All design courses are taught in English language
Interior Design Planning I - 6 CREDITS -
The course provides a general and complete overview over the processes and design thinking that determine an interior design project. Particular emphasis will be put on the language of design and how to translate a concept to a product (which could be an interior space) and also technical drawings through a simple domestic interior architecture project; the final project will be a design and students will to develop preliminary sketches, graphic layout (zoning), plans and sections with measurements. This is the beginning of design thinking process. Student begin to embody a concept to a 3 dimensional object using appropriate materials to then obviate and forget these usual readings of the object to focus attention and explore the many possibilities to express a design using all instruments that a designer can have, such as material, shape and form, color and texture. The Interior Design history begins with the first pieces of furniture, especially chairs and tables. Through this project you learn how to deal with a real project of interior with the needs and the issues that you can know deeply. Additionally student will study the city of Florence and the downtown area and the buildings itself. This will give them precious knowledge that a designer needs to know.
Furniture Design - 6 CREDITS -
This course will be composed of two parts which are theoretical part and its practical application. The theory will start with overview of furniture design history and continue with lectures on different concepts, typology, ergonomics, materials, furniture construction and furniture production technology, technical drawings and 3D visualization and presentation which are related to furniture design. Emphasis in practical part is put on construction and technology of furniture manufacturing, on principles of industrial design for small and large scale production, but also for tailor-made solutions for individual users. In the practical part the students will learn the methodology of furniture design thus how to generate conceptual ideas and work them through to a final manufacturing stage for various clients and private as well as public users.
History of Design I - 6 CREDITS -
The course wants to provide the tools to understand the meanings of design, in order to create in the students a critical skill and a sensibility necessary to assess the role of design today. The study of design, its development and change thorough the centuries, is a useful way both to explore the past and to make sense of the visual communication of modern life. The course will cover the history of design from its origin during the second half of the 19th century, with the analysis of art movements such as Art Nouveau, the Vienna Secession, Catalan Modernism (and its main protagonists, Alfonse Mucha, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Antoni Gaudi), passing through the revolutions brought by the school of Bauhaus and the Modern Movement during the the first half of the 20th century, and will then reach the contemporary age and personalities that are “moulding" the 21st century design: Philip Stark, Ross Lovegrove, Thomas Heatherwick, Zaha Hadid and others. The students will be able to understand the past in order to shape the present, in graphic, industrial and interior design.
Computer Aided Design CAD (AUTOCAD) - 6 CREDITS -
The course will provide students with no starting knowledge enough skills to use Autodesk Autocad as a professional user, to add technical drawing as tool to express their projects. Students will learn how to navigate through the interface of the software and how to use all different file manager options as well as mouse and keyboard shortcuts. Two-dimensional drawing is the foundation of this course. Students will start learning how to use simple tools like LINE, POLYLINE, CIRCLE, RECTANGLE. Then tools and techniques will become more complex and deeper adding operators like COPY, MIRROR, TRIM, EXTEND, MOVE ROTATE and many others. After developing good technical skills this course will drive students to use such commands to create architectural layouts of simple objects first till complete house floorplans. As a professional way to present a project, students will also learn how to properly set and use all printing options to create drawings that will result: detailed, readable and in scale. During the course, exercises will be given to the students according to their design field. After seven weeks there will be a mid-term exam to check overall level of each class. This course will also have a final project to be developed individually related to the student design field.
Exhibitions I - 6 CREDITS -
Teachers and students will organize exhibitions of student's projects at the end of every semester
Graphic Design and portfolio layout - 6 CREDITS -
The Portfolio is a professional tool indispensable for career advancement of any designer. It is required to get clients or jobs, to attend special workshops, internships and residencies. In this course, students will acquire all necessary skills necessary to create an efficient, professional and attractive portfolio. This course combines explanations and discussion with hands-on exercises and projects both in classroom and home. The theoretical part consists of learning how process of hiring works, what companies are looking for in applicant’s resume and portfolio. Students will learn best practices of resume writing and portfolio design; multiple examples of student and professional resumes and portfolios will be discussed in class. Graphic design and print production processes will be explained and put in practice. Projects and examples will come in such an order that will permit students to gradually learn the most important aspects of Adobe InDesign.
