Industrial Design Schools: Opinions and Questions

Not sure if Purdue has gotten any love in this thread since it is so long, but I am a sophomore in ID there and I really like it.

Price is relativity cheap and Purdue is always ranked in one for the best value educations.

Campus life isn’t the greatest, but it is in Indiana so what would you expect.

I haven’t been to any other schools so I can’t really compare the facilities, but we have 2 computer studios, one for juniors, and one for seniors, where everyone has their own computer. Next door to those is our model shop which has wood working tools, laser cutter, 3d printer, hand tools powered and not powered, air tools.

Instructors are very knowledge and helpful and have lots of diverse work experience. I’m not sure if other schools require and internship, but Purdue does which is nice so you are guaranteed to have some work experience before graduating.

Graduates seem to have a high employment rate at a very diverse list of companies. Many of the students in the program were engineers at once time and have taken calculus, physics, chemistry, ect. and it seems to give us a lot of credibility with the engineers in those push/pull situations that always seem to arise in the work-field.

we don’t get a lot of Purdue students on here, thank you for the update. We’d love to see some work from you and your classmates!

Welcome to the boards Pete!

Campus life isn’t the greatest, …

Doesn’t sound like much has changed in W. Lafalot since 1969. Wait till the cold really hits…

… but it is in Indiana so what would you expect.

which just goes ta show ya, where ever you go, there you are.

If it’s “cheap” you must be in-state.

Purdue ID, '73

I have my b.s. in ID, but wanted to do a masters program to focus on sports equipment and was curious if anyone had advice on schools to look at for that field. Most of them seem pretty general, but then again, I don’t exactly know how the process works. Thanks.

I am graduating from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s in business and wanted to know if there are any fast-Track bachelor programs for ID. UF has an architecture program called Core where you get a bachelor’s in two years if you have another bachelor’s already. Are there any similar programs out there for Id?

I’ve got some time to kill at work waiting on some stuff, so here’s an unsolicited writeup on Virginia Tech’s current ID program:

VTs ID program is growing and getting stronger, even from when I was a freshman to when I graduated five years later (only cool kids go to college for five years). All the faculty members are passionate and truly care about the advancement and education of the students, and for the price you can’t really beat it (in-state, anyway).


Faculty: All of them have practical real-world experience from a variety of backgrounds, several are active IDSA members. I had classes with each and every one of them, and while all of them are different I didn’t meet one that I truly disliked. Some I liked better than others, but overall all of them were excellent educators and all would set aside time (and even be in the studio late into the night if needed) for meeting with students.

Coursework: Now that I’ve been out in the “real world” as a designer, I’ve only run into one issue where I was wishing I’d learned more in school: 3D modeling programs. Virginia Tech teaches SolidWorks with an optional 6 week class in Rhino, and that’s it. If I had not had internships that used Rhino and taught it to myself, I probably would not have gotten my job. We also use 3DS Max at my company, and I have no earthly clue how to use it and the other designers learned it in school. When they asked what I was taught in school as far as 3D modeling goes, they were appalled that all they teach is SolidWorks. Yeah you can learn the others on your own time, but honestly who has that kind of time/money to buy a license and learn while not working on actual school projects?

Space: You can’t really beat Burchard Hall for an awesome studio atmosphere. Everyone has their own desk that they do not have to share with anyone, and it’s a fully open collaborative space. A recent addition is the Kiva, a round whiteboard room used for pinups, discussions, group work, etc. The only downside of the Kiva is the acoustics since it’s round so it’s hard to hear people presenting sometimes, and noise from outside is amplified. The studio space is open 24/7, although it requires swiping your student ID to get in after certain hours and on weekends as a security measure so if you forget to bring your student ID on a 3 AM trip to studio you’re kinda SOL.

Campus: Virginia Tech is set in the mountains of SW Virginia in a little mountain town. Blacksburg is one of the best college towns out there, and VT is a huge school so there’s always something going on and stuff to do. At Tech you can have a good design education but also have the typical college experience of football games and school spirit that you might not get at an art school. You also meet and interact with people who are not designers, which I believe is beneficial. My roommates in college were not designers, which was nice because I could come home and escape the design school bubble and talk about stuff entirely not design related.



Here’s the big flaw I wish VT’s ID program would work harder to address:

Internships/co-ops.

As of now, students are 100% on their own to find their own internships and co-op opportunities. Being in the middle of nowhere in Appalachia means that making design connections is very difficult, and therefore getting internships is not an easy feat. And let’s face it, if you don’t have at least one internship under your belt by graduation you are sunk when it comes to getting that “entry level” job that requires 2-3 years of experience. I was lucky, I got two internships just through knowing someone who knew someone, but not everyone is that fortunate. I was also lucky in that I had a full-time industrial design job offer in hand at graduation. Guess how many other people could say the same? 1. There were 30 in my graduating class. Several more have gotten ID jobs since then and even more have settled for internships, but the majority still are not working in the industrial design field.

The faculty is trying hard to establish connections out in the real world to help more students find internships, I’ve already had one or two reach out to me to keep in touch to send internships/job postings their way. They’re making progress but it’s a slow journey.


