The purpose of the course is to introduce students to advanced CAD techniques while enhancing their design processes by utilizing additional CAD applications. Extending the department's CAD education from 'Rhino workshop' and 'Designing with Solidworks,' several categories will be offered to explore further CAD applications including Rhino with plug-ins, Cinema 4D, MasterCAM with SolidWorks, unteal Engine, and more. The specific offerings vary year to year.

Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

Major requirement; ID majors only

Open to junior and above

The 6-credit Advanced Design studios offer second semester juniors and seniors the opportunity to investigate product, socially responsible, and sustainable design; innovation through science and technology and other topics in contemporary practice. These studios are designed to strengthen the student's ability to conduct research, ideation, material exploration, presentation, and concept validation. Studios meet two days per week.

ID juniors and seniors are required to take a total of three advanced studios.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of Department.

Registration of Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows a team of students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study.

Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

Permission of Academic Advisor and Department Head is required in advance of posted Registrar's deadline.

GPA of 3.0 or higher is required.

Register by completing the Collaborative Study Application available on the Registrar's website.

This course is an introduction to conceptual and manual skills that represent necessary steps in design evolution. Students strengthen skills by completion of several processes and exercises. Critical thinking and concept generation is a primary focus, drawing and model making activities help to establish this process. Throughout the course each student will focus on improving communication skills and the ability to project or sell ideas.

Estimated Materials Cost: $15.00

Major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

In this intensive independent studio students continue and complete the work began in "EHP Studio Elective", culminating in the final exhibition and review. It corresponds to the remaining four weeks of the program, after students have finished with their Art History and Italian classes.

Note: EHP credits replace the on-campus major requirements for the term students attend. Distribution to non-major requirements occurs when major credits are not needed.

Independent studio is at the core of the EHP experience. Upon arrival, students are assigned studio space at the Palazzetto Cenci, home of RISD's program in Rome. With guidance from the chief critic, each student develops a personal body of work sparked by his/her interactions with places, people and circumstances in Rome and other locations that are part of the EHP tours (such as the Northern, Southern or Eastern tours, as well as other shorter trips.) The work takes as a point of departure knowledge and techniques specific to individual home departments, but allows, and even encourages, explorations beyond disciplinary boundaries, including collaborations and cross-fertilization within a group of students from different departments working together.

Beyond consistent and thorough engagement with studio work, requirements include participation in open studios and exhibitions, presentations in reviews, and attendance to all group activities and events, such as lectures at the Cenci and other institutions. From time to time, the chief critic may issue short assignments to introduce or focus on a particular subject. As part of the studio elective, students may be encouraged to keep sketchbooks and/or diaries, participate in optional activities--such as figure drawing sessions--and search for brief internships, apprenticeships, or other forms of interactions with local artists, designers, curators and critics.

EHP Studio Elective corresponds to the first twelve weeks of the program, while students are also taking Art History and Italian classes. This course establishes the direction for the work in the "Studio Concentration" course that follows.

Note: EHP credits replace the on-campus major requirements for the term students attend. Distribution to non-major requirements occurs when major credits are not needed.

Graduate Communication Introduction is a studio course about writing and speaking as design tools. We think about writing and speaking in two ways. First as a communication tool and second as a design tool.

On the communication side, we adress the many ways that writing and speaking surrounds a designed object (as a proposal, as sales copy, as instructions to users, as specs for manufacture, as criticism, etc.). We think about the audiences for those various kinds of communication and how to think about what they want and need. We look at examples of great design communication and we develop and practice our own skills for succinctly explaining our ideas.

On the design tool side, we think about the many ways that writing can help clarify and quickly test out ideas. We think about writing as a form of rapid prototyping alongside sketching, model making, etc. We talk about what writing is good at, when other methods might be more useful, and when to combine methods. We explore techniques such as design fiction, scenario planning, and other narrative methodologies that are used in industrial design and related fields.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

The execution of two assigned design projects provides the framework for a thorough examination of the design process. This structured and intensive studio will focus on the relationship between the implementation of sound design methodologies and successful problem solving in the design process. This first studio experience is intended to provide the methodological infrastructure for the remainder of the M.I.D. thesis experience.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

