RISD Undergraduate Degrees - BFA: Industrial Design

Industrial Design at RISD prepares students to identify and resolve design problems innovatively and with sensitivity to social and environmental concerns. Here you will learn both the traditional values behind industrial design and current trends in the profession.

As an ID major, you will progress from creating developmental drawings, to three-dimensional mock-ups and models, to working drawings and prototypes that incorporate manufacturing considerations. These hands-on studio projects enable you to build an awareness of materials and gain an in-depth understanding of visual and three-dimensional vocabulary. As you analyze and solve diverse design problems, RISD's ID professors will guide you in considering technical and ecological issues, along with the aesthetic and societal impact of your work.

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• Wood I (fall)
• Metal I (fall)
• Design Principles (fall/spring)
• Liberal Arts electives (fall/spring)
• CAD (spring)
• Major elective: Metal II or Wood II (spring)
• Wintersession: Liberal Arts elective (winter)

Sophomores
The program begins with a skill-based year that exposes you to both traditional and state-of-the-art techniques for visualization. Through the manipulation of wood, metal, paper and plastic, you begin to understand the unique properties of these materials and the design possibilities inherent in them.

• Advanced Design Studio (fall/spring)
• Manufacturing Techniques and non-major elective (one in fall/one in spring)
• History of Industrial Design (fall)
• Advanced CAD and Liberal Arts elective (one in fall/one in spring)
• Non-major elective (spring)
• Wintersession: Liberal Arts elective (winter)

Juniors
As a junior, you will use the skills learned the first year to focus on projects dealing with technology as it applies to products, form and human factors, mechanics and movement, and more.

• Advanced Design Studio (fall/spring)
• Non-major elective (fall/spring)
• Liberal Arts elective (fall/spring)
• Wintersession: Liberal Arts elective (winter)

Seniors
During senior year, you will undertake projects that emphasize innovation and the ability to refine formal design issues.

• Industrial Design Studio (fall)
• Legal and Business Practice of ID (spring)
• Degree Project (spring)
• Major elective (fall)
• ID Graduate Seminar (fall)
• Non-major elective (fall)
• Wintersession: Degree Project Programming (winter)

Fifth-years
As a BID candidate, you will take advanced design seminars, learn more about legal and business practices in the profession and focus on a final Degree Project that reflects your own particular interests and aesthetic.