Italian Language I - 6 CREDITS -
The course is designed for absolute beginner students and is aimed at developing basic communication skills. A communicative approach will be used. The course will be in Italian. Students will improve the four skills of language learning: reading, writing, listening and speaking. At the end of the course students should be able to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type; introduce themselves and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know and things they have; interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help. Grammatical content such as the present tense, the definite and indefinite articles, singular/plural, the demonstrative and possessive adjectives and the prepositions are studied.
Sketching - 6 CREDITS -
The course will introduce students to the fundaments of drawing, by exploring different approaches and techniques. Included activities will be outdoor sketching on several locations in Florence and practicing at the museums. Each lesson will have a theoretic part with examples slides and demos, as well as a practical part with exercises. The focus will be on interior, industrial and on graphic design. The goal of this course is to provide the students the appropriated tools in order to be able to express their own ideas and concepts on paper. The teaching consists on a learning-by-doing method with increasing difficulty to cover different tasks and different levels of accomplishment. . The instructor will always be at hand for further advices, coaching and guiding students through their projects. A projector with camera is also available for Video tutorials and live-sketching demonstrations. For the evaluation of each single student a mid-term project and an end-of-the term project will be requested to presented in class with individual and group critiques. the course heavily focuses on developing fundamental skills. No previous drawing experience is demanded, classes are held in English. The main tasks are learning how “to see” better by practicing observational drawing,getting to know the importance of perspective and how to apply it to your design.
Computer Aided Design 3D Graphics (3D STUDIO MAX) - 6 CREDITS -
The course will provide students with no starting knowledge enough skills to use Autodesk 3d Studio Max as a professional user, to add photorealistic rendering as tool to express their projects. Students will learn how to navigate through the interface of the software and how to use all different file manager options. Course will be subdivided then in three main areas, which are modeling, materials and rendering. Modeling techniques will include use of standard and extended primitives as well as other parametric objects. Then we will study how to use splines and how to integrate cad drawings inside this 3d software. Modeling includes also very specific tools like modifiers and Boolean operations. Last area to explore into modeling will be how to use editable poly in a designer workflow. Materials is the topic that will give the student the ability to give 3d models the look he has imagined, exploring several parameters and techniques like UVW mapping to reach a photorealistic aspect. In the rendering part of the course we will explore everything related to “take a picture” of previously created 3d models. Students will learn how to set lights in a virtual environment, to simulate both artificial and natural conditions. They will learn how to properly set cameras inside a project and all those complex parameters that will involve final creation a rendered image ready for a professional presentation. During the course, exercises will be given to the students according to their design field. After seven weeks there will be a mid-term exam to check overall level of each class. This course will also have a final project to be developed individually related to the student design field.
Fundamentals of Design and decoration - 6 CREDITS -
This foundation course introduces students to the fundamentals of design and decorating. The course is based on the development of a real life project, done so to prepare students with practical approach to industry standards while reinforcing the skills learned throughout the course. During the first weeks students start by learning how to use basic design aids such as design boards, necessary to visually communicate design ideas. Through a series of lab/lectures classes, the fundamentals of space planning are imparted. Here students learn how to create an effective furniture layout, a basic tool of interior decorating. They learn measuring skills, how to log the information taken and finally how to hand draft a space plan. Once the plan is corrected in class and the design is finalized and approved by the instructor, lectures on color and color theory, furniture, design styles, textiles for interiors, construction materials and basic industry terminology are given to aid students in the finalizing their projects. Students will learn how to prepare and layout compelling final boards, they are instructed how to organize them in a professional way, and are finally coached to verbally communicate their ideas for a powerful presentation. At the end students attain the necessary and effective skills needed to approach a decoration project.
Italian Language II - 6 CREDITS -
The course is designed for waystage or elementary students and is aimed at improving basic communicative skills. A communicative approach will be used. The course will be in Italian. Students will improve the four skills of language learning: reading, writing, listening and speaking. At the end of the course the student should start being able to understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment); communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters; describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need. Grammatical content such as the present continuous, the “passato prossimo” tense, the future tense and the pronouns are studied.
