process of design thinking, Robledo says, \u201cyou can take in 50 different inputs and some of them can be on the design side and some can be very challenging, with not only manufacturing but also with the business aspects. As a designer, you solve the problem and you come up with the perfect solution that is not only beautiful to satisfy one side of your brain but with form and function, and the two together, is what makes it magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout her career, Pezdek has designed a variety of product types. Of all of the design work she has done, Pezdek says that medical product design is one of the most challenging environments for her, as a designer. \u201cThere are a lot of complicated products in the world, but the complexity with medical design is huge,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe impact that it makes is huge and the amount of people that interact with the product is so vast.\u201d Medical products are used by so many people, including doctors, nurses, and patients, that a lot of complicated functions and variables need to be considered in addition to the material design of the product. Medical product design is \u201cthe ultimate brain teaser,\u201d Pezdek says.<\/p>\n

Her transition to work at Target, specifically on home decor was purposeful. In her previous role at a consultancy firm, Pezdek worked on a variety of designs, including medical products. \u201cI wasn\u2019t the type of designer who could just focus on one type of product and want to do shoe design or transportation design and do it all day long,\u201d\u00a0Pezdek admits. With Target, \u201cI thought I would focus on home decor because I wanted to get closer to more natural materials. I was tired of sheet metal and injection molded plastic and the thought of working with glass, metal, or woven materials seemed really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pezdek attributes her career successes to a relentless drive and pursuit of learning\u2014skills that new designers can use to achieve their goals. She says, \u201cI\u2019ve experienced so many people that when they start, their talent is at a certain level\u2014that may not be what they think is good\u2014but this doesn\u2019t matter. What matters is your drive and how much you want it. And how much energy you are going to put into it. And not give up. Because, you know, there is no such thing as failure really. <\/em>It\u2019s not until you stop doing something or going down a certain direction that you officially failed or are done. So, if you don\u2019t stop, you never really failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so amazing to see how fast your skill can change and evolve if you are passionate about it. It doesn\u2019t matter where you are today, it just matters where you want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

This post was originally published<\/a> in College of Design Blog.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"\"Rebecca<\/a>\r\n\r\n\u201cIt is the best thing ever! It is definitely a dream job,\u201d Rebecca Pezdek [BID \u201904]<\/strong> animatedly says as we discuss her love of being an industrial designer. Currently she a lead industrial designer at Target. We swap shopping stories and wholeheartedly agree that Target is an iconic brand and it would be hard to find someone who hasn\u2019t shopped there. \u201cTarget offers such a fun shopping experience,\u201d Pezdek says. \u201cIf you speak to anyone, they all share that they love shopping Target\u2014to just walk down the aisle and take in all the products.\u201d\r\n\r\nAs a lead product designer, Pezdek is intimately acquainted with many of Target\u2019s home goods merchandise, including frames, lighting, clocks, mirrors, and wall decor under the brands of Threshold, Room Essentials, and Xhilaration. I ask her what its like to see products she designed on display in the store or in someone\u2019s home. \u201cI used to get really excited. I\u2019m still excited, but it is not as surprising,\u201d she says. \u201cI still go to Target, but I know what I\u2019m am going to see.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn high school, Pezdek knew she wanted to do something creative and artistic, and it was then that she learned \u201cabout this thing called \u2018design.\u2019\u201dPezdek says, \u201cI didn\u2019t know what that meant\u2014I just knew that I might actually be able to have a job.\u201d\r\n

\u201cLuckily, at the time when I applied to NC State [College of Design], you didn\u2019t have to choose or apply to a specific discipline, which was great. Then through the first and second year, I learned about product design and loved it.\u201d<\/blockquote>\r\nAs a product designer, Pezdek appreciates that there is a balance between creativity, process, and analytics. Being a designer makes her feel \u201cspecial and valued\u201d in her job. Through the process of design thinking, Robledo says, \u201cyou can take in 50 different inputs and some of them can be on the design side and some can be very challenging, with not only manufacturing but also with the business aspects. As a designer, you solve the problem and you come up with the perfect solution that is not only beautiful to satisfy one side of your brain but with form and function, and the two together, is what makes it magical.\u201d\r\n\r\nThroughout her career, Pezdek has designed a variety of product types. Of all of the design work she has done, Pezdek says that medical product design is one of the most challenging environments for her, as a designer. \u201cThere are a lot of complicated products in the world, but the complexity with medical design is huge,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe impact that it makes is huge and the amount of people that interact with the product is so vast.\u201d Medical products are used by so many people, including doctors, nurses, and patients, that a lot of complicated functions and variables need to be considered in addition to the material design of the product. Medical product design is \u201cthe ultimate brain teaser,\u201d Pezdek says.\r\n\r\nHer transition to work at Target, specifically on home decor was purposeful. In her previous role at a consultancy firm, Pezdek worked on a variety of designs, including medical products. \u201cI wasn\u2019t the type of designer who could just focus on one type of product and want to do shoe design or transportation design and do it all day long,\u201d\u00a0Pezdek admits. With Target, \u201cI thought I would focus on home decor because I wanted to get closer to more natural materials. I was tired of sheet metal and injection molded plastic and the thought of working with glass, metal, or woven materials seemed really exciting.\u201d\r\n\r\nPezdek attributes her career successes to a relentless drive and pursuit of learning\u2014skills that new designers can use to achieve their goals. She says, \u201cI\u2019ve experienced so many people that when they start, their talent is at a certain level\u2014that may not be what they think is good\u2014but this doesn\u2019t matter. What matters is your drive and how much you want it. And how much energy you are going to put into it. And not give up. Because, you know, there is no such thing as failure really. <\/em>It\u2019s not until you stop doing something or going down a certain direction that you officially failed or are done. So, if you don\u2019t stop, you never really failed.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIt is so amazing to see how fast your skill can change and evolve if you are passionate about it. It doesn\u2019t matter where you are today, it just matters where you want to go.\u201d"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rebecca Pezdek [BID ’04] shares her designlife journey and ultimate dream job she has with Target as a lead industrial designer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":23181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"ncstate_wire","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23803,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23180\/revisions\/23803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}