RISD Career re:Design | June 14-July 3, 2008
RISD’s Career re:Design Program is an intensive three-week, multi-disciplinary course of study that provides a unique context for students to begin the process of transitioning into a career in design. Each student approaches the program from his own perspective, regardless of design experience — whether they are current or incoming college students, recent college graduates, or career changers of any age. The full-immersion format ensures that even a student without any background in design can absorb enough of a design sensibility in three weeks to point the way to an entirely new direction in life.

In today’s world, the design process serves as the portal through which innovation, creativity and critical thinking impact every product we use and every service we utilize. Design, indeed, is everywhere. The Career re:Design experience serves to make inquiring students fully aware of the importance of design through RISD’s hallmark studio-based learning method.

Designers encounter a host of variables in their work. Some issues are tremendously complex — manipulating the way we access health services, for example — and some are quite prosaic — how to meet a deadline and work within a prescribed budget. In all cases, the designer must not only solve the problem, but also frame the problem in ways that make the most sense. The professional designer must also consider the added dynamics of their clients, who come well-equipped with preferences and demands, as well as the pervading pressures within their particular business.

THE PROGRAM | CALENDAR | REQUIREMENTS | TUITION + FEES | TO REGISTER | FOR MORE INFORMATION | FACULTY BIOS

THE PROGRAM
Through a series of lectures and field trips, students experience first-hand the realities of working in a design profession. They examine materials, concepts and working methods of designers as they bring a sample project from initial idea to market-ready product. The studio component focuses on the comprehensive approach to working in a project-based process used by designers in all areas of the design marketplace. With the guidance of three members of RISD’s renowned faculty, each representing a distinct discipline, students develop a concept, research materials and design processes, and then create a working model of their ideas for a final presentation to their peers and teachers.

Curricular highlights include:

• Introduction to the studio method of learning (project-based, experiential learning supported by individual and group critiques).
• Lecture series from active design professionals, presenting real projects and issues facing designers in the commercial market.
• Site visits to individual working design firms and corporate design departments.
• Sessions for students to develop academic strategies that will qualify them for employment in the design profession.
• Meetings with corporate HR personnel to better understand what employers are looking for in qualified design professionals.
• Ongoing computer sessions to introduce students to specific and appropriate design-based software skills.

Career re:Design Sample Schedule

Students leave the Career re:Design Program invigorated; with greater insight, a broad base of knowledge, a studio project and most importantly, a clearer vision of where and how to make a significant impact in their next professional endeavor.

In the words of one previous Career re:Design student:
“Aside from the academic content, greater enrichment stemmed from the opportunity the [program] offered each of us to reflect on our own experiences; while engaging with others who approached design from an entirely different place (in terms of geography, profession, and life-stage). [It] was truly refreshing for me to shed my own assumptions, relearn, and also be reaffirmed in my sensibilities and education.”

REQUIREMENTS
All participants must have a high school diploma or the equivalent. Knowledge of the English language is essential and is required of all students. International students not enrolled in the RISD degree program must score at least 580 on the TOEFL written exam (or a minimum score of 237 on the computer-based TOEFL test, or at least a score of 93 on the TOEFL iBT internet-based exam).

TUITION + FEES
Most Career re:Design students elect to live on-campus, but locally-based students may choose to commute. For those living on-campus, room and board are included in the overall fee. Participants are provided a private bedroom in one of RISD’ s recently renovated residence houses, conveniently located near RISD’s main dining center, “The Met.” Tuition and fees for the program are:

Participants living on campus (tuition, housing and dining): $3,950

Commuting participants (tuition only): $2,950

A $250 nonrefundable deposit is due upon registration. If registering before April 11, you may submit a deposit and be billed for the balance. All accounts, however, must be paid in full before a student can attend any portion of the program. If registering on or after April 11, the entire program fee is due upon registration.