History of Design II - 6 CREDITS -
The course wants to provide the tools to understand the meanings of design, in order to create in the students a critical skill and a sensibility necessary to assess the role of design today. The study of design, its development and change thorough the centuries, is a useful way both to explore the past and to make sense of the visual communication of modern life. The course will cover the history of design from its origin during the second half of the 19th century, with the analysis of art movements such as Art Nouveau, the Vienna Secession, Catalan Modernism (and its main protagonists, Alfonse Mucha, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Antoni Gaudi), passing through the revolutions brought by the school of Bauhaus and the Modern Movement during the the first half of the 20th century, and will then reach the contemporary age and personalities that are “moulding" the 21st century design: Philip Stark, Ross Lovegrove, Thomas Heatherwick, Zaha Hadid and others. The students will be able to understand the past in order to shape the present, in graphic, industrial and interior design.
Interior Design Planning II - 6 CREDITS -
The course will provide deep insight into the topics regarding design composition aspects and languages. As the first step, the clients needs and requirements will be explored and analyzed with analytic methods, in order to develop a project functionally correct and linguistically consistent. The project will continue with designing the interior spaces and will finish with finishing. Lessons and lectures will focus more on technical aspects, such as plumbing and electrical systems, and those aspects that cooperate to the formal solution of the project, such as significant and consistent use of light, color and materials. It will be fundamental to study the clients and analyze the existing information and the building itself. The projects will include the architectural project, space planning of all rooms and spaces and the best choices of furniture, materials and finishing.
Exhibitions II - 6 CREDITS -
Teachers and students will organize exhibitions of student's projects at the end of every semester
Interior Architectural Design I - 6 CREDITS -
This course is meant to be interdisciplinary, since it is focused on the technical aspects that make design possible and the semiotic meaning of design. When we think about structure, as interior designers, we tend to believe that it's not our duty and too many interior designers completely neglect the structural and technical parts of a project. We will investigate how structure can be more than merely the support of a building and how in time it's been a significant part of the language of design and architecture. The course will illustrate all the significant parts of a building, how those parts work in mutual relationships and how we can use them to enhance the appeal of our projects. The course will illustrate static principles in an intuitive way, in order to understand why and how buildings stand, and the related technical elements like flooring, wall construction, beams, columns, etc. Part of the course will be about architectural materials and this will generate a project of a small architecture or installation, like a pavilion or a tea room, whose aesthetic definition is strictly determined by the material chosen for the purpose. In other words, this material must be used according to its inbuilt physical, psychological and structural characteristics. Then the final part of the course will be about the technical aspects of a renovation (the construction process, HVAC, plumbing and basic lighting plans). All this will be used to produce a project that will be complete in all parts from different points of view: aesthetic, structural, technical. The project will be illustrated in a catchy yet correct and orderly fashion. Learning objectives and outcomes Students will gain the following abilities, expertise and knowledge: 1) ability to think creatively in order to solve problems that are technical, but nonetheless require and aesthetically plausible solution 2) advanced knowledge on specific issues related to the technical aspects of a renovation 3) ability to synthesis knowledge through projects. The student will acquire the ability to develop a complex project in a multidisciplinary approach and will be able to achieve a project, poetic yet functioning. The student will be able to make choices according to functional needs, type of possible options, materials and finishes, composition rules, efficiency and effectiveness, comfort.
Interior Decoration II - 6 CREDITS -
This is an advanced course designed to equip students with industry standards on how to approach a decorating project. This course is tightly structured so that students are able to quickly learn how decorate a space. Thru a series of lectures and project exercises, the student learns a step by step process of how to observe a space, how to evaluate it, how to break it down and finally how to determine what is needed and what needs to be done to give the space it’s true value. Through the application of the different design and decorating principles, students learn how to effectively use color, how to apply textures, which fabrics to use, how to introduce lighting, they learn what kind of furniture to select, what accessories to use and finally how to select from the different types of design styles. At the end of the course, students are well equipped with the necessary tools needed to transform any space into a professionally designed space.
