Cushion Studies, Christina Daniels (3D Design '23)
Cushion Studies, Christina Daniels (3D Design '23)
Color Value Curtains, Jenna VanFleteren (3D Design '22)
Color Value Curtains, Jenna VanFleteren (3D Design '22)
Float Chair, Andrew Riiska (3D Design '23)
Float Chair, Andrew Riiska (3D Design '23)

3D Design

Department Philosophy

The 3D Design department is an experimental laboratory to explore human needs as expressed in the furniture and objects we live with.

Department Philosophy

The 3D Design department is an experimental laboratory to explore human needs as expressed in the furniture and objects we live with.

Through a process of questioning, making and discussing, our graduates develop a broad critical framework for evaluating design. It straddles the contexts of industrial design as it relates to mass production and fine design, situated in the overlap between design, fine art, and craft. Our approach is best suited for designers who wish to develop an architectural and spatial awareness in their work.

Program

Through a process of questioning, making and discussing, our graduates develop a broad critical framework for evaluating design.

Program

Through a process of questioning, making and discussing, our graduates develop a broad critical framework for evaluating design.

The program is best suited to hands-on makers who have already demonstrated some facility in crafting materials. This focus builds on Cranbrook’s legacy of teaching design – from Charles Eames in the 1930s to Michael and Katherine McCoy in the 1980s – but also fully updates the discussion to reflect the complexities of today’s context. Our group is a deliberate mixture of industrial designers, architects, craftspeople, and sculptors so that a diverse set of critical perspectives can inform the discourse. Our conversations draw on theories and strategies from related disciplines including literary theory, psychology, philosophy, and the social sciences – all fields that provide essential tools for expanding the parameters of design thinking. Through a process of questioning, making and discussing, our graduates develop a broad critical framework for evaluating design, and the cultural maturity and creative vision required to lead the emerging design professions.

Scott Klinker

The Cranbrook Experience in 3D Design

Scott Klinker

The Cranbrook Experience in 3D Design

Program

A Week in 3D Design

Program

Vineta Chugh, 2017

Program

A Week in 3D Design

Weekly critiques and discussion groups form the core of the department’s activities with periodic all-faculty, Academy-wide reviews. The department head consults with students to build individual programs based on their specialized goals and interests. In response to student needs, faculty coordinate projects that vary in duration and conduct reading and discussion groups with students. Additionally, designers and critics of national and international stature visit the department to conduct critiques and occasionally assign short-term projects.

The work undertaken by design students over the course of their two years of study is a combination of self-initiated research, grant-funded, team and collaborative projects, faculty assignments and industry-sponsored projects. In addition students develop an independent reading and writing program that requires the critical analysis and creative synthesis of ideas.

Austin Swick 2017

The program is free of the formal course structure typical of most art schools and universities.

Instead, the studio environment is the core of the curriculum with an emphasis on developing an individual body of work. The highly motivated group of students that comprise each year’s class provides a vital network of resources with which to engage in dialogue and critique. Because of this open course structure, students are strongly motivated to enter the department with a purposefulness that fuels the pursuit of independent growth. A highly charged studio environment allows individuals to work in the spirit of an ongoing experiment, with the focus on rigorous interaction among fellow designers and other Academy students.

Visiting Designers

Masamichi Udagawa + Sigi Moeslinger

2018 Visiting Designers

Visiting Designers

Visiting Designers

Cranbrook 3D hosts some of the most influential thought-leaders in design as guest speakers and critics in our studio.

Our guest list draws widely from both industrial design and fine design practices from around the world. Visiting designers often assign short-term assignments to test new ideas and methods with our group. Studio dinners with all visiting guests give students casual social time with designers of significant stature. These important moments inspire new ideas and build new connections that serve the careers of Cranbrook designers.

Student Work

Student Work
Soft System, Jian Ming Lin (3D Design '22)
Student Work
Color Value Curtains, Jenna VanFleteren (3D Design '22)
Student Work
Joonghan Bae (3D Design '20)
Student Work
Mac Table, Karen Lee (3D Design '20) with Brett Evans (Ceramics '20)
Student Work
Yi Zhang
Student Work
Joe Parr, 2019
Student Work
Sunny Kim, 2019
Student Work
Raveena Bhalara, 2017
Student Work
Hannah Vaughn, 2016
Student Work
Frank McGovern, 2016
Student Work
Robin Chen, 2016
Student Work
Yizhou Chen, 2016
Student Work
Nina Cho, 2015
Student Work
Drew Pettinga, 2015
Student Work
Andrew O'Mara, 2014
Student Work
Doug Leckie, 2013
Student Work
Damee Hong, 2014
Student Work
Mac Plumstead, 2012
Student Work
Mac Plumstead, 2012

Alumni Profile

Jack Craig, 3D Design 2012

Alumni Profile

Jack Craig, 3D Design 2012

Apply Now

Cranbrook 3D Design is committed to the idea of design authorship – where good design comes from an informed designer with a mature vision.

This form needs Javascript to display, which your browser doesn't support. Sign up here instead