Transportation Design

Undergraduate Courses - Barcelona

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The Undergraduate Degree in Product Design, majoring in Transportation Design is equivalent to a University Degree (240 ECTS). This degree prepares professionals who are capable of designing not only vehicles, but also transportation systems and accessories related to the sector.

Transport design is a discipline that involves far more than designing cars: transport demands adaptation and variety in order to respond to different needs, from motorbikes for use in the city to planes with an unimaginable interior design and ships in an infinite variety of sizes and with technologies to make them self-sufficient. 

Whatever the mode used (land, sea or air), designs for transporting products or people require a broad, overarching vision that fits current needs.

The training given at IED Barcelona includes not only the latest techniques and technologies for designing and styling vehicles (cars, buses, planes, ships, etc.) but also overall solutions that seek to go beyond and predict the needs that could arise in terms of transportation.

Professional outcomes: car interior and exterior designers, motorcycles, ships, aeronautical sector, public transportation, color&trim, 3D modelling, etc.

  • Credits
    240
  • Start date
    September 2019
  • Duration
    4 years
  • Attendance
    full-time
  • Language
    English

Objectives

The Undergraduate Degree in Product Design, majoring in Transportation Design prepares professionals capable of designing not only vehicles, but also transportation systems and accessories related to the sector. Interior and exterior designers for transportation vehicles able to face commercial, psychological and social factors related to mobility.

Comprehension of aspects like psychological and emotional mechanisms of consumers, citizens or users, linked to the concepts of transportation, vehicle and culture of the different reference targets. It is learnt to understand and interpret each world, needs and expectations of citizens, but at the same time maintaining creativity, style, trends and products’ life cycle.

The experience acquired by IED Design in this area, in addition to the collaboration with large companies working in the sector, allows developing this particular theoretical competence along with practice, a typical trait of transportation designers. This methodology emphasizes a permanent comparison between technical and theoretical knowledge and their concrete application based on creating and developing increasingly difficult projects

The first year of this degree is focused on acquiring basic concepts of design, culture and project methods. Students learn to dare to create and communicate.

The second year is concentrated on developing one’s own creativity individually, and starting to study specialization-related tools such as: packaging, clay, Key sketch, Chartpaks felt tip pen, Alias and graphic communication.

The third year means the beginning of collaborations with companies and new, more technical and complex projects, with prototypes and real costs. Students begin to study production systems and models. Work is developed in transversal teams composed by students of Product, Interior and Transportation design. In addition, new materials will be studied, such as sustainable or technological materials, etc.

During the fourth year students study A-class surfaces, animation and video. They take a compulsory internship in a company and each one chooses a professional profile. Creative management acquires a great relevance through project management and rethinking, modifying and refining projects to respond properly to users’ and market’s needs. Lastly, the degree final project is developed in collaboration with real companies, where prototypes are produced. In successful cases, those prototypes will evolve and manufacture to be launched into the market.

Methodology

The degree offers a formative path that teaches students to comprehend and anticipate the market exigences, interceding with business intentions and translating them in a defined project than can be manufactured. It boosts the relevance of concept, in order to foresee the trends and styles of consumption, thanks to the comprehension of market exigences and social needs.

Also, the course brings knowledge on production materials and technology in order to bring projects to life. Beyond the theoretical comprehension of the project, students focus on analysing technologies, function, ergonomics and usability.

Job opportunities

Car interior and exterior designers, motorcycles, ships, aeronautical sector, public transportation, color&trim, etc.

IED DESIGN alumni work at:

Bertone, Frecan, Capmar, Projeckta, Zicla, Lamborghini, Hyundai, Grupo Pangea, Seat, Fun Lab, Orbitel, Cazaly Sylvain, Home Design, MTL Brands, BMW, McLaren, BM Lightning Design, Design Dies, Ubica, Estudi Interiorisme Salietti, Pia Capdevila, VMoto Europa, Scutum Logistics, Gama Ubica, Tarrago Cortés Interioristes, Ibisland Invest, Interiodista Decoración Digital, etc.

Companies

The course promotes the project culture with companies to solve the distance between education and the world of work. Students not only acknowledge methodologies and tools for their discipline, but also learn to work and get in touch with with real clients and briefings.

Companies that have collaborated with the area: Ferrari, Iniciativa BMW, Seat, Mercedes Benz, Casa Decor, Volvo, Unopiù, Frecan, Primavera Sound, Orbea, Panasonic, Derbi, Renault, Zicla, Roca, Decoexpo, Alstom, Hyundai, Toyota, Panatta Sport, Illy, Capmar, Piquadro, Entitat Metropolitana del Transport, Japan Tobacco International, AHEC, Elite Gourmet, Vmoto, Omega Z, I+ED Lab, Idearideas, Architecture for Humanity, Consorzio Tecnologie Meccaniche Centro Italia, Volta Motorbikes, Casa Gracia BCN and Los Cármenes.

Duration: 4 years

Start: September 2019