Materials Theory and Manufacturing - 6 CREDITS -
The student will learn about different production methods that are used in traditional and modern factories in order to manufacture small and large scale products. The course also shows that the behavior of materials is directly linked to their usage in design, and how structures and hence functionality of and object may be altered through material choice. Moreover every third lecture the student will be asked to work with a particular material during the lecture hour and provide a work report after the completion of the project.
3D graphic and Rendering II - 6 CREDITS -
The course will provide students with previous knowledge enough skills to use Autodesk 3d Studio Max as a professional user, to add photorealistic rendering as tool to express their projects. Course can be considered both a natural continuation of 3D 1 as well a course that students with their 3d previous background can easily follow. Course will still explore three main areas, which are modeling, materials and rendering. Modeling techniques studied will include high end tools like GRAPHITE TOOLS, COMPOUND OBJECTS, complex interpolation of modifiers, sculpting tool, cloth simulation. Materials will be studied in depth, understanding several additional parameters and complex operations inside the slate material editor. As additional material examples students will explore Corona Render materials. Rendering will be explored, first as comprehensive review of all light parameters and also students will start exploring infinite possibilities of animation and dynamic simulations. During the course, exercises will be given to the students according to their design field. After seven weeks there will be a mid-term exam to check overall level of each class. This course will also have a final project to be developed individually related to the student design field.
Exhibitions III - 6 CREDITS -
Teachers and students will organize exhibitions of student's projects at the end of every semester
Computer Aided Design - 6 CREDITS -
The course will provide students enough skills to use Autodesk as a professional user, to add parametric architectural modeling as tool to express their projects. Students will learn how to navigate through the interface of the software and how to use all different file manager options as well as mouse and keyboard shortcuts. This software is an example of a huge family of softwares categorized as BIM ( building information modeling). Students will start learning how to use simple tools like WALL, DOOR, WINDOW, FLOOR. Then tools and techniques will become more complex and deeper adding operators like ROOF, STAIRS, COMPONENT and many others. This software will provide the student with a bit of previous experience in cad drawing a powerful tool to speed up operations like drawing several floor plan layouts, elevations and sections. At the same time student will better understand in 3d interactions between all parts of a building making basically impossible to create “wrong” final project presentations. Even if BIM softwares are often used with ready made objects, during this class each student will learn how to highly and professionally customize all parts of his projects. As a professional way to present a project, students will also learn how to properly set and use all printing options to create drawings that will result: detailed, readable and in scale. Students will explore rendering capabilities of this software. During the course, exercises will be given to the students based on architectural examples. After seven weeks there will be a mid-term exam to check overall level of each class. This course will also have a final project to be developed individually related to a famous architecture chosen in between the student and the teacher.
Interior Architectural Design II & Light Design - 6 CREDITS -
This course is meant to be interdisciplinary since it is focused on the technical aspects that make design possible. The course will be focused on light and lighting design. Light is a fundamental aspect of our lives. And yet too many projects neglect this aspect. Too many times lighting is something designers add at the end of the design process. In the best scenario lighting should be an integral part of design and outstanding projects stem from it. Light allows to change the comfort of a space and its mood and affects the way we interact with the built environment thanks to its impalpable ability to modify the perception of space without obstructing it. The intrinsic intangibility of light can be used to create a design that can generate new equilibrium, mood, relationships in what is already built. Therefore for this project light will be considered like an architectural material, with its characteristics and objectives . Students will develop a project with significant and sophisticated use of light and space.
Eco Design/Sustainable design - 6 CREDITS -
This course explains how materials and building components impact the planet and suggests solutions to limit urban pollution and energy consumption through the correct use of materials, the implementation of renewable energy systems, and a “0” miles approach. The course will analyze specific case studies and go deeper into two particular areas: sustainable products and sustainable architectural spaces. Students will first study product sustainability, learning how to use the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool and becoming familiar with the Leader in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Cradle to Cradle certification systems. They will realize an individual project that requires them to test the performance and durability of a specific material in certain given conditions. Students will then further develop their understanding of sustainability in architectural space by realizing a group project that requires them to develop a residential unit from the concept stage through the executive design illustrating the structure, materials selection process, light layout, and rendering the visualization simulating both daylight and artificial light scenarios. The aim of this course is to raise the environmental awareness of each student and to develop their sensitivity towards preserving quality of life and the environment.
