THE EXPERIENCE:
In the light-filled studio dozens of sheets of paper, with hundreds of overlapped drawings, are strewn about. Most are only slightly more recognizable than doodles, covered with arrows indicating direction and cryptic handwritten notes. One drawing near the top of the pile has more resonance – it is now apparent that this is the design for a contemporary hi-def television. The next studio is slightly cleaner, with a number of computer generated, highly realistic images of childrens toy designs.

Nearby in the 3D lab, a masked student is coating the inside of a plaster mold with fiberglass resin. Next to her is the original brown clay form that she is now recreating; its purpose is hard to identify, but has smooth, elegant curves. After many hours of work, over the course of 2 more weeks, the final fiberglass model of an underwater camera design will be almost impossible to distinquish from the real thing.

An industrial designer's life is a confluence of two things. 1) fidgeting with things, trying to see how they work and 2) criticism. Why did they put the stop button on the remote there and not there? Who thought of the arrangement of keys on a keyboard? And now, perhaps for the first time, a budding industrial designer is surrounded by peers. People who are willing to tear apart any newly purchased gizmo, just for the thrill of seeing the guts. They endlessly debate about the ways things should be - how someone holds a can opener, or what the "next big thing" will be in the mp3 player market.

MIAD's Industrial Design program starts with practical matters - learning to render the great idea trapped in the head. Sketchbooks fill, spill over, with doodles of products to be - and rationale for their existence - but most are tossed aside. Research is critical; in order to create the next great product, the history and functionality of the product must be explored extensively.

But how does one take the great idea and transform it into a real thing? Students at MIAD study:

• the materials that most products are made with
• the manner by which form dictates functionality and marketing trends
• the physical structure that is critical to making any product
• and the professional methodology required to take an idea and give it form.

Students learn to use sophisticated rendering software to refine their idea, and use all of the tools in the 3D lab to create finished models of their products. These final models - made of plastic, metal, wood, fiberglass or high density foam - look hauntingly real. Most casual observers would have no idea that they weren't functional.

Industrial Design is a very collaborative major. Many class projects are completed in group, often sponsored by real companies; and most projects require some kind of group problem-solving. Learning to work as a team, even when ego cries for solitude, is critical. And the industry is necessarily collaborative – no one person can design, build, manufacture and distribute a product. To enhance this understanding of the group dynamic, most students gain highly valuable experience through internships across the Midwest during the junior or senior year. This immersion into the professional world underscores and broadens everything taught at MIAD.

The senior year is a culmination of all these experiences. MIAD graduates leave the program with the experience and skills to make a real dent in the "real" world, almost immediately.

For every object/product that exists, there is a million that don't. You hope to unearth the next great thing. And instead of marketing this product, it will sell itself by its shape, color scheme, usefulness and ergonomic sensibility.

So what is this new product? Close your eyes, and think - it's waiting for you to see it . . .