Institute of Design Professor Offers Lessons in Product Design in New Book

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Author

By Andrew Connor
Thaler book 1280x850

Martin Thaler, a studio professor at Illinois Institute of Technology鈥檚 Institute of Design and a product design expert, is the co-author of a new book . The book is a collaboration with Sung Jang, associate professor and chair of industrial design at the University of Illinois at 电车无码, and series editor Matthew Frederick. Thaler and Jang will discuss principles of design with students from ID and UIC on Tuesday, November 10, at 7 p.m. in . 

The book is the 10th in the 101 Things I Learned series, which draws on academic and industry experts to break down their respective fields into essential lessons, particularly for those still finding, or changing, their professional paths. The lessons range from 鈥渨hy every product is a part of a system鈥 to 鈥渢he difference between being clever and being gimmicky.鈥

鈥淎t ID we welcome students from every background, from former teachers to biologists, who seek to understand design from a fundamental and principled perspective,鈥 says Thaler. 鈥淚n my teaching, I try to demonstrate the principles of design through physical products: how these fit into an experience and systems approach. We work on projects to develop a student's ability to combine high-level concepts with craft skills. It's this perspective that informs many lessons in the book.鈥

A seasoned product designer and educator, Thaler has taught full-time at ID since 2008, leading workshops that inform a human-centered approach to product design. In celebration of the Bauhaus centenary, Thaler contributed a chapter, 鈥淏auhaus Products for Our Time,鈥 to Bauhaus Futures (MIT Press, 2019). He also advised on ID鈥檚 collaborative research project with Fortune magazine, 鈥.鈥

101 Things I Learned in Product Design School was released October 13, 2020, and is available in digital and physical formats.