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Industrial Design student project, Annie McDonald

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

Over the past 40 years, the Industrial Design program at NC State has grown into one of the highest-ranked ID programs in the U.S. Its graduates go on to be designers at companies like IBM, Adidas, and Under Armour. Its faculty partner on grants from the NIH to tackle human centered design for maternal and fetal medicine. Finally, the program will be moving to a dedicated space where they can work collaboratively and creatively. 

Industrial Design Studio Space

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?

What is ID? Post-It note board

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 designer’s 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

End of day vibes 🌅 ...

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📄 The résumé? ✨ Flawless ✨
🖼️ The portfolio? ✨ Immaculate ✨
🤝 The opportunities? ✨ Limitless ✨

Students, get ready to bring your creativity, your skills, your passion and your sketchbooks to the College of Design Career Expo! This opportunity will feature 85 employers from a wide variety of design disciplines, and is the college’s largest annual event to expand the networks of students and alumni alike.

📆 Wednesday, Feb. 7
⏰ 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
📍 Talley Student Union State Ballroom
🔗 Register at the link in our bio!
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More than half of this year`s American Institute of Architects (@ncarchitecture) awards were won by @ncstate_architecture students, faculty and alumni.

The College of Design had numerous winners recognized, including:

🏆 Five student entries
🏆 AIA NC Educator of the Year
🏆 The F. Carter Williams Gold Medalist
▶ Learn more and watch the project videos: Link in bio.

📸: "Traces: Palmovka Jewish Center and Library" by Maggie Kroening
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Home, seen through our (detached) lens. 📸🐺 ...

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Your help molds the future of design. Join the movement to empower rising 10th-12th grade students through Design Connections Residential Camp. ✍️💡🐺

The College of Design is on a mission to make design education accessible to all, and your support during the NC State Crowdfunding Campaign can make it happen!

Every contribution counts. By donating between now and February 16, you’re investing in creativity, diversity, and inclusiveness in design education. Let’s inspire the next generation of designers together!

Click the link in our bio to make a difference. 🤝
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Sketch it. Cut it. Ship it. ✍️🎬🎞️

MADTech students are in the homestretch of a two-day animation hackathon. The project is a crash course in tackling challenging deadlines while managing brand identity and voice in conjunction with social media trends. Stay tuned to see where these projects go next! 👀
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“I wanted people to think that making change could be as easy as following a recipe and combining ingredients.” 📗🍲

Lesley-Ann Noel is an assistant professor of media arts, design and technology at the College of Design. As one of the newest installments of Stanford d.school’s book collection, “Design Social Change” was written as a guide for topics, mindsets and principles that designers can use to drive the way they think about change using a cooking metaphor she’s developed over the last five years.

She started using this metaphor as she noticed how some people followed design methods faithfully as if they were trusted recipes, while others, possibly more confident or more chaotic chefs, just threw ingredients together and improvised their design processes as they went along. In this book, she focused on recipes for making social change.

We spoke with Dr. Noel about the book’s inspiration, its mission, and som of the ‘ingredients’ she uses in creating meaningful design. Visit the link in our bio for the full conversation!
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