http://www.design.iastate.edu/industrialdesign/index.php
BID Bachelor of Industrial Design
Students in this program take a carefully defined sequence of courses developed to give them exposure and practice in the areas of theory and skill required by industrial design. These include drawing, form development, history, creative thinking, engineering principles, research, design methodology, human factors, computer-aided design, manufacturing, and commercial factors. In their third year, students will select electives from concentration tracks arranged around specialty areas and current issues in the profession. The upper-level studio classes are reserved for study abroad, internships, and sponsored projects with students from other departments and colleges.
Curriculum in Industrial Design
The curriculum in Industrial Design leads to a 132.5-credit undergraduate Bachelor of Industrial Design including the 30.5-credit Core Design Program.
Admission into the professional program depends upon available resources and is subject to the approval of a faculty committee at the completion of the Core Design Program. Applicants are reviewed on the basis of academic performance, a portfolio of original work, and a written essay.
Transfer students with studio credits from other programs, colleges, and universities must present for departmental review a portfolio of work done in those courses in order to have the credits apply toward studio requirements. Students are required to present this portfolio upon admission and prior to registration for classes. Arrangements for this process must be made with department advisers.
A 45-graduate-credit post-professional graduate program is also offered leading to the degree Master of Industrial Design. (NOTE: Applicants without a degree or background in industrial design may be required to complete up to 18 additional credits of coursework.)
Total Degree Requirements: 132.5 credits
Only 65 credits from a two-year institution may apply, which may include up to 16 technical credits; 9 P-NP credits of free electives; 2.00 minimum GPA.
International Perspective: 3 credits
U.S. Diversity: 3 credits
Communications: 10 credits
| ENGL 150 | Critical Thinking and Communication (*) | 3 |
| ENGL 250 | Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition (*) | 3 |
| LIB 160 | Information Literacy | 1 |
| One of the following: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Communication Studies | ||
| Introduction to Interpersonal Communication | ||
| Communicating with the Deaf | ||
| Listening | ||
| Fundamentals of Public Speaking | ||
| Acting I | ||
| Total Credits | 10 | |
* with a C or better
Humanities: 6 credits
6 credits from program curriculum sheet
Social Sciences: 6 credits
6 credits from program curriculum sheet
Math/Physics/Biol.Sciences: 6 credits
6 credits from program curriculum sheet
General Education Courses: 9 credits
6 credits of course level 300-400 from program curriculum sheet: complete 3 credits from department curriculum sheet.
College of Design Core: 11.5 credits
| DSN S 102 | Design Studio I | 4 |
| DSN S 115 | Design Collaborative Seminar | 0.5-1 |
| or DSN S 110 | Design Exchange Seminar I | |
| DSN S 131 | Drawing I | 4 |
| DSN S 183 | Design in Context | 3 |
| Total Credits | 11.5-12 | |
History, Theory and Criticism: 15 credits
| IND D 231 | Introduction to Industrial Design | 3 |
| IND D 387 | History of Industrial Design I | 3 |
| IND D 388 | History and Culture of Industrial Design II | 3 |
| Two courses from the approved course list; must include one 300 level or higher. | 6 | |
Industrial Design: 60 credits
| IND D 201 | Industrial Design Studio I | 6 |
| IND D 202 | Industrial Design Studio II | 6 |
| IND D 232 | Creative Thinking for Industrial Design | 3 |
| ARTID 251 | Human Factors in Design | 3 |
| ENGR 260 | Engineering: Getting from Thought to Thing | 3 |
| ENGR 270 | Survey of How Things Work | 3 |
| IND D 301 | Industrial Design Studio III | 6 |
| IND D 332 | Design Research Methods | 3 |
| IND D 334 | Materials and Processes for Industrial Design | 3 |
| IND D 341 | Computer Aided Industrial Design I | 3 |
| IND D 499 | Senior Project | 6 |
| IND D 543 | Portfolio and Professional Practice | 3 |
| Experiential Learning: 12 credits | 12 | |
| Industrial Design Studio IV | ||
| Industrial Design Internship | ||
| Industrial Design Studio | ||
| Study Abroad Option | ||
| Industrial Design Practicum | ||
| Special Topics | ||
| Special Projects | ||
| Experiential Learning Special Projects | ||
| Study Abroad Option | ||
| Internship | ||
| Total Credits | 60 | |
Concentration track electives: 9 cr.
