Industrial Design II

The course of Industrial Design II, consists of the study (project) of a specialized problem of giving form to an utilitarian or decorative object. The course focuses on the design of industrial products in the interior or public space through an extensive interdisciplinary theoretical approach, which develops topics that combine the history of arts with marketing and strategic planning. The intensive practical projects aim at familiarizing the students with modern methods of industrial design, expressive capabilities with manual, analog and digital media, multiple languages of communication, including photography, video and internet, and most importantly the management of the product through the rules of marketing.

In Industrial Design II, students are taught the methodological models of industrial design of objects, the mechanical, material and utilitarian specifications, the issues of ergonomics and kinesthetics, as well as the prototyping of models. The topics of the projects revolve around the central theoretical axis of the course, which focuses on the concept of time and its multiple manifestations since the beginning of the industrial revolution until today.

The laboratory orients students towards issues of ethics of Design, putting at the core of their reflection the duration of the industrial object, i.e. those parameters that determine its lifespan, since in modern industrial design, even if it is not explicitly indicated, there is always a [pre-planned] time limit that corresponds, beyond material decay or functional uselessness, to the “semantic decline” (conceptual decline) of the object like an invisible expiration date that is hidden in every product and appears the moment it becomes “undesirable” as dictated by the market. The reduction of environmental impacts, resulting from the awareness of the responsibility of modern societies for the protection of the environment, inevitably lead to the adoption of new directions of industrial design (Design) based on Recycling and Reuse (Reusing).

Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

● acquire the ability to explore and adopt the appropriate design tools and technological means that will meet their individual needs.

● utilize historical data and theoretical elements in the formulation of their design proposals.

● identify and study the characteristics and properties of different materials used in the industrial production of objects.

● apply scientific methodologies based on bibliographic research for the writing of high quality theoretical texts.

● balance stability, functionality and attractiveness in their design.

● know ways in which they can infuse their design proposals with the necessary symbolic elements and cultural coordinates.

● know how to manual, analog and / or digitally process and display their proposals.

● combine knowledge and skills from other fields of knowledge on the one hand in the formation of the theoretical framework and on the other hand in the process of designing their ideas.

1. Laura Slack, What is product design?, Rotovision, 2006.

2. Jennifer Hudson, Process: 50 Product Designs from Concept to Manufacture, L. King, 2008

3. De Fusco Renato, Storia del Design, Laterza, 1986.

4. Chevalier A., Guide de dessinateur industriel, Livre élève, 1988.

5. Ashby M. Johnson K., Materials and Design, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009.

6. Lucie-Smith, A history of industrial design, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983.

7. Heskett John, Industrial Design, Thames & Hudson, 1975.

8. Pye David, The nature and aesthetics of design, Herbert, 1982.

9. Bernard E. Bürdek, ‘Design. Gesichte, Theorie und Praxis der ProduktGestaltung, Birkhäuser, 2005.

10. Woodham M. Jonathan, Twentieth-century Design, Oxford University Press, 1997.

11. Guy Julier, The culture of Design, Sage Publications, 2000.

12. Baecker D., Hartung M., Schwartz-Clauss M., The Essence of Things: Design and the Art of Reduction, Vitra Design Museum, 2010.