Graduate Thesis Communications I is a studio course run in parallel with our sibling studio course which focuses on design research methods. Together, we will spend the fall semester casting about, planning and prototyping towards some kind of design proposal or product for execution in the spring. We think about writing in two ways. First as a design tool and second as a communication tool. On the tool for design side, we think about the many ways that writing can help clarify and quickly test out ideas. We think about writing as a form of rapid prototyping alongside sketching, model making, etc. We talk about what writing is good at, when other methods might be more useful, and when to combine methods. We use writing to help clarify and crystalize the thesis plan. On the communication side, we think about the many ways that writing surrounds a designed object (as a proposal, as sales copy, as instructions to users, as specs for manufacture, as criticism, etc.). We think about the audiences for those various kinds of writing and how to think about what they want and need. We talk about the thesis as a tool for explaining the design but also as a tool for helping you advance your career goals. At the end of the course, you will have a partially complete draft of your thesis. which will set you up for an excellent spring.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

This course introduces the Graduate Thesis project starting with the development of a research question through secondary research reading methods. This question has its assumptions articulated and verified through experimental making and primary research methods that engage specific audiences for qualitative discourse.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

This course will acclimate new graduate students to the shop environment of the Industrial Design Department. The Metal, Wood and Model Shops are invaluable resources, clarifying pragmatic aspects of the design process from general feasibility of manufacturing to the challenges of translating concepts into tangible objects. This course covers excerpted information from both undergraduate courses Wood I and Metals I and emphasizes safety in the utilization of shop facilities.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

STUDENT INTO A PRE-APPROVED ID STUDIO COURSE which is taken at the exchange school. Successful completion of the course will result in a "T" grade once receipt of the official transcript from the partner school has arrived at Registrar's Office.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses.

Permission of Academic Advisor and Department Head is required in advance of posted Registrar's deadline.

GPA of 3.0 or higher is required.

Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses.

Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required.

Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

Shoes are an everyday commodity; but do you know how many steps are involved? In this course, students will handcraft a basic pair of cemented construction shoes from start to finish. This includes beginning by creating a basic pattern, draping the last, cutting (clicking) the leather, sewing (closing) the upper, building a stacked leather heel, and finishing the sole. We will approach the requirements of constructing a shoe through choice of material, characteristics of leather, and how to utilize them in laying out the pattern. In the process of the construction from pattern to shoe, we will work with basic tools for handcrafted shoemaking including a shoemaker's knife, closers hammer, buff stick, lasting pincers to name a few. Students are expected to complete one pair of shoes and begin work on a second pair, applying and expanding upon the techniques learned in the class.

Restricted to Industrial Design juniors and above

Also offered as APPAR-2494 for Apparel majors

This course introduces the students to methods, materials, and manufacturing processes that translate design activity into finished goods. A significant portion of downstream design activity is devoted to manufacturing issues - the techniques by which materials are selected, shaped, and then assembled. Students will be evaluated based upon success of weekly field study research assignments and a final exam.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

This course gives the student a hands-on opportunity to develop design skills through the interaction with industrial materials that have strictly defined properties. Experimenting with these materials and the processes by which they are manipulated and formed promotes innovative thinking, problem solving and idea development. Students will achieve a more precise, professional and sensitive approach to design while broadening their technical skill base.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

The objective of this course is to develop a more precise, professional and sensitive approach to design while broadening the student's technical base. Precision machine tools such as metal lathes, millers and grinders will be introduced. Logical design and set-up approaches will be discussed. Outside design work will be required with emphasis on engineering drawing and sequence of operations. There will be a strong emphasis on experimenting with the material in order to promote innovative thinking and problem solving.

Major elective; ID majors only

Open Graduate Seminar examines historical, theoretical, or emerging areas of design practice. The aim of the seminar is to provide a space for critical evaluation of topics in design that are grounded in an understanding of their intellectual foundations.

The topic of the seminar varies from year to year.

At the completion of the course, each student will have developed a broad understanding and a measured evaluation of that semester's area of focus. To arrive at this understanding, students are expected to complete weekly readings, participate in class discussions, write critical reflections and complete a final paper.

Open Graduate Seminar is a 3-credit seminar offered through the Department of Industrial Design.

Open to Industrial Design Graduate students.

Open to undergraduates and non-majors pending seat availability and permission of Instructor.

The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.

