SAN DIEGO—Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD has announced the addition of the Bachelor of Arts in Product Design program to its suite of global design programs. The program, which is open to enrollment for the 2014–2015 school year, provides students with an integrated design study experience through interdisciplinary education opportunities, an emphasis on international design perspectives, and hands-on projects developed in conjunction with leading design practitioners and companies. A Dec. 12 event at NSAD featuring innovative products will formally mark the launch of the product design program, which has been developed in collaboration with the famed Domus Academy in Milan, Italy.
The Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD is uniquely positioned to offer students a world-class educational experience through NSAD’s interdisciplinary offerings in digital design and architecture, as well as through collaborations with Domus Academy that leverage proven Italian design approaches.
“There is a growing need for product designers who bring global perspectives and an interdisciplinary approach to designing unique and relevant user experiences,” said Ezequiel Farca, a Mexican designer whose global firm handles architecture, interior and product design projects. “The product design program offered through the Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD addresses this need by providing students with an integrated, world-class education that prepares them to be leaders in their field.”
The Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD, which includes the product design program and an interior design program, brings to San Diego the quality and innovation of Domus Academy. To further emphasize the Italian design approach and Domus tradition, NSAD’s interior design and product design programs incorporate a study abroad opportunity at Domus Academy in Milan, at no additional tuition cost.
“We are excited to add the product design program to our growing interdisciplinary offerings as we contribute to making San Diego a center of global design innovation,” said Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD Director Elena Pacenti. “Italy has become the epicenter of design-driven brands and culture, developing a products industry that exports design all over the world. We challenge our students to apply this foundation to projects here in San Diego and anywhere in the world.”
An event planned for Dec. 12–“Innovation by Design”–will introduce the Bachelor of Arts in Product Design program to the community by featuring the work of product designers and introducing program instructors and advisory board members. The product design program incorporates an updated and comprehensive definition of product that includes complex and interactive objects as well as product-service systems and experiences. It emphasizes a humanistic approach to design, sensitive to sustainable and socially responsible development, and provides students with not only the tools for “how to do” but the reasons “why to do.” Career paths and employment for graduates of product and industrial design programs demonstrate a growing need for individuals trained in these fields. Product/Industrial designers held about 40,800 jobs in 2010, and employment of industrial designers is expected to increase by 10 percent by 2020, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.
The product and interior design programs build on NSAD’s strong tradition in architecture programming and provide students with even greater interdisciplinary opportunities in design disciplines. They complement the school’s newer programs in construction management, which offers an online master’s program, and digital media arts, which is also enhancing its educational offerings through collaborations with Media Design School in New Zealand.
