Industrial Design
The Industrial Design Program prepares students to be creative, practical, user-centered, aesthetics-focused, problem-solving, and opportunity-exploring designers, design strategists, or design leaders.
The NC State University Industrial Design Program is one of the top professional programs in this discipline in the country. The program offers Bachelor of Industrial Design (BID) and Master of Industrial Design (MID) degrees, both accredited by The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
Students learn and practice design in a studio environment very similar to that of professional design offices. Students methodically study human physical and cognitive interaction with artifacts and services in order to discover user experience insights and then create innovative solutions to design problems. The dynamic and sophisticated balance of form, function, innovation, and practicality are constantly debated and articulated throughout the journey to better design.
Finally, a Home
The Industrial Design faculty have joined NC State University from prestigious institutions around the world, each bringing years of experience in design, research, innovation, and education. The graduates from the program are enhancing the quality of life experiences with the creative design of products, services, branding, and communication systems for companies such as IDEO, Nike, Volvo, IBM, Toshiba, Dell, Pentagram, PepsiCo, RKS Design, Microsoft, The Smithsonian, Adidas, Hasbro, Target, and Bosch.
What is Industrial Design?
Industrial design is the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value, and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer. Industrial designers develop these concepts and specifications for the user and manufacturer through the collection, analysis, and synthesis of data, often within the context of cooperative working relationships with other members of a development group such as management, marketing, engineering, and manufacturing specialists. They then communicate their clear and concise recommendations through drawings, models, and verbal descriptions that embody all relevant design criteria determined by the group.
The industrial designerβs unique contribution emphasizes those aspects of the product or system that relate most directly to human characteristics, needs, experiences, and interests. This contribution requires specialized understanding of visual, spatial, and tactile senses as well as product safety and convenience criteria. Industrial designers are experts in anticipating psychological, physiological and sociological factors and perceptions that influence users of products and services. Industrial designers also maintain a practical concern for the technical processes and requirements for manufacturing; marketing opportunities and economic constraints; and regulatory requirements relevant to good design.
In addition to supplying concepts for products and systems, industrial designers are often retained for consultation on a variety of problems that have to do with product and organization identity systems, development of communication systems, interior and exhibit design, advertising devices and packaging, and other related services. Their expertise is often sought in a wide variety of administrative arenas to assist in developing industry standards, regulatory guidelines, and quality control procedures to improve manufacturing operations and products. Industrial designers are guided by a professional obligation to protect the public safety and well-being, to respect the environment, and to observe contractual and ethical business practices.
See Student Work
See more examples of student work here: Department of Industrial Design Student Work
![π° π Memorializing Flooding: How a Chance Collaboration Led to a Landmark Public Art Project
In the world of design and public art, serendipity often plays a pivotal role.
This was certainly the case for a group of designers and artists who, after initially crossing paths in the College of Design, found themselves working together years later on a significant public art project in Raleigh.
Alumni William H. Dodge [M.Arch. β12] and Lincoln Hancock [MGD β10] were selected for an opportunity to design a display about the floodplain at Crabtree Creek. The resulting award-winning project, βAlluvial Decoder,β tells the story of fifty years of flooding at the site.
This project, which began as an educational initiative, ultimately evolved into a large-scale installation that engages the community on multiple levels.
Read the full story about the collaboration in our bio!
πΈ Photo credits: Jordan Gray (1 and 5), Keith Isaacs (2 and 4), Negin Naseri (3)](https://design.ncsu.edu/industrial-design/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
π° π Memorializing Flooding: How a Chance Collaboration Led to a Landmark Public Art Project
In the world of design and public art, serendipity often plays a pivotal role.
This was certainly the case for a group of designers and artists who, after initially crossing paths in the College of Design, found themselves working together years later on a significant public art project in Raleigh.
Alumni William H. Dodge [M.Arch. β12] and Lincoln Hancock [MGD β10] were selected for an opportunity to design a display about the floodplain at Crabtree Creek. The resulting award-winning project, βAlluvial Decoder,β tells the story of fifty years of flooding at the site.