Juniors take two 3-credit Special Topic Design Studios in the Fall semester. Juniors choose one 3-credit option from the "Content" category such as Packaging, Typography, Play, or UI/UX, and the other option from the "Process" category such as Casting, Soft Goods or Prototyping. Students will gain multiple competencies by utilizing techniques and methodologies through practice and process. Each studio meets once per week.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of Department

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

Students will be investigating the design process in Three (Distinct) Workshops. In workshop one, Preparing your Folio: Engaging your Professional Audience, you undertake a series of quick exercises that help you to understand your personal interests, skills and experience, and contextualize them in multiple ways to identify and then challenge and engage your professional audience in the discipline of Industrial Design, so that they will invite you to join them and live a fulfilling (personal and professional) life.

In workshop two, Designing Design: Designing (Process Evidence) for Biotechnology, several standard exercises adapted from world leading Industrial Design consultancy workshops will teach you how to engagingly, evidence the intangible nature of creating innovation while using qualitative research approaches, synthesize observation into insight and opportunity and create and narrate the near future by back-casting larger trends.

In workshop three, Working with People: Research, Ethics and (AI) Conversational Design, you will use practical research methods, project framing exercises and ethical approaches from several world-class research institutes and nonprofits while working with participants from your friends and family and friends of friends social networks to discover and understand real problems identified by real people.

Open to sophomore and above.

This class will cover basic camera optics and lighting techniques necessary to generate high quality digital images for either print or digital portfolio applications. The focus of the class is to master manual controls on the digital camera such as film and shutter speed settings in conjunction with aperture openings to obtain whatever the desired effect might be to best represent two and three-dimensional objects. Manipulation of natural and artificial lighting is the other main focus of the class. Students will learn the use of fill and bounce cards with sun, tungsten and strobe light sources. The emphasis will be on the strobe lighting studio where through a series of assignments students will learn direct, diffused reflected lighting techniques.

Students will be required to participate in the final critique during the final week of the semester.

Open to juniors and above.

This workshop teaches the basics of Rhino and introduces students to 3D modeling through an "exploratory process." Recognizing that experts devise many approaches to surface modeling Rhino Workshop: Exploratory Learning for 3D modeling uses four discrete projects each with a specific set of commands and features that will be explored as students fulfill the project's design brief and discover their own operational style. This approach flips the classroom experience - students use tutorials as necessary to identify techniques for basic surface modeling.

By the completion of the workshop, students will be able to use Rhino as a design tool in their own design process - using the software to simulate projects in 3 dimensions or exporting 3D files to 2D for presentation purposes.

Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

Open to sophomores and above.

Open to non-majors by permission of Instructor.

Philosophically, the ID Department believes that students become better designers when they have an intimate knowledge of a range of natural and synthetic materials. In this course, students will learn about the properties of natural wood and engineered wood-based materials, investigate the related technical processes, and evaluate how this information is both connected to and influenced by the design process. Students will work with materials directly and master skills needed to manipulate these materials. They will develop projects that allow them to engage in the design and development process, promote creativity, problem solving, and the correct use of materials. Facility procedures, safety, and care and use of tools and equipment will be stressed.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

This course will deal with advanced woodworking processes, including milling and machinery use, laminate and steam bending, plywood and veneer. Techniques in using natural and synthetic materials connected with furniture will be covered.

Major elective; ID majors only

"Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." -- Audre Lorde

"Self-care" has seen a resurgence in the cultural zeitgeist, and subsequently designers have identified it as a new "design opportunity." In its adoption by some designers, however, self-care has been abstracted, commodified, and de-personalized; it has been removed from its original radical origins as a practice of resistance and healing for marginalized groups. How might designers utilize the cultural momentum of the concept of "self-care" in service of those in need of it?

This course will look critically at the adoption of self-care by designers, examining the commodification and decoupling of the self in current "self-care" products. How do we return self-care to the personal, and discuss its manifestations for different intersections of race, gender, class, ability, and neurodiversity? How might new approaches to self-care look?

Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00

Also offered as ID-1543; Register in the course for which credit is desired.

The purpose of the course is to introduce students to advanced CAD techniques while enhancing their design processes by utilizing additional CAD applications. Extending the department's CAD education from 'Rhino workshop' and 'Designing with Solidworks,' several categories will be offered to explore further CAD applications including Rhino with plug-ins, Cinema 4D, MasterCAM with SolidWorks, unteal Engine, and more. The specific offerings vary year to year.

Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

Major requirement; ID majors only

Open to junior and above

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows a team of students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study.

Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

Permission of Academic Advisor and Department Head is required in advance of posted Registrar's deadline.