TO REGISTER
All participants must complete and submit the Career re:Design Registration Form Be sure to complete the forms carefully (both pages!), as incomplete forms cannot be processed. Please note: in the unlikely event that this program will not run, registrants will be notified on May 9, 2008. Therefore, registrants may wish to wait until after this date to finalize their travel plans or to obtain traveler’s insurance to cover nonrefundable tickets..

All non-US citizens who are not already enrolled in the RISD degree program must fill out a Student Visa Information Form (SVI) . In most cases, an I-20 Certificate of Eligibility for an F-1 student visa is required for study at RISD. If the I-20 is required, the SVI form must accompany complete program registration and materials, deposits and a $150 administrative fee, all of which must be received by April 1, 2008 (earlier submission is strongly recommended). Soon after receipt of the SVI form, a Declaration of Finances Form will be sent to students. It must be returned with information certifying that the student has adequate funds for tuition, living expenses and transportation back to his or her home country.

Registration may be completed by mail, fax, or in person, as follows:

Registering by Mail
Mail completed forms and fees to:
Career re:Design Program
RISD/CE
Two College Street
Providence, RI 02903-2787 USA
Payments may be made by check, money order, VISA or MasterCard. Checks returned for insufficient funds incur a $25 fee.

Registering by Fax
Fax completed registrations to 401 454-6218. Payments must be made by VISA or MasterCard.

Registering In Person
Bring all forms to the RISD Continuing Education office, 20 Washington Place, Providence, during regular office business hours: Monday - Thursday, 8:30am to 8pm; Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm; some Saturdays (call to confirm), 8:30am to 12:30pm.

Late Registrations
Registrations received after April 11 must include tuition and fees in full. However, as long as spaces are available, students may continue to register through May 9.

Confirmation of Registration
A confirmation packet is sent to each student who registers by the May 9 deadline.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you still have questions after reading the appropriate form, call 401 454-6209 Monday-Thursday, 10am-5pm and Friday, 10am-3pm, or 401 454-6200 during regular business hours. You may also send us your questions on the Catalog Request Form. Be sure to include your phone number and/or email address and a program advisor will contact you.

FACULTY BIOS
While many RISD faculty members and guest professionals will be involved with the wide variety of lecture, field trip and discussion components of the Career re:Design Program, the following three faculty members will guide the studio process and the overall progress of individual participants:

Mia Alwen
MA, Interior Architecture, RISD; BA, Hobart & William Smith Colleges; Sweden Technical Program in Building, Osterport Skolan.
Alwen has worked as designer/consultant at Move Management RI, Mary McDonald Inc. in Providence, as well as at the Design Collaborative, Pawtucket. She is a member of the faculty of Rhode Island School of Design and New England Institute of Technology.

Ernesto Aparicio
BA, Escuela de Bellas Artes, Universidad de la Plata, Buenos Aires; Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.
Aparicio has been a graphic designer in the publishing and corporate identity industries for more than twenty years. The designer for "Carte Premier" for Visa and MasterCard, his work has included logos and publications for prominent companies in France and Japan, and collaborations with major publishing houses in Paris. He has served as Art Director for Editions du Seuil in Paris and now oversees operations at Aparicio Design Inc., with clients like Museo Tokyo Japan, Théâtre de la Comédie Française in Paris, and New York City’s Public Affairs office. Aparicio has been awarded and/or published by Graphis, Communication Arts, Type Directors Club, Robundo and Novum, and is a faculty member for RISD’s Graphic Design Department and the Summer Institute for Graphic Design Studies.

James Pelto
BFA, Sculpture, University of the Arts; further studies in Industrial Design at RISD.
In addition to working as a senior designer for Hasbro, Pelto owned an engineering/manufacturing firm, and for twenty-plus years developed prototypes and production components for global companies including Honda, Uvex, New Balance and Mattel. He later worked as a project manager defining product design criteria for high-performance integrated molding systems used by Bausch & Lomb and Georgia-Pacific. He is an active design consultant and teaches in the Industrial Design Department at RISD.