The Difference Between Corporate and Consulting Design Work

A topic common in the design world is the nature of work that happens in a consultancy vs. in-house . Designers I’ve talked to typically prefer to work in one of these settings or who have transitioned from one to another. At school, it was recommended that designers start in a consulting to develop design strategy and more technical skills which can encourage more ownership and tactical thinking for designing in an organization. Other designers who have started working in a big company switched to consulting because the work was more fast paced and they missed the flexibility of working on different things.

Regardless of which path you take, there is no right or wrong choice. Choosing an corporation over an agency won’t dictate your success over others and vice versa. It all comes down to the kind of experience you want and what you want to get out of the work you do.

Here are the differences I have seen working in both a consulting and in-house environment. My experience might seem biased towards in-house, so if you have any suggestions to revise the consulting paragraphs, feel free to shoot me a comment in the comments section.

Relationship vs Quality of product

In a consulting environment, the work you receive comes from a client. A client you have a good relationship with will trust you and be open to understanding design, being more involved in the process, in comparison to not fostering that connection. It can get very un-motivating to work with clients who don’t care about design or who don’t collaborate with you in the process. When I was working in a design consultancy over the summer, I noticed the amount of effort my advisors put in maintaining their client relationship. This would be through communicating over the phone a few times a week or traveling to meet them (and vice versa with the client). This was to ensure the client was happy and we were presenting things in an efficient manner with their timeline. By keeping a good relationship and quality of work, that ensures they will still be a client even after the project is over.