Over in the Core77 Discussion Forums Matthew Proulx asked if a career in design was right for him? With no way to really answer that accurately I developed a check list:
1) You buy something just to take it apart.
2) You spend hours aimlessly wondering around hardware stores just looking at fasteners.
3) The first thing you do when you pick up something you like is say a way it could be better.
4) You compulsively draw things from you imagination to the point where others think it might be a problem.
5) You just know how to fix stuff, hack stuff, and jerry rig things.
6) You can quote just about any line from Star Wars Episodes IV - VI.
7) You know what "Ironman CAD" is.
8) You know at least 3 of the following people or companies: Jonathan Ive, James Dyson, Muji, Raymond Loewy, DWR, Herman Miller, Eames, MacGyver.
9) You own old things that don't work just because you like them.
10) A conversation with your friends sounds like a Top Gear episode.
Add you own over in the forum!