Majors & Minors (Undergraduate)

Product Design (Major)

Please note: This program has been transitioned to the Product Design studio minor for students entering MICA starting Fall 2024 of later. The information presented here is for current students completing the program as a major.

At MICA, product design is both local and global, integrative and individual, craft and business. To prepare to design products for a rapidly changing world, students here work with expert faculty - and a host of decision makers, industry leaders, activists, and entrepreneurs from around the globe.

The fusion of 3D design, technology, and making is expanding the definition of "product" and influencing how humans respond aesthetically and practically with every imaginable object today - from furniture and apparel to appliances and medical devices. And anyone with a Fitbit or smartphone recognizes that new connections between things and systems are changing the way we live.

Featured Course

Design Ethics and Sustainability

The Design Ethics and Sustainability studio focuses on how the environmental challenges of our time condition the work of product designers. Questions about the need for a sustainable mindset in design and manufacturing, human ecology, or social change, are brought to the table to help students develop individual perspectives.

Guardzilla redesign garners a 65% reduction in environmental impact. Katie Z, a sophomore, was able to reduce packaging impacts, material use in production impacts, and extended the life of the product. + Enlarge
Katie Mancher, an MFA in Graphic Design student transformed LDPE plastic sheeting from Glyndon Lord Baltimore Cleaners into a functional and strong dog leash. Some ingenious material process and manipulation created a strong rope that withstood many pounds of force. Even this beast could not get away! + Enlarge
The redesign of a simple baby monitor created a product that could be used three times longer in its lifetime. Claire Chuff was able to create three different use scenarios that benefitted the child and the parent for 10 years of extended life. + Enlarge
Kristen Karlovich, a product design sophomore, created value and beauty in a simple wall sconce. With materials from a local dry cleaning company, she created a product that would not be thrown away. + Enlarge

Guardzilla Home Security Device Redesign

Artist
Katie Zawadowicz
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