Sequence of electives assembled to create a focused area of study.
See also: a 4-year plan of study grid showing course template by semester.
Industrial Design
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| DSN S 102 or DSN S 131 | 4 | DSN S 102 or DSN S 131 | 4 | ||
| DSN S 183 or General Education | 3 | DSN S 183 or General Education | 3 | ||
| ENGL 150 or General Education | 3 | ENGL 150 or General Education | 3 | ||
| DSN S 110 or DSN S 115 | 0.5-1.0 | General Education | 3 | ||
| General Education | 3 | General Education | 3 | ||
| General Education | 3 | LIB 160 | 1 | ||
| 16.5-17 | 17 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| IND D 201 | 6 | IND D 202 | 6 | ||
| IND D 231 | 3 | IND D 232 | 3 | ||
| ENGR 260 | 3 | IND D 388 | 3 | ||
| ARTID 251 | 3 | ENGR 270 | 3 | ||
| IND D 387 | 3 | IND D 334 | 3 | ||
| 18 | 18 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| IND D 301 | 6 | IND D option studio | 6 | Study Abroad | 6 |
| IND D 332 | 3 | Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| IND D 341 | 3 | Elective | 3 | ||
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | 9 | |||
| Fourth Year | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| IND D option studio | 6 | IND D 499 | 6 | ||
| Elective | 3 | IND D 543 | 3 | ||
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 | ||
| Gen Ed or Elective | 3 | Gen Ed or Elective | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||||
Graduate Study
The Master of Industrial Design (M.I.D.)
Innovation requires breaking boundaries and making connections between diverse disciplines. As a creative profession, industrial design deals with the design of innovative, sustainable and durable solutions for people, nonhumans, economy and society which may take many forms from tangible artifacts to expansive system designs. The Master of Industrial Design (M.I.D.) program at Iowa State University specifically emphasizes strategy and innovation with a strong focus on empathetic human-centered design research. It is centralized on the creation and application of new knowledge through in-depth investigations culminating in a written thesis. At the same time, students expand their design practice skills using innovative methodologies, collaboratively throughout the entire design process. Students explore, generate, transfer and implement multidisciplinary information and technologies into foundational knowledge for the discipline of industrial design.
The M.I.D. is traditionally recognized as a terminal degree in industrial design. The graduate program is designed to offer significant mix of skills and experiences, including faculty-directed research programs, internships, international travel, industry-sponsored coursework and design teaching experience. The graduate research focuses on three main areas: 1) Innovation through Design, 2) Design as Strategy, and 3) Human-Centered Design. These areas are defined by the existing faculty members’ research and creative activities, and focus on developing a new type of industrial designer mastering in any one of these specializations. Program faculty have extensive expertise in design thinking,
human-centered research methods, cultural issues, product realization, design management, eco-design, social responsibility, and entrepreneurship.
The M.I.D. is a 63-credit study, distributed across three consecutive years. Applicants are required to have design and/or engineering degrees from accredited institutions or relevant industry experience.
M.I.D. Program Philosophy
The goal of the Industrial Design graduate program is to create an agile program that addresses current and emerging issues in design strategy, innovation and human-centered design. Its position, in one of the most comprehensive design colleges in the country, facilitates the integration of methodologies and skillsets from multiple disciplines. Additionally, ties to the nationally ranked College of Engineering, the College of Business and industry collaborators create some truly unique degree specializations. Students are able to explore advanced concepts in such areas as extended manufacturer responsibility, supply chain and logistics, international vendor relations, advanced materials and biopolymers, and alternative business models.
Curriculum Outline
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| IND D 501 | 6 | IND D 502 | 6 |
rotating faculty; course directly related to teaching faculty's research | rotating faculty; course directly related to teaching faculty's research | ||
| IND D 533X Human-Centered Research Methods | 3 | PSYCH 501/508/522 or RESEV 554/580 (qualitative research methods) | 3 |
| MGMT 502/503/504 (organizational/strategic management) | 3 | RESEV 552/553quantitative research methods | 3 |
| IND D 511 | 1 | IND D 511 | 1 |
| 13 | 13 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| IND D 503 | 6 | IND D 504 | 6 |
(vertical studio with juniors) | (vertical sponsored studio) | ||
| IND D 632 | 3 | IND D 632 | 3 |
| GR ST 529 | 3 | IND D 540 | 3 |
| IND D 511 | 1 | ||
| 13 | 12 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| IND D 699 | 6 | IND D 699 | 6 |
| IND D 543 | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| 12 | 12 | ||
Summer: Study Abroad/Internship/Research Assistantship (optional)
Courses
Courses primarily for undergraduates:
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.
