INDL-2080 Theory of Industrial Design
Course Description
This course addresses the theoretical aspects of Industrial Design principles, philosophies, and emerging topics. Students will learn to develop holistic solutions to design problems using theoretical reasoning and critical thinking. The course includes lectures, reading assignments, topic presentations, discussions, and exercises to provide students with an interactive learning experience.
Learning Outcomes
Students completing this course should be able to:
1. Articulate a defensible definition of industrial design
2. Identify key design movements of the 20th and 21st centuries
3. Identify leaders and influencers (past and present) from the profession
4. Understand and apply universal principles of design to their work
5. Apply research methods, theoretical reasoning and critical thinking to solve design problems
6. Understand and accept design criticism
7. Understand how the field of industrial design is changing
Challenge: How do you provide an engaging, interactive and experiential learning experience for a class of 76 students?
My Solution: Create a space for discussion, activities, demonstrations, videos, guest lectures and presentations, and keep the lecturing to a minimum. I have found that conducting the class in this way not only helps make sure the lessons are clearly communicated and understood, but are also memorable and fun.
Some of the creative ways our topics were covered during the 2016 fall semester include:
- Playing “Design Jeopardy” in order to make sure students were retaining the important information from the lectures on ID founders and design movements
- Group brainstorming activities to develop a toothbrush for provided personas (student powerpoint presentations were made 30 minutes after the activity started)
- Guest lectures from OXO Good Grips Designer and Smart Design Co-Founder, Tucker Viemeister, DAAP Associate Dean Craig Vogel, and P&G Corporate Storyteller, Shane Meeker
- Videos introducing students to ID influencers including: Phillipe Starck, Michael Graves, Scott Wilson, Charles and Ray Eames, Daniel Simon, Paolo Antonelli, and many more
- Discusssions on reading assignments and happenings in the world of ID and beyond
- Student presentations on designing products for personas, addressing the emotional challenges of design crits, and the design process
- Lectures and discussions about ID founders and innovators including: Raymond Loewy, Eileen Gray, Peter Behrens, Belle Kogan, William Morris, Walter Dorwin Teague, Henry Dreyfuss, Eva Zeisel, Patricia Moore and many others
- Lectures and discussions on design movements of the 20th century
- Readings on and discussion of “The Fundamentals of Product Design” by Richard Morris, and “Design of Everyday Things” by Donald Norman
- Homework assignments that encourage students to get outside of DAAP and meet people in order to learn to network and better understand how to meet customer product expectations
