Industrial Design

Concerned with functional, aesthetic, social, economical, cultural and technical aspects of machine-made products and services, industrial designers are the professionals designing and analyzing these products and their impact on society and nature. Industrial designers deal with the qualitative, quantitative,methodological andidentity aspects of products and services. Major areas of industrial design include electrical-electronic products, furniture, housewares, home and/or office appliances, IT products and services, musical instruments, medical devices, tools, human interfaces, and recreational equipment. Being the first and only undergraduate industrial design program within the region, the Department of Industrial Design at the Izmir University of Economics offers a Bachelors of Arts degree in either Industrial Product Design or Design Management. After two years of study at the department, students choose either Industrial Product Design or Design Management options for their third and fourth years of specialization. While being introduced to the cultural, historical and methodological aspects of the profession, students also experience the fundamental tools of designing like computers, machinery and tools, as well as presentation and research techniques.

Product Design Specialization Area:The Product Design Specialization Area mainly focuses on the practice of designing, covering design issues like design engineering, advanced product development, service design, user-centered design, ecological design, and the latest technologies in executing industrial designs execution.

Design Management Specialization Area:The Design Management Specialization Area explores the economical and business related issues of industrial design by providing expertise and experience in both worlds of business making and design practice in industrial contexts. Marketing, economics, strategic and financial planning, entrepreneurship, and the costs and benefits of designing are the core issues of this area. Both specialization areas work with actual product design and design management problems of local, national and even global design related industrial institutions. Students develop hands-on experience in designing and design management by building professional relations even while they are studying. Visiting lecturers, seminars, trips, visiting professionals, laboratories, studios and model workshops provide students a continuous interactive education and a development atmosphere within the department.