Prereq: Admission to the industrial design program, enrollment in IND D 231.
Product scale form development and visual communication.
(0-12) Cr. 6. S.
Prereq: IND D 201
Through a progressive series of structured exercises and projects, IND D 202 covers basic modeling principles and three dimensional form development required for industrial design activity. These activities include explorative studies in: assembly, disassembly, process efficiency, structures, materials identification, hand fabrication, and testing. Students will work in a variety of media including: paper, foam core, poly-styrene, and wood.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: DSN S 102 and DSN S 131, enrollment in 201; admission to the industrial design program through department review or permission of instructor.
The history, definition, scope, and basic principles of industrial design. Overview of technical, artistic, and sociological context of the profession.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: IND D 231
Exploration of strategies, methods, and processes associated with creative thinking skills and problem solving. Discussion of the nature of creativity and its implications in different contexts that cross content boundaries.
(3-0) Cr. 3.
Prereq: Admitted to Industrial Design Program and by permission of the instructor
Introduction to design for complex and dynamic situations that include people, products, activities and environments. Emphasizes the relationship between internal and external factors that impact pleasure and performance in these systems. Includes an overview of human diversity and examines the role of the industrial designer in developing the artifacts of daily activity.
Meets U.S. Diversity Requirement
(Cross-listed with ENGR). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
What is engineering, technology and their roles in society? Investigation of engineering methods through case studies of everyday objects. Explore questions about the impact of technology in society. Apply engineering methods to design and failure analysis.
(Cross-listed with ENGR). (3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Removing mysteries surrounding science and technology. Identify key concepts from applied science and technology to obtain better understanding on how things work. Review and explain the principles behind the technologies which define our modern way of life. A survey of broad range of technology could include: cell phones, GPS, radio, television, computers, ultrasound, microwave ovens, automobile, bioengineering and other industrial and consumer technologies. Common day technology examples illustrating scientific knowledge and applications.
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.
Prereq: IND D 202
Systematic design methodology and integration of creative thinking techniques.
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.S.
Prereq: IND D 301 or permission of instructor
Exploration of commercial factors in industrial design. Meets Industrial Design Experiential Learning Requirements.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: IND D 231 or permission of instructor.
Survey of qualitative and quantitative methods with an emphasis on contextual user-centered research. Integration of user data collection, visualization, and synthesis as a source for design. Experience of a small-scale research practice related to industrial design.
(0-6) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: IND D 301
Emphasis on the computer as an industrial design and visualization tool.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: 30 credits earned at ISU
Introduction to contemporary and historic factors influencing industrial design craft and practice. Discussion of social, political, cultural and technological context for industrial design.
Meets U.S. Diversity Requirement
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: 30 credits earned at ISU.
Critical examination of meanings of objects from the perspectives of history, design, material culture, philosophy and cultural studies. Discussion of social, political, cultural and technological context for industrial design.
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.S.SS.
Prereq: IND D 202, 18 credits in industrial design, permission of instructor.
Professional industrial design, off-campus experience. Meets Industrial Design Experiential Learning Requirements.
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.S.
Prereq: IND D 301 or permission of instructor
Advanced topics focused on industrial design applications. Topics vary each time offered. Meets Industrial Design Experiential Learning Requirements.
Cr. arr. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Advanced topics focused on industrial design applications. Topics vary each time offered. A. Theory, Criticism, Methodology B. Experimental Techniques C. Three Dimensional Design D. Distributed Collaboration.
Cr. arr. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Advanced topics focused on industrial design applications. Topics vary each time offered.
Cr. arr. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Advanced topics focused on industrial design applications. Topics vary each time offered.
Cr. arr. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Advanced topics focused on industrial design applications. Topics vary each time offered.
Cr. arr. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Advanced topics focused on industrial design applications. Topics vary each time offered.
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.S.SS.
Prereq: IND D 202 and permission of instructor
International study abroad program. Visits to design studios, showrooms, museums and manufacturing facilities. Meets Industrial Design Experiential Learning Requirements.
Courses primarily for graduate students, open to qualified undergraduates:
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.
