Admission.
Upon selection the Master admits graduates in Industrial or Product Design, Architecture, Product Engineering or equivalent, and students from academies of applied arts; candidates who have gained significant professional experience in the field. The program has a limited number of places available. Applicants will be admitted upon selection based on the student’s CV, portfolio and on an interview. Applications must be sent to the SPD Academic Office.
Duration.
The Master lasts 15 months (from October to December of the following year, with a summer break in August). Attendance is compulsory and full time. The total workload of the course corresponds to 1500 hours/student encompassing lessons, class exercises, internship and individual study.
Internship.
At the end of lessons, students start a three-month internship at companies or professional firms in the field.
Language.
The Master’s course is held in English.
Qualification.
After passing the final exam, eligible students will obtain a Master’s Degree from IULM and SPD. The Master corresponds to 60 ECTS credits.
Classes.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN LABORATORIES.
Project-based courses encourage the students to face challenging themes, closely related to the current design scene. These studio classes are intended to stimulate creative thinking, while rounding off sounder professional skills. Students work in an international and multi-cultural environment and meet with the tutors and the colleagues to discuss, revise, constantly develop their work. Each laboratory covers all the phases in the design process, from the concept idea to the presentation of the project. A particular emphasis is given on the human behaviour and on the tangible and intangible interaction between people and the objects that surround them.
COLOUR, MATERIAL AND FINISHINGS.
A growing attention to colours, materials and finishes marks a new breed of products, characterised by a strong emotional identity. This area of study covers all the aspects of the language of colors, matter and surface finishing. The course supplies the skills for the analysis and the research of trends and guides the students to the definition of an effective sensorial palette.
MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES.
The purpose of this content area is to convey a general understanding of the key role of materials and production processes for design applications. Wide coverage is given to innovative, advanced and sustainable materials since their ever-increasing penetration in all industrial fields. The course explores the most appropriate production technologies and transfers the essential knowledge – along with a number of practical examples of product development – to proceed to materials selection. Collectively, these lectures are purpose-built to the creation of a constructive and eclectic overview of effective material solutions, suitable for a wide range of design development practices and application fields or end products.
HISTORY AND CULTURE OF DESIGN.
This series of lectures and visits supplies the students with the critical tools to analyse the contemporary scene and orientate their design practice. A particular viewpoint considers ‘history’ as ‘contemporary history’: the subjects of the lessons are presented under this perspective, in connection with the present times and in constant comparison with an evolving situation. The topics comprise the current orientations in design – intended both as a product and a space – and carry out an analysis of the development of new languages and philosophies emerging from todays’ cross-fertilization processes among the different disciplines.
COMPUTER DESIGN.
The aim of the program is to help the students to gain a professional command of 3D software both for surface modelling and for photorealistic rendering and animation. Computer generated objects enable the designers to examine the idea and to assess its form, its proportions and constructive elements. Students learn how to create virtual images, granting them highly photographic visual impact. A specific attention is devoted to the processes for the creation of prototypes and 3D printed objects.
ADVANCED VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES.
This teaching area embraces different techniques to assess ideas and visualise effective solutions throughout the entire workflow. A variety of tools is presented, from the free-hand drawing and the fast colouring skills that allow the designers to communicate the concept idea before the CAD/3D phase, to the post-production and the publishing tools that enhance the presentation of the final design. Lessons are aimed at transferring the complete skillset to produce impactful visual presentations.
MODELLING.
The purpose of the modelling workshop is delivering the students with the practical abilities needed in order to create three-dimensional study-models or rough mock-up for presentations. During the design process, modelling skills are a basic tool to verify the first ideas or refine them checking the volume and its proportions, the functional parts and their connections. Students are presented a variety of production methodologies (conventional and innovative) and acquire technical and operational skills to produce their mock-ups independently.