Web design - 6 CREDITS -
Today having an online presence is mandatory for any company or professional. Being able to create portfolio websites/blogs/e-commerce websites is a very handy skill for any designer whether self-employed or part of a bigger team. Web Publishing course is designed to provide students with a basic set of tools required to create and independently hosted website of low/medium complexity with the help of world’s most popular web platform - WordPress. After a brief introduction to basic concepts and terminology of World Wide Web, student will start the hands-on class exercises. WordPress platform will be covered gradually in all of its aspects: content types and their management, appearance customization, website navigation and internal linking etc. Students will be introduced to some of the most powerful WordPress plugins that will help to create more complex page layouts, improve website security, optimize performance, integrate Social Media, improve SEO and more. While working on independent and team projects students will be able to implement their newly acquired skills, share ideas and create ready-to-publish websites.
Italiano III - 6 CREDITS -
The course is designed for waystage students and is aimed at developing more complex communication skills. A communicative approach will be used. The course will be in Italian. Students will improve the four skills of language learning: reading, writing, listening and speaking. At the end of the course the student should be able to understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure; deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling in an area where the language is spoken; produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest; describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. Grammatical content such as the “imperfetto” tense, the conditional and the pronouns are studied.
Photography - 6 CREDITS -
The course will provide students with no starting knowledge enough skills to use photography from the perspective of a designer. Students will go through a path that will include both theoretical and practical aspects of photography. After a brief historical introduction, students will start learning principles of the physic behind a photographic image. We will explore then all camera aspects that will give each image a certain look. Main topics will be EXPOSURE, APERTURE, SHUTTER SPEED, ISO LEVEL with all their values and effects on final creation of the image. During this course there will be several practice sessions in order to fix concepts explained during each lecture. After developing a deep feeling with the camera as tool to take pictures students will explore language of photography so that they will better understand how to properly use the camera when shooting a portrait, a landscape or a still life subject. During the course, exercises will be given to the students to be developed during each week. This course will also have a final project where each student, individually, will show how deep is his knowledge on all topics discussed during the semester.
Product design I - 6 CREDITS -
This course will be composed of two parts which are theoretical part and its practical application. In the first part the students will get the knowledge of basic design concepts that will help them to pass from 2D sketched ideas to a 3D product thus making their designs functional, user friendly and aesthetically appealing using the main principles of composition such as harmony or contrast, dominance or recessiveness, repetition and transparency. In the practical part of the course the students will be asked to develop their own products and will learn the basics of market research, idea and concept generation, usage of scenarios and presentation and basic model making.
Graphic Design - 6 CREDITS -
The class will focus on basic graphic design principles and projects will be implemented through Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. Students will work on basic design studies, layout organization and proportions. Together with the practical lessons there will be a focus on basic design principles and analysis of design project that can be taken as references. Each assignment will be followed by group critiques that will help to evaluate the projects.
Italiano IV - 6 CREDITS -
The course is designed for waystage students and is aimed at developing more complex communication skills. A communicative approach will be used. The course will be in Italian. Students will improve the four skills of language learning: reading, writing, listening and speaking. At the end of the course the student should be able to understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure; deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling in an area where the language is spoken; produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest; describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. Grammatical content such as the “imperfetto” tense, the conditional and the pronouns are studied.
