Bachelor of Design in Industrial Design

Prospective Bachelor of Design and Design Studies students, alongside students enrolled in the CS+DES program, share in the Foundations Program experience—an intensive studio-based curriculum introducing various techniques in form-making and conceptual visualization.

Emphasis is placed on perfecting hand skills and in developing proficiency with digital technology. Through exposure to design practice, design culture, and critical observation, students experience Chicago as a global design center.

First year students are rapidly immersed into design process in studio courses developed and organized by Foundation Studio Coordinators, members of our full-time faculty dedicated to undergraduate education. Foundation studio courses are taught by professional designers from within our faculty and from the Chicago design community. Courses in two- and three-dimensional form-making, analog and digital visualization, interactive media, and color theory provide the basis for entry into a BDes or BA program.

Courses leading to a BDes or BA degree depend on successful completion of the first year program. For this reason, the UIC School of Design is not able to accept transfer credit for design courses from other institutions. Students completing the Foundations Program undergo a portfolio review by departmental faculty in consideration for a place in one of the major areas of study.

Click here for more information on the Foundations Program and the Foundation Review.

DES222 HUMAN EXPERIENCE IN DESIGN provides an introduction to design as it relates to people. Structured around understanding the five human factors: social, cognitive, emotional, physical, and cultural, this course established a student’s understanding of design and the human experience. Students conduct field research and document insights about people and how these insights relate to design process and implementation. From this work, students gain an understanding for the relationship between what the designer produces and the meaning that design has for the end-user. Coursework demonstrates how human factors impact design and students learn to analyze existing designs from each of the human factor lenses. By assessing how a given design meets a human need, students are also able to compare how different designs can address the same need in different ways. 

DES230 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN II furthers knowledge of design process through focused exercises emphasizing formal aspects of design and product semantics. Understanding design through making and specific fabrication materials and methods. Industrial Design II is the second course in the ID studio sequence. This course establishes the student’s experience in giving form to objects and/or products.

DES231 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN III emphasizes interconnecting skills learned in previous ID courses through the design of small, simple objects. Iterative work with digital and physical tools within constrained criteria. 

DES240 VISUALIZATION I is a freehand sketch intensive studio with focus on rapid conceptual visualization. This course advances the fundamentals of drawing in the context of design process. Students are taught advanced hand skills for rapid idea generation and visualization, skills necessary for success in upper-level design courses.

DES240 VISUALIZATION II is an introduction to digital design tools building expertise and comfort with prominent digital illustration software programs and hardware platforms. This course enables students to build and perfect their digital illustration skills in the context of design process. 

DES235 HISTORY OF DESIGN I surveys the history of design in Europe and the United States from the mid eighteenth century to about 1925. During that period, Europe and North America were swept by a series of economic, political, and social revolutions that dramatically transformed the structure of society. One of the most significant results of those transformations was the increasing importance of design, understood in the broadest sense as the process through which both objects of consumption and the means of their production are determined. Covering a wide range of fields, including art, architecture, and interior design, as well as industrial and graphic design, this course considers objects as indices of the larger cultural, economic, and political forces that have shaped the history of modern design. In addition, it examines individual works in depth in order to understand how they reflect the social, material, and economic imperatives that confronted the designer. After taking this course, students will be able to identify and discuss key figures, events, and trends in the early history of modern design; analyze objects and primary source materials to determine their historical significance as well as their relevance for contemporary issues; and compose clear and concise arguments for written, spoken, and “designed” communication. Ultimately, this course aims to introduce students to the myriad ways in which design interacts with culture and society, and to provide an understanding of the evolution of the role of the designer in modern society.

DES236 HISTORY OF DESIGN II surveys the history of contemporary design from various historical, methodological, and theoretical perspectives. Covering a wide range of fields, including art, architecture, and interior design, as well as industrial and graphic design, this course considers objects as indices of the larger cultural, economic, and political forces that have shaped the history of modern design. Particular topics addressed include the rise of consumer culture after the Second World War, Postmodernism, and the current fascination with “socially responsible” design. In addition, it examines individual works in depth in order to understand how they reflect the social, material, and economic imperatives that confronted the designer. After completing the Design History sequence, students will be able to identify and discuss key figures, events, and trends in the history of modern design; analyze objects and primary source materials to determine their historical significance as well as their relevance for contemporary issues; and compose clear and concise arguments for written, spoken, and “designed” communication. Ultimately, this course aims to introduce students to the myriad ways in which design interacts with culture and society, and to provide an understanding of the evolution of the role of the designer in modern society.

DES322 DESIGN RESEARCH METHODS advances a student’s understanding of how design relates to people. This course provides an overview of the role of research in the design process with emphasis on research support in identifying new opportunities, concept definition, realization, and refinement. Students develop a research plan, selecting appropriate design-oriented research methods. They conduct primary and secondary research; transform data into meaningful insights for design development; and use research and storytelling to build a case for problem definition.

DES330 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IV provides an introduction to specialty areas of concentration such as visual brand language, service design, or design for sustainability and social responsibility. This course builds upon foundational skills through projects of increased complexity. Students employ a creative problem-solving process to design a line of products and/or a service, learning to build simple sketch models that lead to full-scale prototypes.