This project, which began as an educational initiative, ultimately evolved into a large-scale installation that engages the community on multiple levels.
Read the full story about the collaboration in our bio!
πΈ Photo credits: Jordan Gray (1 and 5), Keith Isaacs (2 and 4), Negin Naseri (3)
πΊππ
We draw. We design. We draw some more. βοΈπΊ
The Brian Shawcroft Prize is awarded every year to an architecture student nominated by a faculty member for their excellent hand-drawing skills. This year marks the 30th year of the competition.
Four students were awarded prizes for their work. Submissions are judged based on studentsβ use of hand drawing skills in the categories of the design process, documentation and analysis, and presentation.
This year, Vallery Gore [B.Arch] was awarded first prize and senior Elizabeth Elder claimed second. Caroline Coyle [B.Arch] and Debashri Kedar [M.Arch] both tied for third. Maggie Overton was awarded an honorable mention.
See the award-winning work in our bio!
Fold it, twist it, cut it, stitch it, glue it, wear it. Welcome to Constructing Relationships - the first step to great design @ncstate.π‘βοΈπ
This exhibition showcases the first design project freshmen tackle when joining the College of Design. Students take a subject matter that they have intimately known for their entire life: their body and their relationships with the people around them, and they make them the sites of design interventions.
Students observe and document these βsitesβ with intent and purpose, creating a new and deeper understanding of otherwise familiar subjects.
Methods of abstraction and translation are integral to the design process, giving students the ability to take in familiar objects, situations, and contexts and output novel and poignant design interventions.
In this assignment students create a wearable/inhabitable structure that examines how we relate to one another. The primary material of construction must be paper. The pieces should raise the viewerβs awareness of interpersonal relationships in profound and nuanced ways.
How students choose to highlight concepts on connection/ interaction/similarity vs difference/ interdependence depends a great deal on what aspects they deem important and what they would like to communicate to you, their audience.
To conceive, develop, and materialize this project students have worked in groups of 2-3 over 4 1/2 weeks. Their concepts grew from the unique attributes of their group and their relationships, the context they find themselves in (i.e. joining a new community here at the College of Design in the midst of a society-wide loneliness epidemic), and their material research into paper.
Across this project students worked iteratively and non-linearly, exploring a variety of strategies that are commonly utilized in the design process.
Be sure to check out the exhibition in Brooks Hall whenever youβre on campus to get the full experience!
Designers arenβt *that* scary. Right?
Happy Halloween! πββ¬ππ―οΈ
Going into this weekend feeling β¨π refreshed β¨π
Thank you to all the designers who showed up to RefreshFest this week! We hope you found some books, got some stickers and pet some sweet sweet therapy dogs. π π
We canβt wait to see all the new faces coming to learn about our undergrad programs during open house this weekend! β€οΈπΊ
π£οΈ Let us know in the comments what program youβre most excited to learn about!
May your fall break be as peaceful as the sunrise through the windows of your favorite studio π
One minute and three seconds of Fall at NC State. ππ
When we say Design is for everyone, we mean β¨πe v e r y o n eπβ¨
Thank you for turning out for #NCStatePrideFest, Wolfpack! π³οΈβππΊπ«Ά
The week might be ending, but great design is timeless. π
What happens when innovative design meets cutting-edge analysis? π‘π
This year, NC Stateβs Master of Graphic & Experience Design (MGXD) students partnered with the @ncstate Laboratory for Analytic Sciences (LAS) to reimagine how analysts tackle challenges at every stage of their careers.
While the students were eager to start the assignment, LAS wanted to ensure they had the tools necessary to tackle this complicated task. Led by Professor Helen Armstrong, the graduate students were divided into four groups and given a persona along with a fictional scenario.
Students also interviewed real-world intelligence analysts to understand how these pain points affect daily workflows. Taking this information, they set about their work via user experience (UX) design methods to research and develop innovative solutions that addressed user pain points and unique design criteria.
LAS mentors met with students multiple times both virtually and in person to answer questions and to give feedback on prototypes created.
Learn more about the four prototypes developed by Professor Armstrong`s students in our bio!