The UI 3D Design program has a very distinct curriculum that prepares students to work with a variety of design problems and project scales. Classes in Product, Furniture and Interior Design provide exposure to different technologies and crafts that lead to successful portfolios and job market preparedness.  

Objects and furniture are always perceived and used in context with their environment. Understanding this relationship is crucial to effectively navigate the challenges imposed by the constant changes in technologies and society.

Participation in national and international exhibitions strengthen students’ ability to present their work and grant exposure to major design companies. Since 2013, 3D Design has exhibited at: International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), New York; Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design (SOFA) CONNECT, Chicago; Salone del Mobile SaloneSatellite and Ventura Future, Milan, Italy. 

3D Design Faculty encourage students to experiment, using a wide range of materials and approaches, integrating theory and conceptual thinking with hands-on making. The program values conceptual dexterity, sophisticated design, craftsmanship, the aesthetic quality of studio work and the meaning of social value. Intermediate and advanced courses involve intensive inquiry in furniture, bicycles, objects, fabrication, modeling and materials. 

The problems-based curriculum enables students to both investigate the critical questions facing designers and makers today, and develop the sophisticated skills required by changing technologies and new materials. Our studio labs, some of the finest in North America, include Computer Modeling, Virtual Reality (VR) and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) equipment including router, plasma-cutter, water jet, laser-cutter, thermoforming and Rapid Prototyping (RP).

The "Iowa Idea" permeates the study of 3D design, wherein studio art, art history, and more broadly science and the humanities, are woven.

The 3D Design program offers both the M.F.A. and B.F.A.

Student’s portfolio:
link

It Takes Two Exhibition Video Capture
https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=qjcMt5vt7LC
February 20, 2023 - February 24, 2023

Form + Function + Furniture: Inside the UI's 3D Design Program, IOWA Magazine | June 2019:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a0XALBAV0U

https://magazine.foriowa.org/story.php?ed=true&storyid=1858

Interview with 3D Design BFA Hailey Kurtz - May 15, 2015:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuFhtmU5ShY