So in conclusion, VT’s ID school is a very strong and growing program that produces a lot of talent, but it falls short in helping their students get their portfolios out there and getting their talent out into the world. The internships and jobs are there, you just have to work harder for them than if you’d gone to a school with established partnerships with companies that just plop co-ops (and the experience that goes with them) into your lap.

For what it’s worth I had spammed out a new grad job opportunity to the VT grads this year and I think I got 1 portfolio back. I won’t hold it against anyone, but it may also be a matter of perception (since I felt the same way when I graduated, but still managed to land a job right after school due to connections through the professors).

Working harder to try and land and internship, which the VT students are very good at isn’t a bad thing. The real world is competitive, and keeping that competition part of the process and not just a hand out may be more intentional than you think.

Which job was it? It might’ve been my portfolio, I lost count of job apps around 80 and spammed my resume/portfolio at anything I was remotely qualified for.

You do have a point about making the students work for their experience because that’s how the real world is, but on the other hand when they’re starting from scratch with zero experience and only a couple design projects in their portfolio it’s kinda like tossing them into the deep end of the pool to learn how to swim. At least give them a pair of floaties or something the first time around, even if it’s just an introductory email to someone at the company.

I keep reading about these other schools with established/mandatory co-op programs and keep thinking “man I wish we had that”.

Leezard,

i’ll agree with you on your review of VT ID’s prgram. i am currently a 3rd year student there and its pretty much all up to you in terms of finding an internship. if you’re close with a professor you get some connections from them but thats about it unless you know some friends/alumni.

its hard to get seen/get experience when you’re going to school in the middle of nowhere. I hope they set something up like UC does in the future. it would make more sense since were arent near a large metropolitan area like NYC, Boston, SF, etc.

Heloo I study Industrial design in Serbia, and i am interested in master degree, so these are 2 schools I like Domus Academy in Milan, and Aalto university of Art, Architecture and Design … would love to here your opinion :slight_smile:

Request your help in making a decision on choosing the right industrial design school for my daughter for her first Under Graduate degree. She is accepted in two programs - BFA at California College of Arts (CCA) and with BS in Industrial design at North Carolina State University. On the parameters of the design program,faculty and learning, school resources, readiness for career in ID, industry outreach and collaboration, internships, career opportunities and recognition of the schools in the industry, can you provide your feedback and guidance? Thanks !

I am an alumni of the Academy of Art University and all I can say is DON’T go there! Nobody cares about you. You are just a paycheck. This school is a greedy money machine geared only to make money and care nothing for education. I won’t say I didn’t learn anything there but I feel that I learned despite them and not thanks to them as they were making it very difficult to learn when you constantly have to fight them over money, and the way they deal with it, jacking up their prices every semester and you rarely see it being invested back into the program. When you take the tour they seem very impressive but its one big sham. I am drowning in student loans over 100,000$ and I wish I could say :“well, it was worth it! I had fun! I learned! I got what I wanted” but unfortunately I can’t and if this post will save one person from making that mistake I would feel that I did something good. Of course I had some good times, of course some classes were awesome, but it wasn’t worth it. I did the work, I totally invested myself, financially, mentally, emotionally and I am very proud of my accomplishments and my portfolio but I will not give the, credit for any of it. They have no career center worth mentioning because once you are an alumni and not paying them anymore they don’t really care about you unless you got published somehow then they will be the first to find out and take credit for it (like what happened to me with a project they failed me on and I had to fight the whole department for a better grade and failed again) but after it won international competition and got noted they published it as exemplary student work on their website! Imagine how that might feel… Anyways enough ranting , do what you will ad I hope I at least made some of you reconsider… Good luck to everyone looking for a school!

Hi Guys

I studied engineering as an undergrad and always wanted to do design, so after applying to a few colleges I got into MA Industrial Design in SCAD and MA Interaction Design in Domus Academy.

I love to design products but I’m also a lot into interfaces and thinking about human interactions with systems equally, and so I’m kind of torn about which course to take up.

On one hand SCAD will be expensive but has a reputable and great program but I have little experience in Industrial Design which scares me, if I will be able to complete the program to the best of my ability and land a decent job after it.

I have some experience in IT and am also doing a job at an web design studio which I hope I can leverage after the program, and that’s why I’m thinking more about Domus and also because I might get a decent scholarship there.

What do you guys think? I am really desperate for some good advice, I’ve looked at the pros and cons, but I’d like to know things from current students and alumni and how their experience has been.

Thanks a lot guys and I hope somebody can reply soon, I don’t have much time.

Hi everyone!
At my 28 Ive realized what I want to do with my life and I’m desperately looking for product deign program now.
I got accepted to csm foundation, which I personally find a waste of time.
I donnot have design background but I’ve been drawing and sketching all my life, so I can prepare my portfolio in few months or so.
As time passing by I have already gave up on 2013 semester.
Here are few questions:
Is there some 3 year long BA program for product design?
Can I take some short courses to be accepted to work.
I’ve been looking towards uc now because they have great coop program. Will I actualy earn some funds while my studies?

