This a required studio for seniors that continues advanced theory and practice of furniture design. Upholstery techniques are introduced.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

This course will provide an opportunity for students to design and make cabinets of various types with doors and drawers. Students will learn the subtleties of casework and fitting doors, drawers and hardware. While a wide range of design approaches from very simple to complex will be encouraged, this course will be an especially good opportunity for those students who wish to explore advanced woodworking.
Elective; Furniture majors only

This course will provide students with a high level of competency and an increased sensitivity to the creative potential that CAD modeling presents to designers. Students will be introduced to the fundamental concepts and technologies of CAD using Rhinoceros. There will be expenses associated with outputting services (printing, rapid prototyping and/or CNC machining).
Elective

Drawing for Furniture 2D will focus on the ways in which drawing can help generate, evaluate and communicate design concepts. Students will be introduced to the conventions and techniques of technical drawing for Furniture Design while pursuing experiments that supplement and challenge established practices. Focus will be on two drawing systems, orthographic and paraline projection, working by hand and with computers.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

This course concentrates on the exploration of personal design aesthetics and the development of furniture projects that exhibit a high degree of technical proficiency.
Graduate major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

This course concentrates on projects that begin the thesis body of work. Advanced design and technical processes are continued as part of this process.
Graduate major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

This studio will consist of advanced furniture design and practice. There will be two sections, one will concentrate on furniture design using advanced wood techniques and materials while the other will relate to metal fabrication and cast materials.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

This class will focus on professional presentation with regards to all aspects of your work including visual portfolio, artist statement, resume and clear articulate correspondence. With a basic understanding of what you are trying to achieve combined with a philosophy of how you will achieve it, this course will help equip you with the foundation to deal with the business of making a living from your art.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

Students will research specific furniture themes and materials in a variety of contexts including external partnerships.
Major required elective with adequate wood studio experience
Permission of department head required

This studio course introduces materials commonly used in furniture making and the foundation skills necessary to integrate them into furniture. Emphasis is on techniques, structures and materials properties. These are integrated with theoretical exercises that focus on design.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration
Tool Rental: $150.00

Witness trees, as designated by the National Park Service, are long-standing trees that have "witnessed" key events, trends, and people in history. In this joint studio/liberal arts course, students have the unique opportunity to study and work with a fallen witness tree, shipped to RISD from a national historic site. The course will involve three components: 1) a field trip to the tree's site at the beginning of the semester; 2) classroom-based exploration of American history, memory, landscape, and material culture; and 3) studio-based building of a series of objects from the tree's wood, in response to both the site and students' classroom study. Overall, the course will explore both how material artifacts shape historical understanding and how historical knowledge can create meaningful design. The wood this year will come from the Thomas Edison National Historic Park in West Orange, New Jersey.
Students must also register for HPSS S732
Students will receive 3 credits in Furniture and 3 credits in HPSS, for a total of 6 credits
A single fee of $100.00 will be charged for your concurrent registration in HPSS S732/FURN 2451 courses.

Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) milling machines are sophisticated pieces of production equipment that use reductive processes to translate digital designs into physical objects with incredible speed and precision. However, the path from an on-screen design to something you can touch with your hands is much more complex than one might think. This course will provide students with in-depth, practical experiences related to the design and production of objects with CNC milling technologies. Hands-on experience with the technology will be emphasized, including: understanding the various concerns associated with set-up and, operation of machines, preparation and holding of materials, and using CAM software to create the instructions that control machining operations. In addition to gaining practical competencies with these technologies, particular emphasis will be placed on developing an awareness of the conceptual and aesthetic potential these processes present. Because all projects will involve CNC milling technology, Students must already be competent with 3D modeling.
Estimated Material Cost: $200
Enrollment in this class is by instructor's permission. Although there is no prerequisite course, proven competency with 3D modeling (surface or solid modeling) is required.

Gift giving has been a celebrated and culturally significant tradition throughout our history. Often when visitors come to RISD?s campus they bring small gifts to share and likewise, when RISD staff are afield, they bring along gifts and remembrances from RISD. In this course students will learn about the art and cultural significance of gift giving and ultimately design a RISD gift created specifically to be given to distinguished guests who come to campus or to be taken to hosts by our RISD staff in the field. Students will gain valuable insight into the process of free-lance design through client interaction, design brief development, concept presentation, reacting and adjusting to critical feedback, and navigating the manufacturing and economic challenges inherent in freelance production work. At the conclusion of the semester one project will be selected by a distinguished panel of critics to be put into limited production by RISD for distribution. This course will result in students acquiring practical knowledge of the process and design strategies essential to the success of a free-lance designer today.
Space in this course is limited. Students are asked to email to bblanc@risd.edu a statement (200 words or less) explaining the nature of their interest in the course, along with 3 images of supporting work.

