[EricH]

Here's one reason to include the "A".

Let's say that you have two companies, and they're making and selling almost the exact same thing to consumers. Just for the sake of argument, let's go with a toaster. So, two toasters that for all intents and purposes do the exact same thing, same settings, all that sort of thing. BUT! One of the two is "bare-bones"--just has enough "package" to meet safety requirements. The other is "packaged" nicely so that it looks nice, while still being safe.

Which company will sell more toasters, all other things being equal? (Translation: Which company do YOU want to work for? )


I'd be willing to bet that that second company sells more toasters, even if the price is slightly higher.


I believe the correct term here is "industrial designer". Basically, someone who can make a product look really good. Now, the engineers know this person as "devil's advocate", because they've got to fit everything in the package that said person creates, and that person knows the engineers as "devil's advocate" because there's always that one thing sticking out that has to be made to look good...

I'd have to say that if a designer like that has some engineering background, huge asset to a company doing consumer goods (and maybe some non-consumer goods, too). And if the engineers have some art, that's also good.