Current trends in the design industry demand the development of new competencies in collaboration, digital modeling and fabrication in academia. In order to expose Interior Design students to multiple view points, the 2011 Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) Standard 5 now requires that “entry-level Interior Designers engage in multi-disciplinary collaborations and consensus building... Students have awareness of team work structures and dynamics…” (p.16). Another requirement, CIDA 2011 Standard 9 focuses on space and form, the expectations are “Entry level interior designers apply elements and principles of two and three dimensional design... Students effectively apply the elements and principles of design to: a) two dimensional design solutions, b) three-dimensional design solutions…” (p.19). This article discusses pedagogical experiences from an academia and industry collaboration where students designed light fixtures that exemplified Groovystuff’s product line. The design challenge was to design and build a fixture that uses reclaimed materials and exemplifies Groovystuff’s product line. Groovystuff provided the class with a bill of materials kit, feedback via facebook, and students researched the company and came up with sketches which informed their final fixture prototypes. Current technological trends such as digital collaboration via social media, parametric modeling, and fabrication techniques informed the design process.
8th International Conference on Design Principles and Practices
8th International Conference on Design Principles and Practices