GPA of 3.0 or higher is required.

Register by completing the Collaborative Study Application available on the Registrar's website.

There is an element of fiction in all design work and design is always about imagination. We imagine the time when the objects and services we make become available to users and change their lives. Mostly, we imagine changing their lives for the better. A lot of designers call themselves storytellers but if that's true, they are terrible at it. "It just works" is an amazing product pitch but a boring story.

What is the role of storytelling in design? How can we benefit from (or exploit) the affordances of narrative? How can we navigate the blurry spaces between prototype and sales pitch? Between dreamer, hustler, visionary, and con artist?

This is a highly collaborative class. Drawing from the techniques of science fiction, fantasy, and the foresight community, we will explore how world- and scenario- building can be used to enrich our designs. We will experiment with the tools of fiction and genre to examine our ideas from new angles and to find new ways of presenting our concepts to an audience. We will also consider the pitfalls and shortcomings of the approach.

Open to all students.

The aim of the course is to open a window on the complex and multifaceted present design environment. A preliminary overview about the major historic design movements will be followed by an extensive description of the design's state of the art together with a spot on the latest trends. Students will be invited to think and tinker, learning how to approach a design project, how to formulate proper research questions and how to use analog and digital prototyping to experiment, validate and communicate their own ideas. They will also initiate a dialogue with forms, functions, and interactions, defining the borders of the design activity and the actual role of designers. The main goal of the course is to get students familiar with the design vocabulary and with the basic tools involved in design processes.

Areas covered: Ideas and concepts creation, quantitative and qualitative research, sketch models making, digital fabrication, physical computing, project's narrative and storytelling.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only
Registration of Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses.

Permission of Academic Advisor and Department Head is required in advance of posted Registrar's deadline.

GPA of 3.0 or higher is required.

Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website.

In this product design studio, we will dissect an existing product, analyze a market segment, and redesign the product to fit the described market. The methodology used to complete this task will be accelerated, giving students an overview of a typical industrial design process. Students will be exposed to design drawing techniques, foam modeling methods, and the concept of designing for consumers.

The objective of this course is to develop a more precise, professional and sensitive approach to design while broadening the student's technical base. Precision machine tools such as metal lathes, millers and grinders will be introduced. Logical design and set-up approaches will be discussed. Outside design work will be required with emphasis on engineering drawing and sequence of operations. There will be a strong emphasis on experimenting with the material in order to promote innovative thinking and problem solving.

Major elective; ID majors only

The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.

This course is for industrial design graduate students in their final year to work independently on their graduate thesis. The instructor serves an advisory and support role in all projects. Students must submit for instructor agreement, a written proposal for work planned and the criteria for evaluation. Course meetings are arranged individually, and / or with the group as needed.

Graduate major elective; ID graduate thesis students only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

This course will deal with advanced woodworking processes, including milling and machinery use, laminate and steam bending, plywood and veneer. Techniques in using natural and synthetic materials connected with furniture will be covered.

Major elective; ID majors only

The purpose of the course is to introduce students to advanced CAD techniques while enhancing their design processes by utilizing additional CAD applications. Extending the department's CAD education from 'Rhino workshop' and 'Designing with Solidworks,' several categories will be offered to explore further CAD applications including Rhino with plug-ins, Cinema 4D, MasterCAM with SolidWorks, unteal Engine, and more. The specific offerings vary year to year.

Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

Major requirement; ID majors only

Open to junior and above

The 6-credit Advanced Design studios offer second semester juniors and seniors the opportunity to investigate product, socially responsible, and sustainable design; innovation through science and technology and other topics in contemporary practice. These studios are designed to strengthen the student's ability to conduct research, ideation, material exploration, presentation, and concept validation. Studios meet two days per week.

ID juniors and seniors are required to take a total of three advanced studios.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of Department.

Registration of Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

Turning an idea into a sustainable reality requires a fundamental understanding of business, but the frameworks that guide business principles overlap, complement, and enhance design principles.

This course seeks to educate students to understand business as a critical design factor- a defining constraint or liberating perspective along the same lines that other design principles are taught.

The guiding principle is that design and business are inextricably linked: Design work is intrinsically linked to business and will always be at the service of business, fulfilling the need for an enterprise (profit or non-profit) whose business model is critical to its survival. Design will find new channels, new outlets, through a more complete understanding of business needs and how businesses see opportunity. Design can and should be considered as critical strategic input for business.