Exhibitions IV - 6 CREDITS -
Teachers and students will organize exhibitions of student's projects at the end of every semester
Interior Design II - 6 CREDITS -
In this course the class will be focus on the advanced aspects of interior design and will talk about the less obvious design principles. The students will study their client, interpret his/her wishes, lifestyle and needs in order to develop a project that fully reflects him/her. Here the challenge is not dealing with the small spaces, but it is creating spaces that in 3 dimensional undefined space, is might be not explainable by the classic architectural methods like plans and section. In residential design there is a simple and direct relationship with the customer. This makes the job less complicated. Now it is time to include other issues that make our job much more interesting but also complicated. If you are an exhibition designer you must convey the message in a legible and simple way in a clear architectural language and you have to consider social factors to attract more visitors. Ergonomics here will mean, “How we interact with the ambient around us psychologically”. Lessons and lectures will focus on exhibition and hospitality design. Two projects will be addressed in this semester: a stand for Venice Architecture Biennale,'Mostra di Architettura di Venezia. It will be provided plans and sections of a typical space in Arsenale. One of the main venues of the Biennale, and each group choose a concept related to the theme to then recount and embody it in an architectural space. The second project is a loft for a “strong” client. The project will have to be “tailor made”.
Office Design - 6 CREDITS -
Through lectures and class discussions students will develop a basic understanding of the design process of a typical commercial project, its key design and planning elements, materials and resources, functional and aesthetic considerations and the different “players,” from client to contractors. Lectures imparting key theoretical and technical concepts are presented in class, students then implement the objectives learned into weekly assignments. Through research of cultural backgrounds, the exploration of design concepts derived from conceptual and spatial analysis, sketches and computer renderings, needed to produce comprehensive solutions that support human behavior within the built environment plus important factors such as health, life safety and welfare, students are able to translate and implement their concepts and designs producing a class project which eventually culminates into a thoughtfully executed final presentation. Students at the end demonstrate the ability to work through the design process creating innovative design solutions that translate the client’s vision in ways that are practical and profitable, prioritizing function and safety without sacrificing style or aesthetics.
Photography II - 6 CREDITS -
The course will provide students with previous knowledge enough skills to use Photography as tool to improve the workflow of a designer. Students will go to through a path that will include mainly practical exercises of photography. Students will discover several styles of photography as language by studying contemporary and classical photographers. We will explore basics of how to deliver a certain content or message through a picture. In this class students will also explore tools to modify images like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom Classic. During this course there will be several practice sessions in order to fix concepts explained during each lecture. Inside this course an important part will be to also study videography. Students will start understanding what a video is, theory behind it and how to make it in practice. As video editing software they will learn Adobe Premiere Pro. During the course, exercises will be given to the students to be developed during each week. This course will also have a final project where each student, individually, will create a small portfolio of pictures based on one specific topic that follows student interest and a short video.
Management and Business Administration- 6 CREDITS -
The course is designed for students who have never studied economic topics before and offers an introduction to the field of Management with particular attention to the start-up phases of a professional company operating in the Design sector. This then acts as a general basis and foundation on which more focused and concentrated studies can be developed. We want to bring to the students an awareness of what managers do and why their activities are critical to the success of their business. The course will include lectures, class discussions and case studies. We will start introducing the definitions of Business, Needs and Resources. We will describe the Capital Structure and the most common forms of Business Organization used by Design Studios, trying to understand the advantages and disadvantages for each form. The next topic will be Cost Classification: we will study the definition of Cost and the elements of cost for a Business. We will then focus on Taxation, studying its principles and introducing Income, Payroll and Local Taxes, and the most important tax deductions for a Designer. An important part of the semester will be dedicated to Value Added, VAT and VAT registration. At the end of the semester the students should be able use their awareness, overview and understanding of the basic principles of management to evaluate concrete organizational scenarios, management dilemmas and decisions.
Graphic Design and portfolio layout II - 6 CREDITS -
Portfolio is a professional tool indispensable for career advancement of any designer: beginner or expert. It is required to get clients or jobs, to attend special workshops, internships and residencies. In this course, students will acquire all necessary skills necessary to create an efficient, professional and attractive portfolio. This course combines explanations and discussion with hands-on exercises and projects both in classroom and home. The theoretical part consists of learning how process of hiring works, what companies are looking for in applicant’s resume and portfolio. Students will learn best practices of resume writing and portfolio design; multiple examples of student and professional resumes and portfolios will be discussed in class. Graphic design and print production processes will be explained and put in practice. Projects and examples will come in such an order that will permit students to gradually learn the most important aspects of Adobe InDesign and build a solid understanding of this software.
