PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE CAPSTONE allows students to select courses from several year-long offerings. In the fourth year of the BDes program, studio courses take two distinct paths to applying acquired knowledge: personal and professional. In all courses students engage in a team-based interdisciplinary project, often with a client sponsor representing a commercial, cultural, or social concern. Students develop strong creative solutions in the context of real-world constraints. Emphasis is on teamwork and client interaction.
Each year the School of Design offers Professional Practice courses with changing topics. Courses are open to seniors in Graphic Design and Industrial Design and often include faculty and students from other UIC departments. The following are past examples:
DES420 MOBILE APP DESIGN (MAD) Work in collaboration with faculty and classmates to design and develop a mobile app for smartphone or tablet platform. Involves screen-based typography, visual and interactive design, motion graphics, and development considerations.
DES430 INTERDISCIPLINARY PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (IPD) Work on a team with industrial design, graphic design, business, and engineering students and faculty to develop product/brand concepts for a leading consumer products company. Past clients include: Motorola, Coinstar, Cobra Electronics, Dell, Cricket Wireless, and Whirlpool Global Consumer Design.
DES430 BIO-ENGINEERING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (BIO) A variation of IPD, which includes bio-engineers and focuses on product development at the crossroads of design, biology, and engineering: products for medical applications, medical imaging and healthcare product and service design.
DES430 ENTREPRENEURIAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (EPD) Students who are interested in entrepreneurial approaches to design. The first semester covers product venturing—getting products manufactured and making them available for sale. The second semester covers licensing—developing and communicating new product ideas for others to bring to market. The course does not cover how students can become freelance designers or start their own design consultancy.
DES440 DESIGN THINKING AND LEADERSHIP (DTL) Work in teams on a large-scale project concerned with the development of a visual identity for a participating client organization. A research and systems-based approach will be utilized to develop context, concept, and design documentation for client presentations.
DES452 INFORMATION AESTHETICS (INFO) Introduction to information visualization and programming in the context of art and design. Project-oriented course using computer code and custom software for information analysis, representation, and creative expression.