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This exclusive course is part of the program:
Making Meaning: An Introduction to Designing Objects
Go at your own pace
4 Sessions / 8-10 hours of work per session
Included w/ premium membership ($20/month)
Skill Level
Beginner
Video Transcripts
English
Topics
Architecture, Object Design, Generative Process

Not available for purchase in India

Open for Enrollment

Making Meaning: An Introduction to Designing Objects, Part II

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You can also start immediately after joining!
This exclusive course is part of the program:

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Go at your own pace
4 Sessions / 8-10 hours of work per session
Included w/ premium membership ($20/month)
Skill Level
Beginner
Video Transcripts
English
Topics
Architecture, Object Design, Generative Process

Not available for purchase in India

Course Description

Part 2 of Making Meaning: An Introduction to Designing Objects focuses on how design can be progressive, through exploring radical ideas, futuristic aesthetics and by embracing social responsibility. It also looks at the realities of design practice through the eyes of experts in the field. The course begins by showing designers that have done work that is new, and breaks with the conventions of the field. It continues with an examination of how objects capture a sense of “now” by referencing contemporary social, cultural and technological advances. Reflecting on design’s uncomfortable relationship to ethics, the course reveals key ethical dilemmas designers face and helps parse approaches to them. It concludes by examining the working contexts of today’s object designers, how client relationships are formed and maintained and how independent practice can provide a counterpoint to working within corporate structures.

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schedule

This course is in adaptive mode and is open for enrollment. Learn more about adaptive courses here.

Session 1: Radical Objects: The Challenging Landscape of Design’s Avant-Garde (April 2, 2024)
Design, like contemporary art, has a cutting edge - an avant garde. These are designers doing work that is new, and breaks with the conventions of the field. In this session we will explore this lesser-charted territory.
8 lessons
1. The Avant Garde in Object Design
2. Radical Design
3. The Independence of Italian Designers
4. Reactionary Aesthetics
5. Speculative and Critical Design pt I
6. Speculative and Critical Design pt II
7. Object Design’s Avant Garde Today
8. Outro
Session 2: The Aesthetics of Progress: Capturing the Zeitgeist in Object Form (April 9, 2024)
This session covers the way in which designers have looked to technological progress for design language to build into their work. It reveals why some objects look new, or even futuristic, while others quickly look dated.
7 lessons
1. The Origins of Product Styling
2. From Skyscrapers to Streamform
3. In Search of Authenticity pt I
4. In Search of Authenticity pt II
5. The Aesthetics of the Future
6. Speculative Aesthetics
7. Outro
Session 3: Towards Socially Responsible Design: Ethical Approaches to a “Dangerous” Profession (April 16, 2024)
In this session we look at the ethical problems of object design. It aims to help you form an ethical stance on the key issues so you can practice with something like a clear conscience.
12 lessons
1. Introducing Design Ethics
2. Client Designer Relationship
3. Ethical Project Selection pt I
4. Ethical Project Selection pt II
5. Labor and Safety Practices
6. Material and Process Selection
7. Safety of Objects
8. The Ethics of Intellectual Property pt I
9. The Ethics of Intellectual Property pt II
10. Co-Design, Participation, and Inclusive Design
11. The Ethics of Use
12. Outro
Session 4: Rules of Engagement: Exploring the Realities of Design Practice (April 23, 2024)
Finally we look at the main ways designers work, out in the world. Designers are either employed, working on commission, or working speculatively, and this session explores the advantages and disadvantages, and differences of each. We also hear sage advice from a range of experienced professional designers.
9 lessons
1. Employment pt I
2. Employment pt II
3. Commission
4. The Rules of Engagement
5. Ping-Pong
6. Speculation
7. Controlling Production
8. Advice for Young Designers
9. Outro
Learning Outcomes

Below you will find an overview of the Learning Outcomes you will achieve as you complete this course.

Instructors And Guests
What You Need to Take This Course

Materials:

  • Thinking: Objects - Contemporary Approaches to Product Design by Tim Parsons
Additional Information

Please note: Taking part in a Kadenze course For-Credit or as a Premium Member, does not affirm that a student has been enrolled or accepted for enrollment by School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Taking part in this course For-Credit offers credit that is recognized by School of the Art Institute of Chicago, should the Kadenze student be accepted for enrollment in the future.

Students who are currently enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are not eligible to receive credit for this course.

In order to receive college credit for these program courses, you must successfully complete and pass all 2 courses in this program. If a student signs up for the Making Meaning: An Introduction to Designing Objects program, it is recommended that these courses are taken sequentially.

*Partial credit will not be awarded for completion of only one course.

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Please understand that posts which violate this Code of Conduct harm our community and may be deleted or made invisible to other students by course moderators. Students who repeatedly break these rules may be removed from the course and/or may lose access to Kadenze.

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