Academics

The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Industrial Design

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Industrial design instructs and trains students in the design of consumer products, from faucets and fixtures to footwear. The curriculum emphasizes fundamental problem-solving methods and the communication of ideas through studying materials and processes, original research, and design methodology. Specific courses look at rapid sketching, rendering, and model-making techniques.

Points of Pride

  • Industrial design is housed in the new Visual and Performing Arts Building, a state-of-the-art facility built specifically for the visual and performing arts at Purdue. The building includes a computer lab built specifically for the industrial design program, complete with a three-dimensional printer.
  • Purdue has a student chapter of Industrial Designers Society of America.
  • The industrial design program was ranked nationally by DesignIntelligence: The Almanac of Architecture and Design.
  • Courses in portfolio preparation and presentation techniques also guide students as they prepare to begin their professional careers.

Special note regarding portfolio review - An art portfolio is not required to begin this major. However, students are required to pass a selective portfolio review in the spring of their sophomore year to advance to upper level design and complete this major. Selection is competitive and is based on the student’s work in Purdue art and design courses and development as a designer. Students not selected for upper level Industrial Design work with their academic advisor to change to their second choice major, usually without adding time to their four-year degree plan.

Careers:

As part of the design team, industrial designers work closely with marketing, merchandising, graphics, R&D, and engineering on new product development from concept to product release. They create sketches, renderings, and models of new concepts both on software and by hand; communicate with vendors and internal staff; present concepts to design, engineering, and marketing groups; and research new materials, products, and innovations in other industries.

Plan of Study

Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts

 



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