Illinois Institute of Technology

[jng]

Anyone have any experience/thoughts about the Institute of Design at IIT?

I know it's the largest program in the country, but I'm wondering how good it is. I'm looking at the Masters program, possibly in junction with its MBA program. I have a liberal arts degree and no formal training in design or art and would like some. But I don't want to limit myself to graphic design. I want to learn maybe also to design a chair or a room or a car or a 6G iPod

Any thoughts/input greatly appreciated.

PS - this is for something 2-3 years down the line...

 

[shecky]

pretty well regarded but more toward the vocational/technical type stuff; sort of like the MassArt MFA. also mostly known for its PhD program rather than masters. does have a cool building by rem koolhaas.

 

[jng]

pretty well regarded but more toward the vocational/technical type stuff;

What specifically do you mean vocational/technical type stuff?

I basically want to learn design, foundation and all. Since I already have a bachelors, I figured masters is the way to go and IIT doesn't require a bachelors in arts to do the masters. Are there other schools that I should be looking at?

 

[shecky]

off the top of my head yale and risd offer 3 year MFA programs for non-designer undergrads; there are a few others out there too.

my understanding is that IIT has a more media or technical savvy kind of program, so you will be doing more stuff on the computer and more time learning the technology of design than you will the core fundamentals of meaning, form, typography, etc... its kind of analogous to MIT in that regard; Medialab students (which is by no means a mainstream "graphic design" curriculum) are very tech-heavy in their work.

this is not necessarily bad its just different. i also know that when you look around at people who are doing really great design few if any have an IIT pedigree, so take that as you will.

the schools i would look at overall are:

Risd
Yale
ArtCenter
CalArts
Cranbrook
NC State
Virginia Commonwealth
MICA
MCAD
School of art inst. of chigaco
MassArt

you will need to double check on the 2 vs. 3 year options.

i am looking at a 2 year MFA as i already have a BFA in graphic design, and my short list is RISD, Yale, CalArts, NC State and Cranbrook.

 

[jng]

Yeah, I looked at MIT and their media lab. Sloan is top on my list of business schools, but then I came across IIT and their mixed program.

Stanford also has a d.school that's merged with their business school but unfortunately it's not at all structured or clear whether one can do anything at the d.school even when one is already accepted to their business school.

Thanks for the list, I'm going to do some research and figure out of another school better meets my criteria.

RISD is too close to home.
But I know a few people who go to RISD and they love it.

 

[stylum]

IIT is known for developing research in design planning
here's a link to the design firm founded by a noted designer and professor there.
http://www.doblin.com/

"His favorite school, the one he truly shaped, was Chicago's Institute of Design (at Illinois Institute of Technology). For fourteen years as director and a total of 24 as a professor, Jay helped build it into the premier school in the world for addressing large-scale, complex design problems."

 

[jng]

Eew, that website design is atrocious (coming from a professional).

Maybe IIT is too technical for me....

 

[xxlordgold]

Another college with a highly rated art program is Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond. In the 2005 edition (could be 2004) of US & World News' college rankings, VCU's graphic design program was rated 4th in the country. It's where I'll be attending for graphic design in the fall.


Main Graphic Design page

VCU graphic design blog