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Design

Spring 2010 RISD Industrial Design Advanced Studio: Course Syllabus


Instructor : Sloan Kulper, idsa, risd mid `06 sloan@OneEarthDesigns.org Web:  www.de-se.com
Curriculum Planner : Yi Zhang, Wellesley `10 yi.zhang@alum.wellesley.edu Blog: de-se2010.blogspot.com

Social entrepreneurs are part of a movement to reshape the world of business into a tool for
addressing social problems that have been neglected by traditional capitalism and philanthropy.

Overview
This advanced studio will provide you with the opportunity to work with world-class social businesses
and non-profits on new social ventures that tackle problems ranging from poverty and lack of access to
healthcare to environmental degradation in both local and international contexts.

The semester will include two major milestones: a 3-week design workshop with an international
non-profit organization operating in Asia, and a 9-week project where students will develop in-depth
proposals for their own social ventures based around products, services and systems designed in
collaboration with local businesses and non-profits. This work will be supported by personal mentorship
from design professionals with experience at IDEO, Sustainable Minds, Continuum, KVA and other
firms. Projects may be completed individually or in small teams.

Throughout the semester visiting speakers will conduct open lectures and discussions on relevant
topics ranging from product design and ethnographic research to sustainability and marketing.

Skill Development
This will be a fast-paced studio where you will be expected to practice and build upon your skills in
many major areas of craft that are crucial to design practice: rapid sketching, concept development,
modeling and prototyping. However it will also be an opportunity to develop research-oriented
skills related to thought-leadership in this exciting discipline of design: collaboration with non-profit
entrepreneurs, conducting user research studies, evaluating and comparing precedents, developing
business plans and pitching your ideas to community leaders and potential funders.

Social Entrepreneurship and Design


Designers are playing a pivotal role in social entrepreneurship, an emerging field that seeks to address
pressing social issues such as poverty, health and environmental degradation with financially self-
sustaining models. From IDEO and Philips to small start-ups, the design community is learning to “do
well by doing good,” designing new products and services that meet social needs while generating
profits. Likewise, designers working in the non-profit sector are taking a more progressive approach by
focusing on philanthropy as an investment rather than a hand-out.

Questions?
Please feel free to contact us at: sloan@OneEarthDesigns.org or yi.zhang@alum.wellesley.edu

Page 1 of 2 Course Schedule


Course Schedule

Week 1 Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship


Feb. 23-25 Social Entrepreneurship Workshop - What goes into a Successful Social Venture?
A1: Bring in previous work samples, due 2/25
A2: Quick Design Project : Designing Tools for Himalayan Communities, due 3/2

Weeks 2-4 Design Project 1 - Going Global: International Social Ventures


Mar. 2-4 The Role of Design, Documentation Workshop
A3: Begin collaboration with One Earth Designs, Create project plans, due 3/4
A4: Create documentation plans, due 3/9

Mar. 9-11 Workshops: Benchmarking, Appropriate Technology, Life-Cycle Analysis


A5: Benchmark your project against past precedents, due 3/11
A6: Create life-cycle plans, due 3/16

Mar. 16-18 Presentation Workshop, FINAL CRIT 3/18: Design Project 1


A7: Background research on local organizations, due 3/23

Weeks 5-10 Design Project 2 - Bringing it home: Local Social Ventures


Mar. 23-25 Workshops: Collaborating w/Local Organizations, Field Work/Ethnographic Research
A8: Create ethnographic study plans for researching local organizations, due 4/6

Mar. 30- Apr. 1 Spring Break Week


Continue working on ethnographic study plans

Apr. 6-8 Workshops: Environmental Sustainability, Branding


A9: Implement ethnographic study plans

Apr. 13-15 Founding a Social Business Workshop


A10: Rapid iterations of design concepts based on ethnographic studies, due 4/15
A11: Design concept development sketches and models, due 4/20

Apr. 20-22 Workshops: Financial Sustainability, Scholarship and Publishing, Adaptive Technology
A12: Develop financial sustainability plan, due 4/25

Apr. 27-29 MID-PROJECT CRIT WITH PARTNER ORGS 4/29: Design Project 2
A13: Evaluating social ventures

Weeks 11-14 Design Revisions: Honing in on the Final Product


May 4-6 Workshops: Marketing Your Projects, Incorporating Community Feedback,
Evaluating Social Ventures (how funders see you)
A14: Sketch ideas for class posters, and other marketing forms

May 11-13 Open Source Technology / Crowd Sourcing


A15: Print and post final review posters. Get the word out online.

May 17-18
Continue to work on design projects

Week 12 FINAL REVIEW: Local SE design project


Final crit in RISD Auditorium with partner org representatives and design jury, webcast
A16: Submit CD to department with documentation of work

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