PRODUCT DESIGN, THE HYPE, THE FACTS, AND THE MYTHS

If this is the first time you are hearing the words “product design” I recommend you check out my first blog post on the subject here, as this is a follow up post. To catch everyone up to speed, I spent the majority of my first product design blog post raving about the wonderful qualities of this field of study, but now I’m going to dive a bit deeper and address some specifics. 

What does a degree in product design mean?
Product design is the art and science of producing a plan for an item that is intended to be manufactured and sold. Each school is different in how the go about teaching product design but all of the programs more or less encompasses engineering, design, and business courses. Some schools are more engineering heavy and some are more design heavy. If you’re considering a degree in product design, this is something to consider.

Where are product design/ industrial design programs in the United States?
The National Association of Schools of Art and Design establishes national standards for undergraduate degrees and other credentials. Below is a map of all of the accredited NASAD product design undergraduate programs within the United States. ​​

Product design programs from around the country
This is a list of all schools in the United States with a program offering a degree in industrial design or a related design discipline at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. I have specifically linked the course list from all of these schools but feel free to check out the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) website for more information here.

ALABAMA
Auburn University*

ARIZONA
Arizona State University*

CALIFORNIA
​Academy of Art University*
Art Center College of Design* 
Art Instutute of Orange County
California College of the Arts*
California State University Long Beach*
Otis College of Art and Design*
San Jose State University*
San Fransisco State University*
Stanford*

COLORADO
Art Institute of Colorado
Metropolitan State College of Denver*

CONNETICUT
University of Bridgeport*

FLORIDA
Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale

GEORGIA
Georgia Tech*
​Savannah College of Art and Design

ILLINOIS
Northwestern University*
University of Illinois Chicago*
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign*
​Southern Illinois University*
School of the Art Institute of Chicago*

INDIANA
Purdue University*
University of Notre Dame*

IOWA
Iowa State University

KANSAS
University of Kansas*
Kansas State University

LOUISIANA
University of Louisiana - Lafayette

MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts College of Art and Design*
Wentworth Institute of Technology*

MICHIGAN
College for Creative Studies*
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Kendall College of Art and Design*
Wayne State University
Western Michigan University*

MINNESOTA
University of Minnesota - NEW

NEW JERSEY
New Jersey Institute of Technology*
Montclair State University*
Kean University*

NEW YORK
Parsons*
Pratt Institute*
RIT*
School of Visual Arts
Syracuse University *

NORTH CAROLINA
Appalachian State University
North Carolina State University*

OHIO
Cleveland Institute of Art*
Columbus College of Art and Design*
The Ohio State University *
University of Cincinnati*

OREGON
Art Instiutute of Portland
University or Oregon

PENNSYLVANIA
Art Institute of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Mellon*
Drexel University
Philadelphia University* 
University of Pennsylvania

RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island School of Design*

TEXAS
University of Houston
​
UTAH
Brigham Young University
The University of Utah

VIRGINIA
James Madison University*
Virginia Tech*

WASHINGTON
Art Institute of Seattle
University of Washington
Western Washington University*

WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design*
​University of Wisconsin - Stout*


* refers to NASAD Accredited Schools

No product design program? No problem
At the end of the day, many product design courses are simply just engineering, design, or business. This means if you find yourself at an institution that doesn’t have a product design program, you can always major in an engineering discipline or design discipline and just take up a minor or two in the opposite field. If you are dead set on majoring on product design, you can always design your own major. Not all universities do this, but many larger institutions do.

The Disclaimers
Product design is not for everyone. What makes this field so intriguing is that it incorporates so many different topics.  If you are bad at the technical stuff like math or CAD you’re going to find yourself struggling. The same goes for branding and drawing. It isnt impossible to major in product design, but it requires a certain level of competence from all subjects. In other words, you kind of have to be a jack of all trades, or at least learn to be.

Students

Cevgrd​

chloescott_dsgn

saunders_kai

Notable Mentions:  Mxrxvs, ​elbowsandsmiles

Individuals

​industrial.design

reid.schlegel

Firms

frog_design

yankodesign

This blog was written by Claudia Dubé. If you are interested in blogging for blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule.