Industrial Design (MFA)
What our students, alumni, and faculty are doing in NYC and worldwide
thinkparsonsgrad@newschool.edu
212.229.5150 (U.S. only)
Program Contact
Christine Facella, Director
The MFA Industrial Design program prepares you to negotiate the seemingly contradictory forces at play in the growing product design industry. You explore the way goods can be produced in both localized contexts (a “making in place” approach, which relies on regionalized needs and constraints) and globalized contexts (employing design principles focusing on universal needs). You combine advanced making skills with critical inquiry and hone your skills using Parsons’ state-of-the-art product prototyping and testing facilities.
In their second semester, MFA Industrial Design students explore limited-run making in New York City, and in the third semester they can investigate large-scale global production through virtual collaborations. A specialized thesis project offers opportunities to develop designs that advance — or challenge — industrial design theory and practice.
The Making Center, a spacious studio bringing together creative tools from around the university, offers students unprecedented opportunities to acquire industry-ready skills, transform how products are made, and upend conventional notions of supply chains, local production, mass customization, and craft.
Graduates emerge prepared to design innovative products and lead the industries that produce them as well. Career paths include industrial design, product development, manufacturing, furniture design, humanitarian and service design, and toy design.
Discover what our students, alumni, and faculty are doing in NYC and worldwide.
Research is integral to the Parsons learning experience, and students and faculty work together to challenge existing paradigms and advance emerging scholarship and practice. Explore the thematic research laboratories housed at Parsons and throughout The New School.
Connect to the organizations, businesses, and entrepreneurs driving global creativity and commerce. In classes, internships, and extracurricular projects, you gain marketable problem-solving skills in sectors ranging from government and nonprofits to tech and creative industries.
New York City’s thriving creative industry and cultural institutions are part of your Parsons education. Our Career Services Office is enmeshed in the art and design industries and can help you advance your career with industry-oriented internships.
Funds are earmarked for graduate travel, research, and work to support your study. Opportunities include paid teaching assistantships, research fellowships and assistantships (including ones offered throughout The New School), ample student employment, and other grants available to U.S. domestic and international students alike.
Enjoy access to extensive resources including New School libraries, computer labs, archives, and studios, along with Parsons’ state-of-the-art Making Center, facilities offering a broad array of tools to support your creative and academic growth.
The New School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
