INDUSTRIAL DESIGNUniversity master’s course

A designer conceives products addressed not only to a potential market, but also to the society that has its own consumer rituals and manners. The Master’s course provides an overall experience in product design, from the preliminary concept to its refinement, from physical and digital representation to the communication of the project. The educational approach stresses the experience provided to the user and the broader meaning of the product as the designer must also control the impact that his product will have on a social and environmental level. Students are proposed an open, interdisciplinary methodology that values their own cultural background and emphasizes the role of dialogue and mutual exchange in the creative process. The association with major industrial partners has the purpose of perfecting the education by providing students with challenging tasks that allow them to face the relationships with business and organizations in a mature way. Technical training is emphasized to build up solid professional groundings. The result of this work is translated into high quality education with a professional orientation.

METHODOLOGYAt SPD every student is followed individually by a faculty formed by designers, professionals from various fields and visiting professors. Teaching is arranged into intensive workshops, studio classes, theoretical lectures, seminars and visits. Research work carried out in collaboration with leading companies such as Beiersdorf,

Gebrüder Thonet, Ceramica Flaminia, Poltrona Frau Group, Microsoft, Samsung, Heineken, Alias, is a crucial experience at SPD. These projects are developed according to a comprehensive approach which is a testing ground for the student’s skills, from the concept idea to its execution.

RECOGNITION AND QUALIFICATIONThe Master’s course in Industrial Design is organized in collaboration with the Milan based IULM University and award academic degree certificates and credits under the ECTS system. After successful completion of the Master programmes, qualifiable students that have matriculated at SPD and IULM, will be awarded with the first level University Master Diploma recognised by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and corresponding to 60 ECTS credits.

ADMISSIONUpon 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, motivation letter, portfolio and on a Skype interview.

DURATIONThe Master lasts 15 months (from October to December of the following

year, with a summer break in August). Attendance is full time. The total workload of the course corresponds to 1500 hours/student encompassing lessons, class exercises, internship and individual study.

ACCOMMODATIONSPD supports all students looking for accommodation in Milan.

INTERNSHIPAt the end of lessons, students start a three-month internship at companies or professional firms in the field.

LANGUAGEThe Master’s course is held in English.

SPDCreativity is a daily task at SPD. Since its foundation in 1954 the school has welcomed an extraordinary community of students from various countries and backgrounds. Everyone has an unequalled opportunity: they work side by side with excellent professionals, engage in dialogue with a number of academic partners and swap experiences with young talents from all over the world. All of this takes place in Milan, a city with an incredibly close-to-hand and accessible heritage made up of architecture and design, production and business, communication and art.

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LEARNING AREAS

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.

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.

Colour, material and finishing 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.

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.

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.

Advanced visualisation techniquesThis 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.

ModellingThe 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.

Professional empowermentA specific workshop is focused on the development of a portfolio and of other supports of personal branding.

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0301Project in collaboration with GEBRUDER THONET VIENNADESIGN BY LAURA AFFINITO (ITALY), NICOLA ZAPPELLI (ITALY)

02Self-production projectDESIGN BY ENRICO DE LOTTO (ITALY), VIOLAINE D’HARCOURT (FRANCE), GEORGE KOLLIOPOULOS (GREECE)

03Project in collaboration with RAPSEL DESIGN BY GUSTAVO BRANCO NOSRALLA (BRAZIL),DARIO COSTA (ITALY), BURAK KOCAK (TURKEY)

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04 Project in collaboration with CERAMICA FLAMINIADESIGN BY EVANGELOS KARAPETSAS (GREECE), JUMPEI USHIYAMA (JAPAN)

05Project in collaboration with GEBRUDER THONET VIENNADESIGN BY ESTEFANÍA FERNÁNDEZ (SPAIN), ALFREDO SANDOVAL (VENEZUELA)

06Project in collaboration with LINEA LIGHTDESIGN BY JULIANA CORTES RODRIGUEZ (COLOMBIA), JULIO GIANNONI, (VENEZUELA), TAYFUN GUR (TURKEY)

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07Project in collaboration with CERAMICA FLAMINIADESIGN BY GILDA BORGNINI (SWITZERLAND)

08Project in collaboration with SERRALUNGADESIGN BY PABLO CRESPO PITA (SPAIN), MARTIN FRANZEN (SWEDEN), ISAAC PINEIRO (SPAIN)

09 Project in collaboration with POLIFORMDESIGN BY KOSTANTIA MANTHOU (GREECE), MANUEL TORRES (SPAIN)

10 Project in collaboration with WMFDESIGN BY SERDAR OZSUMER (TURKEY), IGOR LUKIC (SLOVENIA), VIVEK ANAND MUTHUSWAMY (INDIA)

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TACT

Scuola Politecnica di Design SPD20143 Milano, Italyvia Carlo Bo, 7(underground 2, Romolo)t +39 02 21597590f +39 02 21597613skype: scuolapolitecnicainfo@scuoladesign.com