3D Graphics and Rendering III - 6 CREDITS -
The course will provide students with previous knowledge enough skills to use Autodesk 3d Studio Max at its best. Course can be considered a way to integrate all 3d studio max tools into specific projects Course will be based mainly on exercises to be developed both in class and at home. All exercises will explore specific 3d studio topics. Students will learn how to use dynamic objects, to create complex relationships between objects. An important part of this class is to give the student the possibility to easily integrate several softwares into the 3d studio workflow, like Adobe Photoshop integration. It will be explored a particular technique called “rigging” to create movable objects or characters. It will be lastly explained how to use GPU based rendering as active shade or real time production. During the course, exercises will be given to the students according to their design field. After seven weeks there will be a mid-term exam to check overall level of each class. This course will also have a final project to be developed individually related to the student design field.
Prototyping - 6 CREDITS -
In this course the students will develop the knowledge of the simple and power tools, materials such as plywood, solid wood, fabric, plastics and building methods employed in modern prototyping, 3D printing and carpentry such as framework and joinery, construction methods and manufacturing of an end product. Students will design a brand new product, make ideation sketches followed by manufacture-ready technical drawings, study its ergonomics and aesthetics aiming to make a ready-to-use functional prototype. Aim of the course: To let the student research, develop and manufacture a finished product suitable for further production and marketing.
Interior Design III - 6 CREDITS -
What is important in an exhibition design project is to display a specimen through a complicated and technical process; object in a well studied and determined pathway will be presented under certain visual aspects to make the object exalt. Now it's time to show up! just a pinch of branding and “Retail Design” is born! Retail design is a discipline that not only aims to create functional physical spaces that respond to the constantly changing consumer's tastes to encourage sales, but it also aims to create new forms of relationship between the company and its customers. Since the market is constantly evolving, the demand for the role of Retail Designer is always very high. Lessons and lectures will focus on visual merchandising, retail design and F B.
Management and Intellectual Property - 6 CREDITS -
The course is designed for students who have never studied economic topics before and offers an introduction to some important aspects of Management with particular attention to the different aspects of the relationship between a professional company operating in the Design sector and its environment. This then acts as a general basis and foundation on which more focused and concentrated studies can be developed. We want to bring to the students an awareness of what managers do and why their activities are critical to the success of their business. The course will include lectures, class discussions and case studies. After introducing the definitions of goods and services we will classify them and make some examples. We will then study some important Pricing Strategies and discuss several approaches to fix the price of a good. Special attention will be given to the most common methods of compensation for a Designer. We will focus on the best way to write an Agreement for Design Services. We will introduce ISO 9001, an International Standard that gives requirements for an organization’s Quality Management System, a collection of business processes and internal rules focused on consistently meeting customer requirements and enhancing their satisfaction. The last part of the semester will describe the way to protect Intellectual Properties, i.e. creations of the mind (inventions), literary and artistic works and symbols, names and images used in commerce. At the end of the semester the students should be able use their awareness, overview and understanding of the basic principles of management to evaluate concrete organizational scenarios, management dilemmas and decisions.
Advertising - 6 CREDITS -
The class will focus on the analysis of communication and advertising thorugh different media. The students will first understand what advertising is and is meant for, then a working method will be defined and suggested, starting from simple questions in order to sort out creative ideas and find a way to transform them into advertising concepts that works. Each assignment will be followed by group critiques that will help to evaluate the projects.
Italiano V- 6 CREDITS -
The course is designed for waystage students and is aimed at developing more complex communication skills. A communicative approach will be used. The course will be in Italian. Students will improve the four skills of language learning: reading, writing, listening and speaking. At the end of the course the student should be able to understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure; deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling in an area where the language is spoken; produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest; describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. Grammatical content such as the “imperfetto” tense, the conditional and the pronouns are studied.
Art History of Florence - 6 CREDITS -
The Aim of the course is to study and visit the major art-works of Florence through theory lessons and field trips. And to discover the treasures present in one of the most important cities of the history of Western Art.
Exhibitions VI - 6 CREDITS -
Teachers and students will organize exhibitions of student's projects at the end of every semester
*Program may be subject to change in any moment (updated on the 17/09/2019)