I was curious of what people thought of the program at PhilaU. I just finished my first year in ID there. Any thoughts?

Hello,

I recently graduated from UC in ID and after working for a couple of months I’ve decided I’d like to go to grad school. I want a better understanding of the business aspect of design and would like to pursue a program geared towards entrepreneurs; not looking for something strictly business but a mix of both creative/aesthetic + business (law,marketing,managing).

The three I’ve weeded out from all of the reputable schools, based on the program description and curriculum for entrepreneurs, were SVA in new york, Aalto in finland, and Domus in Milan.

Does anyone have any other schools they would recommend for my interest? Or opinions about the schools I’ve chosen? Or input on the direction I am taking for keeping my option as an entrepreneur open?

Thank you very much, the information in this discussion has been very helpful, thanks to everyone for your input!

In my opinion, the best way to learn about the business side of design would be to work for a small firm or start up for 2-4 years. Going straight from undergrad to grad school is just going to repress your skills in an academic bubble of limited experience. After working for a few years, then decided if grad school would be a great addition to your experience set.

It’s been a while since I’ve been on these boards, but I thought I’d chime in on my experience, now being a grad and all. This was a great resource for me when I was searching for a school. It can be a really daunting task picking a school, so I think any information would be helpful.

I graduated (2012) from the Cleveland Institute of Art in ID and loved my time there. I applied to many different school, CCAD, Pratt, RISD, UC among the top. The only one I wasn’t accepted to was UC. The only school I visited before making my decision was Pratt. I ended picking CIA based on great things I heard on this board (although lacking), and scholarships. It’s a relatively small school, my graduating class in ID was about 20 something. But the sense of community was great, and it was on a bigger campus, Case Western University, which was nice to meet others outside of Art school, without being enrolled in a large college/university.

Since my graduation, I got to visit once, and they have major overhauls in the facilities and the campus area is being renovated. The new MoCA Cleveland looks amazing and everything that is being built around it. A complete change from when I entered as a freshman. I’m definitely jealous :smiley: My favorite part of being at CIA was being able to take studio classes in different disciplines and visiting other departments. The head of ID is a great man and is really involved with the design world. He runs an amazing program. Cleveland itself as a city isn’t anything to brag about, but when you get to know the neighborhoods, it’s awesome. I would definitely recommend CIA to anyone interested. If anyone has questions about this school, I will gladly answer them.

Great to hear you found your passion! Preparing a portfolio depends on where you want to go, and the type of ID you would like to do. The school I ended up going to was looking for a fine arts portfolio, not ID or even design related stuff. I think that is most common for any art school with a design program. So if you can throw together something along those lines I think you’ll be in good shape.

I had 2 years of community college before entering design school, so I was also looking to transfer into the 2nd year, but ended up starting as a freshman with foundation art again, and I don’t regret it. I was really worried about being older, and having to go through freshman year again, but now that I look back, it was good that I did. Just something to think about. If you don’t have a a strong academic background, an extra year it worth it.

You can earn money while in school easily, I had 2-3 work study jobs (jobs for students) as well as an internship while at school. The money not be great, but it will get you by.

I was also very interested in UC, but wasn’t accepted (the only place I didn’t get accepted) which was fine cause it lead me to a great design program at the CIA.

Hi everyone
I’ve decided to go to grad school, I’ve narrowed my choices to Pratt (Master in Industrial Design) and RISD (Master in Furniture Design). I’ve visited both schools and reviewed their curriculum extensively. I’ve been racking my brain for a long time trying to make a choice, so any advise or comments on the schools and their programs is appreciated.

Background and interests: I have BFA in ID and over 3 years of experience in furniture design. I want to focus on furniture, lighting and accessories and in broader terms sustainability and design as a tool to renew production and consumption structures. I want to have my own firm/brand and collaborate with different companies/clients.

Thoughts on the programs:

RISD (Master in Furniture Design)
Curriculum: Excellent furniture design curriculum but seems a bit too specific; all the required classes are furniture studios or seminars and the electives seem very theoretical.
Alumni work: Their graduate student thesis work is always very impressive.
Location: Providence is a beautiful town but I’m worried I will be isolated from an active design community and all the cultural options that a big city has to offer.

Pratt (Master in Industrial Design)
Curriculum: The ID curriculum is much broader. They don’t have a specific furniture design program but you can ‘focus’ on furniture design through electives, they also have the Center for Sustainability Studies. Pratt accepts students that have no design background and while that makes for a richer group, it might also be argued that the level/demand might not be as high. They do have an introductory semester (semester 0) to get everyone on the same level but… can you really summarize 4 years of teaching into one semester?
Alumni work: Their graduate work seems mixed, some top notch and some average.
Location: NY and everything it has to offer including museums, conferences, design events, connections and city life.

Cost of attending and re-location are not an issue.

I have a very short time to decide so I’m anxious for any feedback from alumni, current students or anyone who has an opinion.
Thanks in advance!

Hi,
So I’m going to CIA this fall, and I just noticed (maybe a bit late haha) that the graduation rate at the school is around 50%! Is there something I should know? Maybe SaMi8402 could chime in?