Introduction

In industrial design engineering a designer has to play several roles. Sometimes the most important part of industrial design is the application of a new technology. Other times the development of a better user interface is more important. Design is, for the most part, about the combination and integration of different aspects. Styling always plays an important role.

In the master track Design & Styling, students oversee all aspects of product development, but focus mainly on styling the design and its emotional benefits, and evolutionary product development.

The Design & Styling courses form a continuous thread

Four courses form the continuous thread through the master track

‘Design & Styling’. The main theme of the first course, Past Futures, is the history of style. Design styles are placed in the context of society and the times. The manifestos, pamphlets and other texts that propagate a certain style always have a utopian character. Nearly all the time there is an idealistic vision about how society should be changed and the role the designer ought to play.

In the second course, Evolutionary Product Development, the history of a chosen existing product is studied. Students bring an example of the product which is then dismantled during a practical. The product is analyzed with special attention to the used production methods (forming, separating and joining processes), materials and surface treatments (coatings). In the second part of this course, students redesign the product as the ‘next logic step’ based on the history of the product.

The importance of emotional benefits has substantially increased over the past decades. Therefore, in the third course in this series,

Design & Emotion, special attention is paid to this subject.

In the fourth and last course, Create the Future, an emphasis is placed on the development of a product for the longer term, for example ten or more years. To realize this, students first write several future scenarios.

In addition to the mentioned above, the course Design Management is mandatory.

Optional subjects

In addition, students can choose from a number of optional subjects. Below a few examples. Students can also come with their own suggestions.

The coordinator for the master track Design & Styling is:
Prof.dr.ir. Arthur O. Eger
e-mail: A.O.Eger@utwente.nl