Special Topic and Advanced Studios

Each year, the industrial design department offers approximately two dozen Special Topic Studios (3 credits) and Advanced Studios (6 credits). Together, they cover a wide variety of themes and allow students to immerse themselves in a particular topic, material, or process. Recent studios have ranged in focus from NASA and production ceramics to behavior design and chair design. 

While these studios are primarily for undergraduate students, incoming 2.5 MID students enroll in an Advanced Studio during their first spring semester, and all MID students can enroll in Special Topic Studios if space permits.

The topics change each year. Some recent studios include:

Natural Systems: Aquaponics

Soft Goods

Prototyping Form

MIT Studio (Product Design and Development)

Digital Tools for the Things We Actually Care About

Design for Extreme Environments

Production Ceramics

Design for Social Innovation

Metal Casting

Chair Design

The Business of Product Design

Future Livable Spaces

Introduction to Behavior Change Design

Typography, Identity + Branding

The Shape of Taste: Playing in the Kitchen

Social Innovation: The Experience of Public Engagement

Future-past: Springboard to Innovation

Point, Click, Drag: Designing the Digital Interface

Responsive Content Layout and App Production

Civic Impact Through Sensor-Driven Design

Digital Fabrication: CNC Machining

Designing Systems for a Bigger Scale

Designing Understanding