This course gives examples of processes and aspects that play important roles in product development. Additionally, the relations between these processes and aspects are depicted. This is done in such a way that students can construct their own overview of the entire area: students choose a certain product notion, and analyse the role, the importance and the consequences of the processes and aspects for that product. While doing that, they simultaneously construct a depiction of a product development process that is suitable for that product notion and that pays adequate and weighed attention to the processes and aspects involved.
This course focuses on a number of specific topics in, and aspects of, packaging and its development life cycle. It will cover both in-depth details of packaging, and will address the broader approach towards combined product/packaging development as well. Specific attention is paid to packaging materials such as plastics, carton and board, metals, glass, and flexible materials like laminates. Moreover, attention is paid to the aspects that play a role in the packaging development chain, such as costs, logistics, distribution, marketing, vulnerability, convenience, and ease of use. To adequately address all these topics simultaneously, the packaging chain is used as a basis, employing different models to support the packaging developer in achieving synthesis between product development and packaging development.
Various areas of the Design Management profession will be discussed during this course. It comprises elements of design management, brand management, related organisational matters, and searching for future developments. Theories about branding products, brand identity, creating a vision about the future of a specific brand, and the translation of brand values into product design will be discussed throughout the course.
During this course, students will experience that each design project needs a dedicated design approach and that designing with requirements is not necessarily the only and best way. Furthermore, you will get insight and experience in many useful and attractive techniques to involve users in your design process. You will study several techniques that can be applied in the analysis, synthesis and evaluation phase of a design process such as card games, probes, personas and roleplaying as well as participatory design techniques in which the user has an active role in the design process. In a group assignment you will develop and execute a scenario based design method for a specific use situation.
Every time a designer draws a solid line in a sketch or a (technical) drawing, he or she defines a new surface. Usually, the designer doesn't give these surfaces any special attention, but it should be noted that the surface has certain properties which can be altered and modified to better suit the use of the product and the requirements of the user. This course focuses on the ‘Look and Feel’ of products from a surface engineering point of view. In other words, it studies how the surface determines the visual appearance as well as the tactile properties of products. Part of the course is to making a re-design of a consumer product. During this project, the capability to apply surface engineering in daily (re-)design practice should be demonstrated by the student.
In the course “Graphic Language of Products” students learn to develop a product for a given brand. The first part of the course will focus on analysing the brand according to some theoretical models. In this phase they have to analyse the identity of the brand, analyse the graphics and form language of the brand. The second part of the course will focus on translating the brand values of a brand into a design of a product (which varies every year) using the literature of semiotics. The brand and the product will make a new connection through the help of graphic language
To apply for an exchange programme, you will have to follow these seven steps:
1. Pre-application phase: 6 - 4 months before arrival
2. Nomination: 6 - 3 months before arrival
3. Application phase: 6 - 3 months before arrival
4. Assessment phase: 4 - 2 months before arrival
5. Acceptance or rejection: 3 - 2 months before arrival
6. Preparation to arrival phase: 3 - 1 month(s) before arrival
7. Upon arrival and during your stay at the UT
Entrepreneurship has been part of the University of Twente’s DNA for over many decades: seeing opportunities where others don’t, taking risks when no one else would and setting up successful teamwork to achieve ambitious goals.
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