Prereq: Admission into the Graduate Intensive Track or graduate standing in the industrial design program.
Basic concepts and techniques for industrial design. Emphasis on form development, structure, function and communication.
(0-12) Cr. 6. S.
Prereq: Admission into the Graduate Intensive Track or graduate standing in the industrial design program.
Advanced concepts and techniques for industrial design. Emphasis on systematic design methodology and commercial factors, and visual and verbal communication of design problems and solutions.
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.
Prereq: Admission to the industrial design graduate program or completion of Graduate Intensive Track.
Advanced, project-based application of industrial design concepts and techniques.
(0-12) Cr. 6. S.
Prereq: IND D 502.
Advanced, project based application of industrial design concepts and techniques, with an emphasis on service and system design, and its implications for the community.
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.S.
Prereq: Evidence of satisfactory experience in area of specialization; admitted by application and written permission of instructor only.
Studio project focused on topics generated with external partners. Topics vary. Meets Industrial Design Experiential Learning Requirements.
(1-0) Cr. 1. Repeatable. F.S.
Prereq: Admission into the Graduate Intensive Track or graduate standing in the industrial design program.
Presentation and discussion of creative activity carried out in various design disciplines and their relationship to industrial design. Seminar sessions focusing on exemplary pieces of design research undertaken by faculty and graduate students in the design field.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: Senior or graduate standing in any ISU program, or permission of the instructor.
Exploration of design thinking process, toolkits, and mindsets as creative problem solving approaches for systems, products, and processes, across diverse contexts. Strategies for problem-solution co-evolution process, with a focus on collaborative and interdisciplinary design to investigate real-world problems and opportunities.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: Admission into the Graduate Intensive Track or graduate standing in the industrial design program.
Introduction to materials and manufacturing methods for products. Exploration of emerging materials and new applications.
(0-6) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: Advanced standing in any ISU program
Exploration of multiple visual communication techniques primarily used in industrial design with a focus on visually breaking down complex information.
(0-6) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Exploration of the computer as an industrial design and visualization tool. Advanced concepts in computer to machine interface for manufacture.
(1-4) Cr. 3. F.S.
Prereq: Advanced standing in the industrial design program.
Discussion of industrial design practice and career planning. Development and preparation of personal promotional materials for a range of media.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: IND D 532
Human factors issues and the study of relationships between the user, the product, and the human body and its physical functions. Investigations of bio-mechanics, anthropometry, instrumental displays and control, and their measurement as they relate to the design process.
(1-4) Cr. 3. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Advanced topics focused on industrial design applications. Topics include theory, criticism, methodology, experimental techniques, three dimensional design, distributed collaboration. Meets Industrial Design Experiential Learning Requirements.
Cr. arr. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Planned projects in topics related to theory, criticism, methodology, experimental techniques, three dimensional design, distributed collaboration.
Cr. arr. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Project based topics related to theory, criticism, methodology, experimental learning, three dimensional design, distributed collaboration that supports experiential learning.
(0-12) Cr. 6. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
International study abroad program. Visits to design studios, showrooms, museums and manufacturing facilities. Meets Industrial Design Experiential Learning Requirements.
(0-12) Cr. 6. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: Completion of Industrial design studio or permission of instructor.
Professional industrial design, off-campus experience. Meets Industrial Design Experiential Learning Requirements.
Courses for graduate students:
(0-12) Cr. 6. F.
Prereq: IND D 632
Advanced creative component in specialized area of focus within industrial design. Culminates in a development plan and supporting documentary.
(0-12) Cr. 6. S.
Prereq: IND D 601
Advanced creative component in specialized area of focus within industrial design. Culminates in a physical or digital artifact and supporting documentation.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.
Prereq: Senior or graduate standing in any ISU program, or permission of the instructor
User-centered research methods to examine the impact of design on humans, environments, and social contexts. Examination and critique of current research methods employed in industrial design, service design and user experience (UX) design.
(3-0) Cr. 3. S.
Prereq: IND D 631
Exploration and formulation of graduate thesis or project topics, with proposed studies and investigations. Introduction to structuring a design research prospectus and university requirements for graduation. Determine Faculty Committee and Program of Study and file forms with Graduate College.
(0-12) Cr. 6. Repeatable. F.S.SS.
Prereq: IND D 632
Advanced research component in specialized area of focus within industrial design. Culminates in a thesis document.