This course will be an introduction to the skills and techniques for furniture design. The primary focus will be on developing innovative concepts through drawing and model-making. Simple hand tool techniques and basic woodworking machinery will be introduced. Exercises in sketching, model-making and various design strategies will aid in developing an understanding of materials and processes, culminating in two substantial products. Through a series of informative presentations, hands-on lectures, technical demonstrations, and short project assignments, students will explore the relationships between concepts, techniques and built objects.

This course will explore the design process as a hands-on experience-based, trial-and-error experimentation with materials. Each student will be required to develop a new composite material through investigation, or a system of incorporating found or recycled objects into new forms. This course is an opportunity for those who want to explore a bold inside-out design process with zero restrictions as employed by the designers Tom Price, Maarten Baas, the Campana Brothers, or Jolan van der Wiel. Students will participate in short fast-paced exercises through the first three weeks of Wintersession and will be required to complete a final project for formal critique. Tasks will include creating a 3x3" cube by any means (additive or reductive), building a functioning stool, and applying these new ways of working to a more refined, resolved final piece.
Expectations: In addition to your active participation during our regularly scheduled meeting times, it will also be necessary for each student to dedicate a considerable amount of time outside of class to each phase of our projects. Although you can complete much of your design work (Research/Sketching/Drafting/Model-Making) outside of the studio, you will need to be aware of the posted 'Open-Studio' hours to allow yourself enough time to complete the materials component of the course. Also, as most of you will likely have limited access to the specialized machinery in the wood or metal shops, it may be necessary to seek help from the shop monitors, more experienced students, or instructors outside of class to complete certain components of your projects. The instructors will do their best to keep everyone on-track, but it will be up to each student to garner the necessary resources to complete your daily assignments/major projects on-time.
Estimated Material Cost: $50

This course is an appropriate introduction to furniture design in metal. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the basic techniques of metal fabrication as they apply to furniture design. Design issues will be resolved through a series of drawings and models and welding skills will be honed through several preliminary projects. Students will be expected to complete a piece of furniture.

Estimated cost of materials: $75.00

This course will explore detailing and finish of rapid prototype models. We?ll look at existing products in the market place from Anime figures to Gillette razors. Starting at the ground level, this course will be an introduction to the rapid prototype printing process with an exploration of form, fit and detailing of the ABS material. This will be followed with hands on exploration of sanding, coloring, decorating and the finishing of the ABS models for presentation. Multiple parts and connections and combinations of colors and materials are encouraged, as the goal is a strong display of graphic quality. Gluing, drilling and other manipulations of the ABS material will be explored.
Prerequisite: 3D digital drawing capability
Estimated materials cost $30-$100 for RPM use

Long known as the "Beehive" of industry, Providence RI is one of the most diverse manufacturing hubs in the US. Although today's global market continues to absorb these resources, Providence has retained a highly skilled manufacturing center that is eager to work with the creative arts. This rare resource provides designers the unique ability to work locally with manufacturing re-sources from traditional lost wax casting to emerging manufacturing technologies such as laser cutting, multi-axis cnc, and rapid prototyping. Throughout the course we will visit manufacturing, marketing, and retail facilities to develop a working understanding of production processes and methods available to you and how best to effectively implement these resources into your work as a designer/artist. The studio course will conclude with each student presenting a finished production ready object in multiples along with supporting marketing materials. By approaching this class from a design, manufacturing, and marketing perspective students will acquire a practical knowledge of production strategies essential to the success of a designer today.
Elective

This course continues drawing and concept development techniques, sketching with three-dimensional models, mock-ups and prototypes. Working in several scales and levels of articulation, students will expand pre-visualization and detailing skills. Basics of 3-D computer simulation will also be introduced.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

This course explores advanced design processes and methods of construction. The evolution of a project through a complete design process is required including conceptual and design development phases.
Graduate major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

The graduate seminar is a forum for discussion and research outside of the studio setting. Through a series of topical investigations, lectures, presentations, and field trips, students will explore current design issues, professional practices, directions, and developments within the field, and other topics that will help to formulate the basis of the graduate thesis work.
Graduate major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration
Elective for senior, fifth-year; Nonmajors with permission of instructor

This course culminates the completion of the thesis body of works and accompanying written document.
Graduate major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

A survey of the development of furniture and a critical assessment of styles of each period. Considerable time will be spent studying the collection of the RISD museum. The course will include lecture, papers, field trips, and exams.
Major requirement
Art History credit for Furniture majors
Liberal Arts elective credit for nonmajors on a space available basis.
Spring restricted to students in Furniture Design

This studio will mirror the fall studio with students reversing the section of advanced wood and metal and cast materials.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

Students will research specific furniture themes and materials in a variety of contexts including external partnerships.
Major required elective with adequate wood studio experience
Permission of department head required

Seniors will complete their final portfolio works in this studio. Seniors will design and execute a final degree project. The degree project will be individualized according to student interest.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration

This sophomore studio expands basic principles of furniture design and material skills, exploring how the made objects interact with the human body. Intermediate skills will be demonstrated and practiced as students further explore materials and their applications in design.
Major requirement; Furniture majors only
Registration by Furniture department, course not available via web registration