Teaching Industrial Design Through Real World Markets and Manufacturing

Abstract

Traditionally, Industrial Design studio classes consist of teaching Industrial Design through completing a series of projects at school. But what if there was a way to leverage existing real-world wholesale markets and manufacturing facilities outside of school to teach students about the realities of taking a design from “art to part”? This paper presents a case study in which students were challenged to design a product that could be sold at the Dallas Market, an international home goods marketplace in Dallas, TX for retailers from all over the world.