Course syllabus for Product form design

Course syllabus adopted 2025-02-21 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameProduktform
  • CodeIMS175
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerTKTDE
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyIndustrial Design Engineering
  • DepartmentINDUSTRIAL AND MATERIALS SCIENCE
  • GradingUG - Pass, Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language Swedish
  • Application code 70116
  • Open for exchange studentsNo

Credit distribution

0125 Written and oral assignments 7.5 c
Grading: UG		 7.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for bachelor's level (first cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

The same as for the programme that owns the course.
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites


Aim

The course aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to work with form, color, and communicative properties as fundamental design parameters for physical products. This is achieved through theoretical learning in color and form theory, as well as foundational product semiotics.

Practical design exercises further develop the student's ability to realize and communicate their product ideas.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

  • Analyze products based on fundamental geometric shapes and describe how they interact to create a cohesive visual whole.
  • Use technical orthographic sketches to communicate and visualize three-dimensional form.
  • Describe and apply Gestalt principles to two- and three-dimensional forms to understand how people perceive and organize visual impressions.
  • Conduct a systematic form analysis of products.
  • Perform form transformations based on given design tasks and apply a structured process of refinement from overall shape to detailed elements.
  • Justify and articulate design choices made during the form development process using relevant terminology.
  • Understand, explain, and apply fundamental principles of product semantics.
  • Conduct a product semantic analysis and describe how form, color, and design interact to create meaning and communicate messages.
  • Analyze and explain the relationship between a product’s structural properties (organizational functions) and its semantic properties (how form, color, and material create meaning and associations).
  • Basic color theory
  • Understand and apply the Natural Color System (NCS) to identify and specify colors in product design.
  • Modify a product’s visual expression through the strategic use of color.
  • Explain how different light sources influence color perception and the visual experience of products.
  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding and skill in digital sketching with a focus on three-dimensional representations.
  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding and skill in digital layout and presentation.

Content

  • Seminar discussions.
  • Literature studies and submission assignments.
  • Create work independently according to assignment.
  • Participate in exercises in class.
  • Making presentation of assignments in text/image and orally.

Organisation

  • Active participation in classroom exercises and discussions.
  • Independent work on assignments based on literature studies and specified tasks.
  • Group work involving collaboration and problem-solving.
  • Preparation and participation in seminars through active discussion and reflection.
  • Presentation of assignments in written, visual, and oral formats.

Literature

Will be announced/provided at the start of the course.

Examination including compulsory elements

To pass the course, students must actively participate in exercises, seminars, and lectures, and all assignments and presentations must be approved.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers about disability study support.