The objective of Business Principles: Design and Entrepreneurship is for students to understand basic business vocabulary, to explore how design vocabulary and design processes overlap, complement and enhance business vocabulary, and to understand how design thinking skills can be used to identify and execute business opportunities.

Major elective; ID majors only

In this course, we'll approach object design through three different 'windows' of time. Our first window will be trends and Colour Materials Finish (CMF). The CMF and trend forecasting industries provide insight to commercial design teams about technological, aesthetic and social developments, (often at the edges of the mainstream), that might effect how products should look, traditionally two to three years out. With guidance from CMF industry experts, we'll research our own trends, to try and form a picture of what's happening, or what's about to happen.

Our second window will be futures. We'll look at some techniques and traps in the field of futures, to help us think about what might or might not happen. Futures and trends of course depend on past events. But the most creative and startling contributions to design and culture can sometimes seem to break with the past, to reexamine received wisdom, and reveal unquestioned assumptions.

Our third window will be that of the counterfactual. We'll imagine what a different history might imply for present day visual and material design? What if computer technology had continued to be developed by textile practitioners? What if the space race had been the deep sea race? What if Europeans had been 'discovered' by Native Americans? We'll use these trends, futures and alternate realities as seeds from which to develop our own material and technological experimental design work. Which who knows, might catch the eye of a trend forecaster and feed in to our future present.

Open to sophomore and above.

A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study.

Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.

This advanced course will explore computational design techniques using Grasshopper for Rhino with the goal of investigating complex patterns, digital fabrication, and physical computing. Topics such as data tree structures, data abstraction, surface rationalization, penalization, physics simulation, and animation will be synthesized to highlight the potential of parametric holistic design thinking. The workflows introduced in this course are meant to prepare participants with applicable knowledge in parametric methodologies that can be applied to various design problems. Prior experience with Rhino is required.

Major elective; ID Majors only

Open to sophomore and above

This course will introduce students to the subject of machine learning and its applications in the field of design, particularly for creating interactive applications on the web. Students will gain a top-level understanding of the history and current state of machine learning, as well as an understanding of the frontiers of data organization and style transfer for image, video, and audio.

During the course, students will learn how to build interactive systems using a variety of inputs including web cameras, datasets, and audio streams. This course will also explore the philosophical and moral implications of emerging machine learning technologies and their impact on society at large. Valid outcomes from the course may be tools, products, or art, and may focus on practical or conceptual/critical applications.

This course will not cover, nor assumes knowledge of, the technical or mathematical details of machine learning. Instead, it will focus on how to integrate available tools into existing interactive applications. While no specific knowledge of ML or programming experience is required, you should consider yourself "good with computers" and any familiarity with HTML/CSS/Javascript will be helpful.

Major elective; ID majors only

Open to junior and above

This course is a continuation of Design Principles (ID-2464) with an emphasis on problem solving and design process and skills.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

The purpose of this course is to expose students to SolidWorks, a widely used solid modeling software program. Students will learn how to translate their hand-sketches into three-dimensional CAD models. Lectures and assignments will focus on the development of form as it applies to plastic part design and assembly. Physical models will be realized through ABS rapid prototyping allowing students to experience true plastic part design.

Students should anticipate additional costs for supplies and materials.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

In this intensive independent studio students continue and complete the work began in "EHP Studio Elective", culminating in the final exhibition and review. It corresponds to the remaining eight weeks of the program, after students have finished with their Art History and Italian classes.

Note: EHP credits replace the on-campus major requirements for the term students attend. Distribution to non-major requirements occurs when major credits are not needed.

Independent studio is at the core of the EHP experience. Upon arrival, students are assigned studio space at the Palazzetto Cenci, home of RISD's program in Rome. With guidance from the chief critic, each student develops a personal body of work sparked by his/her interactions with places, people and circumstances in Rome and other locations that are part of the EHP tours (such as the Northern, Southern or Eastern tours, as well as other shorter trips.) The work takes as a point of departure knowledge and techniques specific to individual home departments, but allows, and even encourages, explorations beyond disciplinary boundaries, including collaborations and cross-fertilization within a group of students from different departments working together.

