Tim Parsons

As the beginning course in the Designed Objects department, students will have an opportunity to explore different methods of working in order to begin establishing a practice that works best for them. Students will be building a strong foundation of skills and techniques needed to navigate an informed design process and successfully complete a design brief. In this hands-on class, students will learn how to find inspiration for an idea, develop that idea into a concept, and use that concept to design and fabricate a high-level, final prototype. Basic research theories and methods are introduced which are then applied towards studio projects. Fabrication and prototyping techniques are also incorporated in order to test out ideas and discover new ones. Students advance through definition, research, ideation, sketching, and modeling phases toward two? and three?dimensional representations (digital and physical) of their work that are orally defended during group critique.

Readings and lecture content will vary and will focus on examples of historically relevant and contemporary designers, artists, studios, and design movements; as well as design practices that highlight different motivations of the designer.

In addition to the two main projects that focus on different methods of approaching design? where students will be producing high-level prototypes, this workshop-style class consists of one-day projects and exercises designed to introduce techniques and skills such as technical drawing and sketching, form-finding, prototyping, and inspiration research, among others.

This course requires students to have a laptop that meets SAIC's minimum hardware specs and runs the AIADO template.

Systemic change requires influencing decision makers - be they members of the public, CEOs or politicians. By engaging in the creative act of world-building, and embodying the results through made artifacts, spaces, or digital media, artists and designers are able to make work that acts as platforms for fostering debate and, ultimately, change. This course goes beyond design¿s conventional end-user focused problem-solving approach, focusing instead on how to use art and design to develop impactful stories. It Introduces the fields of speculative and critical design, and design fiction, and illustrates how tools such as humor and satire can be used effectively. Along with regular readings and discussions, students will develop a major design project that articulates their vision of a ¿post-pandemic future'.

As the second studio in the MDDO graduate sequence, this course gives students the opportunity to develop their skills in individual project development and form-giving while practicing the use of research and design tools. The primary purpose of this studio is to help students identify their individual motivations as designers by working on a self-defined design project within a structured iterative design process.

As a complement to this inquiry, in-class presentations, readings, and discussions will familiarize students with the landscape of contemporary design practice. Readings will include theoretical, historical and critical texts. Design as a process will also be discussed.

Students can expect to complete a multi-stage semester long project. You must be a Master of Design in Designed Objects student to enroll in this course.