DES331 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN V introduces design thinking and provides an opportunity to work collaboratively in small teams focused on client-based projects. Students deepen their mastery of design process as they apply team-based creative thinking and needs-based research to a tangible design problem. Issues of design sustainability, social relevance, and inclusivity are identified, discussed, and incorporated into human-scale product designs. Student teams develop design concepts and prototypes utilizing 2D and 3D visualization skills, human factors and material and methods.

DES326 MATERIALS AND METHODS provides an introduction to the vocabulary and processes involved in mass production with emphasis on major materials and manufacturing methods, design control drawings and basic principles of sustainable design. This course serves as a knowledge-based materials and manufacturing primer for the industrial design student.

Each year the School of Design offers elective courses with changing topics. The following are past examples:

DES400 INNOVATIVE MATERIALS LAB / EASTMAN TRITAN provides designers the opportunity to work with new materials. In this course, students will work closely with the Eastman Chemical Company to design biomedical devices with their newly developed Tritan line of impact-resistant, BPA-free, and chemically inert plastics. Guided material experimentation will reveal findings about how industrial resins will be used in future biomedical products, and students will present their findings and designs to Eastman representatives. The course will encourage the design of objects that interact with fluids, and students will learn to work with fluid simulation software so that the behavior and properties of liquids can inform designs. While designing objects for the future of patient treatment, other course topics will include material exploration and analysis, speculative research into biomedical products and their future users, experiments into how liquids interact with solids and infuse with other liquids, and 3d simulation for aero- and hydro-dynamic surface streamlining.

DES432 PARAMETRIC DESIGN AND DESIGN STORYTELLING is an introduction to advanced digital techniques used to visualize design concepts. SolidWorks, an advanced feature-based modeling tool that uses parametric modeling principles to design objects that are flexible, constructible, and considered. SolidWorks topics include parametric drawing and modeling techniques, the creation of product specification drawings, and combining modeled parts into assemblies. Renderings and animations produced in Photoview360 and Keyshot Render will enable students to visualize the narrative that defines an object’s concept, fabrication, form, and function. In addition, students will be introduced to algorithmic modeling in Grasshopper3D and programming objects with the Arduino development platform. Lessons on mechanisms, electronics, sensors, actuators, micro-controllers, and other data collection tools will enable students to design objects that are interactive, kinetic, transformable, and shaped by an awareness of their surroundings and users.

DES470 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN THESIS In the fourth and final year of the BDes program, studio courses take two distinct paths to applying acquired knowledge: personal and professional. The senior thesis is a year-long capstone project providing students with the opportunity to develop a specific focus within design. In the first semester, students conduct extensive research and identify a self-generated complex design problem. Students perform a thorough design investigation through a personal lens, gaining an understanding of the variety of areas of practice within the discipline. They produce professional quality functional and/or aesthetic prototypes of final design and are guided to present their ideas effectively through verbal and visual arguments. Students document design process for professional portfolio, collectively evaluate the success of their final projects and exhibit thesis results in the UIC Design Year End Show.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE CAPSTONE In the fourth and final year of the Bachelor of Design program, studio courses take two distinct paths to applying acquired knowledge: personal and professional. The professional practice track allows students to select courses from several year-long offerings. In all courses students engage in a team-based interdisciplinary project, often with a client sponsor representing a commercial, cultural, or social concern. Students develop strong creative solutions in the context of real-world constraints. Emphasis is on teamwork and client interaction. 

Each year the School of Design offers Professional Practice track courses with changing topics. Courses are open to seniors in Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Design Studies, and Computer Science + Design, and often include faculty and students from other UIC departments. The following are past examples:

DES420 MOBILE APP DESIGN / MAD offers students the opportunity to work in collaboration with faculty to design and develop a mobile app for smartphone or tablet platform. Involves screen-based typography, visual and interactive design, motion graphics, and development considerations.

DES430 INTERDISCIPLINARY PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT / IPD integrates students in industrial design, graphic design, business, and engineering students and faculty to develop product/brand concepts for a leading consumer products company. Past clients include: Motorola, Coinstar, Cobra Electronics, Dell, Cricket Wireless, and Whirlpool Global Consumer Design. 

DES430 BIO-ENGINEERING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT / BIO is a variation of IPD, which includes bio-engineers and focuses on product development at the crossroads of design, biology, and engineering: products for medical applications, medical imaging and healthcare product and service design. 

DES430 ENTREPRENEURIAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT / EPD is for students who are interested in entrepreneurial approaches to design. The first semester covers product venturing—getting products manufactured and making them available for sale. The second semester covers licensing—developing and communicating new product ideas for others to bring to market. The course does not cover how students can become freelance designers or start their own design consultancy.

DES440 DESIGN THINKING AND LEADERSHIP / DTL engages students in teams on a large-scale project concerned with the development of a visual identity for a participating client organization. A research and systems-based approach will be utilized to develop context, concept, and design documentation for client presentations. 

DES452 INFORMATION AESTHETICS / INFO introduces students to information visualization and programming in the context of art and design. Project-oriented course using computer code and custom software for information analysis, representation and creative expression.