Beyond consistent and thorough engagement with studio work, requirements include participation in open studios and exhibitions, presentations in reviews, and attendance to all group activities and events, such as lectures at the Cenci and other institutions. From time to time, the chief critic may issue short assignments to introduce or focus on a particular subject. As part of the studio elective, students may be encouraged to keep sketchbooks and/or diaries, participate in optional activities--such as figure drawing sessions--and search for brief internships, apprenticeships, or other forms of interactions with local artists, designers, curators and critics.

EHP Studio Elective corresponds to the first twelve weeks of the program, while students are also taking Art History and Italian classes. This course establishes the direction for the work in the "Studio Concentration" course that follows.

Note: EHP credits replace the on-campus major requirements for the term students attend. Distribution to non-major requirements occurs when major credits are not needed.

Graduate Communication Introduction is a studio course about writing and speaking as design tools. We think about writing and speaking in two ways. First as a communication tool and second as a design tool.

On the communication side, we adress the many ways that writing and speaking surrounds a designed object (as a proposal, as sales copy, as instructions to users, as specs for manufacture, as criticism, etc.). We think about the audiences for those various kinds of communication and how to think about what they want and need. We look at examples of great design communication and we develop and practice our own skills for succinctly explaining our ideas.

On the design tool side, we think about the many ways that writing can help clarify and quickly test out ideas. We think about writing as a form of rapid prototyping alongside sketching, model making, etc. We talk about what writing is good at, when other methods might be more useful, and when to combine methods. We explore techniques such as design fiction, scenario planning, and other narrative methodologies that are used in industrial design and related fields.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

This required studio continues the explorations you began in Graduate Studio One. Again, you are challenged through a series of projects to purposefully locate your personal position within contemporary industrial design practice. The projects will introduce you to a variety of issues, application methodologies and audiences associated with the "industrial design" process that will equip you with a critical understanding of the field that can direct a practical means of applying your ideas. At the end of the semester, your deliverable is an exhibition piece resulting from a final self-directed project. This concluding project is a personal, insightful and original synthesis of your semester's activities and clearly communicates your maturity in problem solving design approaches. Graduate Studio Two is offered as part of the Graduate Industrial Design core curriculum in conjunction the required Graduate Shop Orientation and Graduate Communications courses.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

Graduate Thesis Communications II is a studio course run in parallel with our sibling studio course which focuses on completing your thesis. Together, we will spend the spring semester finishing the thesis and thesis book that you proposed at the end of Graduate Thesis Communications I. We continue to think about writing as a design tool and as a communication tool. For this course, we put more emphasis on the communication aspect. Together, we will continue to refine and strengthen the manner by which you explain your thesis to yourself and others. We will think about audience, voice, structure, and form. We will explore different ways of communicating the same idea in different contexts and mediums (visual, oral, written). We will examine how to share our work and with whom. At the end of the course, you will have a complete thesis.

Major requirement, ID graduate students only Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

This course concludes the Graduate Thesis through iterative prototyping, application and verification that positions and delivers a human-centered, discpline-engaging proposal that will be communicated through an exhibition format, product, product prototype and a final Graduate Thesis document.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

History is a powerful tool; a basic understanding of the history of design and familiarity with important design movements and designers is essential for thorough design work. By examining the work of other designers, we are better able to identify our own interests and concerns, and avoid repeating mistakes that have been navigated in the past. This lecture-based class will present the history of Industrial Design in a way that links it to today's studio work, and offers connection points to link past innovation and design activity with future design success. The lectures present a chronological overview of the profession of Industrial Design and its antecedents. Topics discussed will include major design movements, significant designers, manufacturers, and design-related companies, innovations in technology and material use, the development of sales, marketing, and user-focused designing, and the history of design process. Coursework includes extensive reading, in-class presentations based on independent research, projects, and writing.

Major requirement; ID majors

Registration of Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Liberal Arts elective credit for non-majors pending seat availability.

This course will acclimate new graduate students to the shop environment of the Industrial Design Department. The Metal, Wood and Model Shops are invaluable resources, clarifying pragmatic aspects of the design process from general feasibility of manufacturing to the challenges of translating concepts into tangible objects. This course covers excerpted information from both undergraduate courses Wood I and Metals I and emphasizes safety in the utilization of shop facilities.

Graduate major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

STUDENT INTO A PRE-APPROVED ID STUDIO COURSE which is taken at the exchange school. Successful completion of the course will result in a "T" grade once receipt of the official transcript from the partner school has arrived at Registrar's Office.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses.

