Student Spotlight: Cascade Designs by MCAD | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Student Spotlight: Cascade Designs by MCAD

The field of product design is fertile ground for exploring the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the products consumers use everyday. According to sustainability expert Annie Leonard, 99% of the things Americans purchase end up in a landfill within six months.

In the Collaborative Product Design class taught by Jeremy Faludi, students in MCAD’s MA in Sustainable Design program use a variety of design tools and techniques to investigate how to move from the current status quo of the product design industry toward a more sustainable approach.

For the fall 2013 section of the class, teams of students investigated real-world products ranging from skateboard decks to counter-top juicers. One team of students was presented with the particularly interesting challenge of assessing the sustainability of Cascade Designs’ Therm-a-Rest Mira sleeping bag and Therm-a-Rest NeoAir sleeping pad and offering up potential redesign solutions.

Read the rest of the story written by MASD alum ('14), Kate Mohn.

Published on
June 09, 2015
Tags
collaborative product design
Craig Johnson
Jeremy Faludi
Kate Mohn
MCAD sustainable design
Nadine Kuemmel
online courses
Shari Welsh
Sustainability