Overview

As you flip your way through the newest Ikea catalog, you find yourself cringing, thinking to yourself, “How could they ever design something like that?” You know (or think you know) that you can do what they do better.


Behind every new piece of furniture, shoe, coffee maker, and television stands an industrial designer. They are the men and women who help to fashion the objects around us, including that hideous coffee table in your living room. Industrial Design takes the creativity behind a broader design major and focuses it on how some of the most basic objects that we take for granted are created. It’s art for the practical world.


As an Industrial Design major you will have the chance to explore that creative energy within you. You can take your own particular sense of aesthetic, which will expand through courses in art and art history, and bring them to bear on that perfect refrigerator you’ve been imagining.

SAMPLE CURRICULUM

  • Art History

  • Conceptual Drawing for Industrial Design

  • Graphic Presentation

  • Industrial Design Practices

  • Industrial Technology Education

  • Introduction to Industrial Design

  • Mathematics

  • Product Design

  • Statistics

  • Three Dimensional Graphics

  • Visual Thinking and Problem Solving


HIGH SCHOOl PREPARATION

If you have the chance to take drafting, drawing, and design courses, run with it, otherwise, build up those drawing skills as much as you can on your own, along with math, art, and physics. You’ll probably need a portfolio to get into any design program, so draw from life as much as possible. Buy a full range of pencils to ensure strong gradation from light to dark in all of your drawings. Learning about different artistic mediums will make your drawing endeavors richer, and your artistic vision broader. History and English classes might also give your art new perspectives.