Over this past summer I got to work with Ben Bush, teaching high school students about industrial design through shoe design.
Pictured Above: Professor Ben Bush giving a drawing demo on logo design
What is Design Camp?
Auburn University’s Industrial Design Camp offers an engaging program for rising ninth through twelfth grade students interested in a professional career in design. Hosted by the College of Architecture Design and Construction’s School of Industrial Design, this week-long resident camp offers an intensive design experience beginning with the identification of a design problem and rapidly progresses through idea generation, concept development, and exploratory prototyping.
About the Workshop
Each day is filled with practical, hands-on design activities, technical demonstrations, and in-depth instruction. Foundation skills such as sketching, rendering, and prototyping are emphasized throughout the week as participants develop their solution to the issue at hand. Working in dedicated studio spaces, participants have access to photo, computer, and prototype fabrication labs.
Designing Shoes
During the week-long camp, campers were taught branding and product development in the shoe industry. Campers took their shoe or sandal designs from concept to prototype in just one week as they created product packaging, prototypes and professional presentations. In addition to considering choices like color, material, finish and tread patterns, campers also learned about the science behind footwear and took a field trip to the Sport Biomechanics Laboratory in Auburn’s School of Kinesiology.