Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Labs: 1 session / week, 3 hours / session
Overview
Toy Product Design is a MIT Public Service Center learning design course offered in the Spring semester. This course is an introduction to the product design process with a focus on designing for play and entertainment. At the end of the course, students present their toy products at the Playsentations to toy designers, engineers, elementary school children and the MIT community.
In this course, students work in small teams of 5-6 members to design and prototype new toys. Students work closely with a local sponsor and experienced mentors on a themed toy design project. Students will be introduced to the product development process, including: determining customer needs; brainstorming; estimation; sketching; sketch modeling; concept development; design aesthetics; detailed design; prototyping; and written, visual, and oral communication.
For additional information about this course, see the 2.00B Web site .
Almost Required Readings
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York, NY: Harper Paperbacks, 1994. ISBN: 9780060976255.
Norman, Donald. Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Every Day Things. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2005. ISBN: 9780465051366.
Ulrich, Karl T., and Steven D. Eppinger. Product Design and Development. 3rd ed. Boston, Mass: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2003. ISBN: 9780072471465.
Suggested Readings
Ashby, Michael, and Kara Johnson. Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design. Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002. ISBN: 9780750655545.
Sutton-Smith, Brian. Toys as Culture. New York, NY: Gardner Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780898761054.
Bee, Helen L., and Denise Roberts Boyd. The Developing Child. 10th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2003. ISBN: 9780205340989.
Instructors
There will be one lab instructor and one mentor assigned to each lab section. Lab instructors are professors or graduate students that have a strong background in product design. Mentors are undergraduates who have previously taken Toy Product Design and have shown great interest and skill in the subject.
Grading
Individual lab instructors assign the grades for all students in their section. Instructors collaborate to ensure that there is equitable grading between lab sections. Half of the total grade is based on individual work and the other half is based on teamwork. Class and lab participation grades are based on both attendance and quality of in-class activity.
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Class participation (Individual) | 15% |
| Lab participation (Individual) | 15% |
| Brainstorming assignment (Individual) | 5% |
| Idea presentation (Team) | 5% |
| Individual sketch model (Individual) | 5% |
| Team sketch models (Team) | 10% |
| Final presentation (Team) | 15% |
| Final prototype (Team) | 20% |
| Design journal (Individual) | 10% |
Calendar
The calendar below provides information on the course’s lecture (L) and lab (Lab) sessions.
| SES # | TOPICS |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | |
| L1 | Toys and course overview |
| Week 2 | |
| L2 | Play |
| L3 | Brainstorming and innovation |
| Lab 1 | Hasbro design and engineering tour |
| Week 3 | |
| L4 | Theme presentation |
| L5 | Site visit |
| Lab 2 | Team brainstorm |
| Week 4 | |
| L6 | Sketching and industrial design drawing |
| L7 | Graphic design and visual information |
| Lab 3 | Concept selection and poster design |
| Week 5 | |
| L8 | Finalizing posters |
| L9 | Idea presentation |
| Lab 4 | Shop safety |
| Week 6 | |
| L10 | Sketch model techniques |
| L11 | Pull toy completion or planning |
| Lab 5 | Sketch model construction |
| Week 7 | |
| L12 | Estimation |
| L13 | Sketch models |
| Lab 6 | Individual sketch model presentations |
| Week 8 | |
| L14 | Design aesthetic |
| L15 | Interactive narrative and games |
| Lab 7 | Sketch model 2.0 construction |
| Week 9 | |
| L16 | Plastic |
| L17 | Plastic (cont.) |
| Lab 8 | Sketch model 2.0 construction |
| Week 10 | |
| L18 | Design consulting |
| L19 | Design consulting (cont.) |
| Lab 9 | Prototyping |
| Week 11 | |
| L20 | Design for manufacture |
| L21 | Prototyping |
| Week 12 | |
| L22 | Designing presentations |
| L23 | Designing presentations (cont.) |
| Lab 10 | Prototyping (cont.) |
| Week 13 | |
| L24 | Presentation prep |
| L25 | Presentation prep (cont.) |
| Lab 11 | Presentation prep |
| Week 14 | |
| L26 | Presentation review |
| L27 | Practice presentations |
| Lab 12 | Final playsentations |
