Industrial Design

An image depicting work at the School of Art + Design.
Ever wonder about the aesthetics of your cell phone? Or your computer? What will the microwave of the future look like? How will it work? These are the sorts of questions that occupy the mind of an industrial designer, an artist who envisions the three-dimensional world of tomorrow with one eye toward artistry and the other toward utility. And these are the sorts of questions you'll wrestle with at the School of Art + Design, home to one of the nation's most esteemed programs in industrial design.

At the School of Art + Design, we encourage you to immerse yourself in the debates, theories, and histories of product design. But we also make sure you get your hands dirty. In fact, our courses emphasize the importance of personal discovery and problem-solving through experience-based assignments. Working with feedback from professors and peers, you create products with aesthetic and consumer value. If you major in ID, you'll eventually complete a semester-long senior project, a professional résumé, a physical portfolio, and a digital portfolio—tools that'll prepare you to advance into the wider world of industrial design.

Many of our faculty members wear two hats: They are both teachers and practicing industrial designers. Their work ranges from the physical design of human organ models to examinations of our emotional relationships to the products we use. You will work closely with these professors as you articulate your own questions and, through your art, propose your own answers.

And what exactly will you do in the professional world? A quick glance at career paths of our alumni will give you a good sense of the possibilities that lie ahead:

  • Exhibit design

  • Furniture design

  • Product design

  • Toy design

  • Architecture

  • Computer interface

  • Management

  • Marketing

  • Small-business ownership

Resources in Industrial Design

At the School of Art + Design, we make sure you have the tools you need. Our facilities include:

  • High-tech teaching studios and labs

  • Individual studio space

  • Well-equipped presentation areas and seminar rooms

  • Cutting-edge technology facilities stocked with more than 70 computers and advanced software packages for 2-D, 3-D, CAD, computer modeling, rapid prototyping, and animation programs

  • A modern engineering and wood shop facility

In addition, you can access labs in other artistic mediums, including metals, ceramics, graphic arts, and photography.

Industrial Design Curriculum Requirements

The curriculum in industrial design provides education in three-dimensional design for commercial and artistic production. The curriculum combines industrial design courses with Art + Design foundation courses, art history courses, design electives, general electives, and general education units required by the university.

Industrial Design degree requirements are listed under the College of Fine and Applied Arts on the University of Illinois Programs of Study website.