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R o b C u r e d a l e
Professor, Chair Product Design
College for Creative Studies Detroit
201 East Kirby
Detroit MI 48202-4034
Phone: 313 664 7625
Fax: 313 664 7620
email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.ccscad.edu
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>>> Jan Coker <[log in to unmask]> 11/23/03 23:42 PM >>>
Rob,
Yes, certainly I would prefer to see a designer be trained in a broad spectrum
of skills which are not part of most engineering or art curriculum. You stated
a view, it is your view but it is based solely on your understanding of your
own experience, it is not empirical data, that is what I questioned.
I would have thought that your conclusion from reading those briefing questions which I supplied could only be that traditional science and art courses do not not include any consideration of many of the areas which are usually involved when designing new products. But I could also argue that you are unable to provide any research that contradicts my initial statement the "People with purely art or industrial design backrounds with a few exceptions usually do not design successful consumer products." A deliberately provocative statement. Most large multinational consumer products manufacturers employ industrial designers. There is relatively little quantifiable data in the public domain related to the use of industrial design in industry. The UK has better data than the US. In Australia where you are working the few surveys of industry which had been made have such a broad definition of the term industrial design to be not very usefull. The survey I did myself there in 1990 into Australian industry and product design would suggest that there are far too many design schools to support the number of positions in industry and that far more than 50 percent of people being trained are not ending up designing products in Australian or other industry. Possibly more than 80%. Australian academics seemed afraid to do any rigorous quantifieable research related to the uptake of graduates in particular.There are 12 design schools servicing perhaps 150 working industrial designers Sydney with thousands of qualified graduates working in other areas in the country.New courses continue to be established without reliable research and data realted to the trend of proportion of population working in industry and productivity would suggest that fewer courses with more rigorously trained product designers would be a better national policy. Hopefully institutions like Irvine will help redress this need for more rigorous design related research.
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