Juniors take two 3-credit Special Topic Design Studios in the Fall semester. Juniors choose one 3-credit option from the Content category such as Packaging, Typography, Play, or UI/UX, and the other option from the "Process" category such as Casting, Soft Goods or Prototyping. Students will gain multiple competencies by utilizing techniques and methodologies through practice and process. Each studio meets once per week.

Please contact the department for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday. 

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design

This global travel course offers a unique opportunity to experience craft as practiced at the highest level on location in Jaipur, India, with its long tradition and rich diversity of artisan culture, and to explore how digital technologies which pervade contemporary art and design education can act in collaboration. Hosted by DirectCreate, a network and facilitator of collaboration for Indian artisans, students will have first-hand exposure to the artisan’s environment and to observe the production of work hewn by place-based considerations such as regional climate, culture and infrastructure. Guided by project-based prompts and engaging in making activities together, this course invites a conversation about the nature of collaborative practices integrating craft while exploring new potential approaches to advanced technology.
 
There has been an emergence of global interest in craft (DIY practices, revival of sewing and knitting clubs) catalyzed by pandemic-era isolation and disseminated through mediated technologies. This boom in amateur craft stands in stark contrast to the devastation of many professional hand-based craft industries which saw their markets all but disappear and little know-how or access to digital markets. Such paradoxes and the pandemic-era decline of travel and devaluation of live settings in education, act as fitting backdrops for students in this course to become fully immersed within the shifting boundaries between art, design and craft and to foreground questions like "How can traditional craft meaningfully engage tools like 3D modeling or 3D printing" or “What is the role of the hand in the metaverse?"

Registration is not available in Workday. Students must complete an application through RISD Global. A minimum GPA of 2.5 is required and permission of instructor. Failure to remain in good academic standing can lead to removal from the course, either before or during the course. Most courses are open to first year students with approval from the Dean of Experimental and Foundation Studies.

This global travel course offers a unique opportunity to experience craft as practiced at the highest level on location in Jaipur, India, with its long tradition and rich diversity of artisan culture, and to explore how digital technologies which pervade contemporary art and design education can act in collaboration. Hosted by DirectCreate, a network and facilitator of collaboration for Indian artisans, students will have first-hand exposure to the artisan’s environment and to observe the production of work hewn by place-based considerations such as regional climate, culture and infrastructure. Guided by project-based prompts and engaging in making activities together, this course invites a conversation about the nature of collaborative practices integrating craft while exploring new potential approaches to advanced technology.
 
There has been an emergence of global interest in craft (DIY practices, revival of sewing and knitting clubs) catalyzed by pandemic-era isolation and disseminated through mediated technologies. This boom in amateur craft stands in stark contrast to the devastation of many professional hand-based craft industries which saw their markets all but disappear and little know-how or access to digital markets. Such paradoxes and the pandemic-era decline of travel and devaluation of live settings in education, act as fitting backdrops for students in this course to become fully immersed within the shifting boundaries between art, design and craft and to foreground questions like "How can traditional craft meaningfully engage tools like 3D modeling or 3D printing" or “What is the role of the hand in the metaverse?"

Registration is not available in Workday. Students must complete an application through RISD Global. A minimum GPA of 2.5 is required and permission of instructor. Failure to remain in good academic standing can lead to removal from the course, either before or during the course. Most courses are open to first year students with approval from the Dean of Experimental and Foundation Studies.

The material qualities of textile design and fabrication refer to our relationship to all aspects of the physical and tangible world. While computation has long been responsible for pushing the traditional techniques of textiles to high levels of mechanical industrial expression, digital sensibility and know-how of digital technologies are now increasingly seen as means to push the frontier and very definition of fabric. Parallel advances in digital fabrication and the invention of smart materials now allow for added dimensionality and functionality in fabric, and computation is a key interface for material exploration. In this course, students will learn to modulate the performance and behavior of fabric through its geometry and other systems of continuous structural surface within a computational framework. This students will provide students with the opportunity to push the boundaries of fabric design across disciplines and studio practices.

Offered as TEXT-2350 and IDISC-2350.

Estimated Cost of Materials: Varies by project.

Please contact the department for permission to register. 

Elective

The material qualities of textile design and fabrication refer to our relationship to all aspects of the physical and tangible world. While computation has long been responsible for pushing the traditional techniques of textiles to high levels of mechanical industrial expression, digital sensibility and know-how of digital technologies are now increasingly seen as means to push the frontier and very definition of fabric. Parallel advances in digital fabrication and the invention of smart materials now allow for added dimensionality and functionality in fabric, and computation is a key interface for material exploration. In this course, students will learn to modulate the performance and behavior of fabric through its geometry and other systems of continuous structural surface within a computational framework. This students will provide students with the opportunity to push the boundaries of fabric design across disciplines and studio practices.

Offered as TEXT-2350 and IDISC-2350.

Estimated Cost of Materials: Varies by project.

Please contact the department for permission to register. 

Elective