The Furni­ture Design Program at Appalachian State Univer­sity is a concen­tra­tion in the Indus­trial Design Program and includes foun­da­tional courses in 2D Design, Design Drawing, Model Making, Wood and Metal Fabri­ca­tion, Human Factors, CAD/CAM, and Design History. After a sopho­more level port­fo­lio review, selected students advance to the upper-level furni­ture studios for their final two years. In addi­tion to the required furni­ture studios the students are required to take a set of elec­tives to further expand their skills in design and fabri­ca­tion. Elec­tive courses may include Welding, Rapid Proto­typ­ing, Apparel Design, Metals and Jewelry, Graphic Design, or any other courses at the univer­sity that the student feels are impor­tant to their development.

The program is housed in a 12,000 square foot facil­ity within the Depart­ment of Applied Design. The facil­i­ties are comprised of dedi­cated studio space, computer labs, wood­work­ing and metal fabri­ca­tion labs, a welding facil­ity, plas­tics lab, spray booth, CNC lab, and rapid proto­typ­ing equip­ment. Through these facil­i­ties students are encour­aged to explore a wide range of mate­ri­als and processes in their designs.

Richard Prisco and Cameron Van Dyke are the primary furni­ture design faculty with six addi­tional faculty in the Indus­trial Design Program. The focus is on design inquiry, user research, social and envi­ron­men­tal concerns, proto­typ­ing, fabri­ca­tion, and manu­fac­tur­ing require­ments. Through the close prox­im­ity to the furni­ture indus­try of North Carolina, indus­try collab­o­ra­tions, and studio projects, the students are chal­lenged to develop a compre­hen­sive knowl­edge base in furni­ture design and fabri­ca­tion allow­ing them to compete profes­sion­ally in the industry. 

For more infor­ma­tion please visit: https://industrialdesign.appst…