Furniture Design Schools

Anyone know anything about the Design Program at Northern Michigan University or Herron School of Design at IUPUI? Also is a degree from RISD worth the tuition costs?

i haven’t heard anything about n. michigan’s program. did you look at kendall college of art and design?

I wonder if both of those schools have influence from all of the contract furniture done in the region? I would assume they would have to?

NMU and Herron teach studio furniture design (ie. stuff you would see in a gallery. one-off hand-crafted designs.) NMU is very VERY inexpensive if you’re a Michigan resident. Kendall’s furniture program teaches the design of mass-produced residential furniture, and also has a great Industrial design program.

What are your career goals? Or better yet, tell us about some designs that have inspired you to take an interest in furniture design.

SCAD, the Art Center, or RISD would all be good choices, especially if you’re interested in keeping your options open, but staying in the design field. Also, if there are companies you like, you might check with the schools to see what companies sponsor class projects or internships.

Also, studying industrial design isn’t a bad option rather than furniture design. I went the ID path so I could design products besides furniture. It’s worked out well; I’ve done electronics in low doses, in addition to furniture.

BTW, I studied industrial design at Purdue, which seems to be at a midpoint btwn the schools you’ve mentioned. I’ve been an in house designer since graduating (mostly furniture). I’d be happy to talk to you about my experience.

i’m a kendall alum, so yeah, it’s at ground zero for furniture because of it’s proximity to major manufacturers. furniture as an industry is sucking some major wind right now. this is the worst i’ve seen it in my career and makes the tech bubble bursting in '00 look like a picnic. it had hardly recovered when this latest recession came around so the playing field has changed quite a bit.

i am a LOT more dynamic in my role as a furniture designer than i ever thought i would be, but that might be more of my work ethic or preference. other furniture designers i graduated with are doing other things, not furniture. like stella, i took the ID route in college, i think i’m a bit better off because of it.

i like my education from kendall. i’m a bit more balanced, practical, and i think humble. my last manager was from RISD and i was never impressed with his work. he was great at theory, horrible at applying it. that’s not the only RISD grad i’ve met with this charactristic. in the right environment, it’s great. when it comes time to shut up or put up, it’s a detriment to the department and company. not all RISD grads i’ve worked with have been this way.

the art center grads i’ve worked with have been creative juggernauts, but some of them were really lacking in practicality and execution.

just my experience. i’m not flaming any program, but i think you need to find the program that fits YOUR desired course and style. you get from your education what you are willing to put into it.