Hi everyone! I’ve been pouring over this forum for awhile now~ what a wonderful source of information! Thank you to everyone that contributes.
I’m looking to go back to school for ID after working as a metalsmith for 15 years (I have an undergrad degree in studio art and history). For a variety of reasons, I won’t be able to enroll in college courses until 2013. In the meantime, I would like to start working on some skills that will help me once I get back into classes.
So my question is~ what skill(s) would you recommend I start working on as I prepare to enroll in college? Sketching, figure drawing, any specific computer programs? What is the best use of my time over the next year or so to prepare myself for an ID program?
I hope your venture into ID is successful and brings you fulfillment. You’ve got a great background for the aesthetic challenges of most ID tasks and metalsmithing is about as close to ‘becoming one-with-and-feeling-your-work’ as you can get!
Your guesses of sketching (‘visual communication’ would be the most suitable course if available), figure drawing and CAD modeling are excellent places to start. For CAD there are many options for someone just getting started but Rhino seems to still be the quick-learn for exploring form development as a ‘newbie’ -please forgive the phrase.
There are many great books on the subjects above. Have fun!
I would also recommend you just start reading up on some of the historical figures in industrial design. A lot of students don’t have much of a command on this type of historical context to our work. I think it is immensely helpful.
Thanks for the responses! I’ve started looking at ID’s from the past~ it’s incredibly interesting! Thanks for the suggestion.
I’m doing some research on CAD software. Rhino looks great but I’m having a hard time finding a way to learn it (other than on their website). Has anyone tried the tutorials from the website?