Permission of Academic Advisor and Department Head is required in advance of posted Registrar's deadline.

GPA of 3.0 or higher is required.

Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website.

The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses.

Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required.

Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.

Shoes are an everyday commodity; but do you know how many steps are involved? In this course, students will handcraft a basic pair of cemented construction shoes from start to finish. This includes beginning by creating a basic pattern, draping the last, cutting (clicking) the leather, sewing (closing) the upper, building a stacked leather heel, and finishing the sole. We will approach the requirements of constructing a shoe through choice of material, characteristics of leather, and how to utilize them in laying out the pattern. In the process of the construction from pattern to shoe, we will work with basic tools for handcrafted shoemaking including a shoemaker's knife, closers hammer, buff stick, lasting pincers to name a few. Students are expected to complete one pair of shoes and begin work on a second pair, applying and expanding upon the techniques learned in the class.

Restricted to Industrial Design juniors and above

Also offered as APPAR-2494 for Apparel majors

This course introduces the students to methods, materials, and manufacturing processes that translate design activity into finished goods. A significant portion of downstream design activity is devoted to manufacturing issues - the techniques by which materials are selected, shaped, and then assembled. Students will be evaluated based upon success of weekly field study research assignments and a final exam.

Major requirement; ID majors only

Registration by Industrial Design Department, course not available via web registration.

The objective of this course is to develop a more precise, professional and sensitive approach to design while broadening the student's technical base. Precision machine tools such as metal lathes, millers and grinders will be introduced. Logical design and set-up approaches will be discussed. Outside design work will be required with emphasis on engineering drawing and sequence of operations. There will be a strong emphasis on experimenting with the material in order to promote innovative thinking and problem solving.

Major elective; ID majors only

The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.

Soft Robotics is an extension of conventional robotics that is especially good at wet and fragile handling applications. Soft Robotics focuses on micro-controller directed pneumatic actuators controlling squishy combinations of pressurized air and flexible materials such as silicone rubber and sprung steel.

In this course, you will be designing and making, working Soft Robotic prototypes using the Harvard Biodesign Lab's Soft Robotics Toolkit. In combination with low material costs, accessible coding community and increasingly accessible rapid prototyping technologies (3D printers, laser cutters, CNC mills) the Toolkit enables the easy and affordable, design, fabrication, modeling, characterization and control of fully functional, Soft Robotic devices. The final devices will complete against several other institutions in the 2019 Soft Robotics Design Competition.

Open to sophomore and above.

In this class we practice a variety of digital and freehand methods of design exploration and visual communication used by designers. These sketching and rendering skills are ideal for anyone who has to understand and resolve form while communicating ideas within interdisciplinary environments. We will focus on the redesign of a few objects, starting with some sketching from the ideation phase through to a final solution that describes the aesthetic and emotive intentions, as well as demonstrates knowledge of functional or unique manufacturing requirements. The class is built on the belief that strong two-dimensional skills remain the essential tool for product designers.

Students attending the first module will be required to participate in the final critique on the final day of the semester.

Open to juniors and above.

In this hands-on course, students will learn the basics of Processing, an open-source coding language that combines computer programming with form, motion and interaction. Students will learn the fundamentals of Processing to create interactive graphics and visualize data in a collaborative workshop setting. By the end of the four-week module, students will have learned to design, implement, and trouble-shoot their code, providing a solid foundation that will allow them to continue their learning after the class ends.

Students will be required to participate in the "laptop farm" group exhibition on the final day of the semester.

Open to juniors and above.

This workshop teaches the basics of Rhino and introduces students to 3D modeling through an "exploratory process." Recognizing that experts devise many approaches to surface modeling Rhino Workshop: Exploratory Learning for 3D modeling uses four discrete projects each with a specific set of commands and features that will be explored as students fulfill the project's design brief and discover their own operational style. This approach flips the classroom experience - students use tutorials as necessary to identify techniques for basic surface modeling.

By the completion of the workshop, students will be able to use Rhino as a design tool in their own design process - using the software to simulate projects in 3 dimensions or exporting 3D files to 2D for presentation purposes.

Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

Open to sophomores and above.

Open to non-majors by permission of Instructor.

This course will deal with advanced woodworking processes, including milling and machinery use, laminate and steam bending, plywood and veneer. Techniques in using natural and synthetic materials connected with furniture will be covered.

Major elective; ID majors only