Furniture Design Minor

Build the Future, One Piece at a Time. If you're an Industrial Design student drawn to making with your hands, storytelling through materials, or launching your own studio practice—consider adding a Furniture Design Minor to your path at CCA.

This minor is designed to expand your creative practice across disciplines, helping you explore the intersection of industrial design, wood craft, and making full scale products. Many of the core requirements overlap with your Industrial Design studios and electives, so the minor can be completed without extending your graduation timeline or adding extra units.

Students pursuing the Furniture Design Minor often explore pathways in:

• Independent Designer-maker 
• Office or residential furniture and home goods
• Installation and gallery-based work
• Custom fabrication and prototyping

This minor reflects the deep, collaborative relationship between the Industrial Design and Furniture programs at CCA—where making is both conceptually rich and hands-on.

Computational Practice Minor

Design Smarter Systems, Beautiful Logic. The Computational Design Practice Minor empowers Industrial Design students to blend creativity with code, logic with form. This minor is ideal for students interested in using computational tools to solve complex problems, prototype interactive systems, and shape future-forward design solutions.

You'll explore how algorithms, parametric thinking, generative design, and digital fabrication tools are transforming the way we design products, services, and experiences. Whether you're designing intelligent objects, sustainable systems, or immersive environments, this minor gives you a powerful toolkit to expand your practice.

The minor can be completed alongside your Industrial Design degree without extending your graduation timeline, with overlap in key studio and elective requirements.

Students pursuing this minor often explore pathways in:

• Generative and parametric product design
• Interaction design and responsive environments
• Digital fabrication and robotic making
• Creative coding and visual systems
• Systems design for sustainability, mobility, and health
  
  

This minor supports the new ID curriculum’s focus on collaboration, emerging tech, and circular systems thinking—preparing you to lead in a world where industrial design, UX, product design, data, and code intersect.

Ecological Practices Minor

Expand Your Industrial Design Impact with a Minor in Ecological Practices

The Ecological Practices minor helps Industrial Design students integrate sustainability, environmental justice, and resilience into their work. Through the study of ecology and material innovation, you'll explore the relationship between human and natural systems. With a foundation in environmental science, you'll gain deeper insight into sustainable design, circular economies, and regenerative materials—equipping you to create products and systems that prioritize long-term ecological impact.

Industrial Design graduates with a Minor in Ecological Practices can pursue careers in:

• Sustainable Product Design (Eco-friendly materials, biodegradable packaging, regenerative manufacturing)
• Circular Economy & Systems Thinking (Designing for reuse, repair, and closed-loop production)
• Environmental & Social Impact Design (Community-driven design, equitable access to resources)
• Biomaterial & Material Innovation (Developing alternatives to plastics, waste reduction strategies)
• Corporate Sustainability & ESG Consulting (Advising companies on environmental responsibility)

Career Opportunities in SF Bay Area

• IDEO.org focuses on human-centered design to address global poverty and social challenges. While there are no current job postings, they seek individuals passionate about improving lives through design. ideo.org
• Prowl is a design studio that integrates sustainability into its projects, offering opportunities for designers interested in ecological practices.
• Patagonia – Eco-conscious product innovation, material research, and responsible manufacturing.
• Nike (Converse Innovation Lab, LA) – Sustainable footwear, advanced material development, and circular design strategies.
• Google's Sustainability team works on energy and climate advocacy. 
• Everlane is a fashion company committed to sustainability and ethical practices. They are currently hiring a Sustainability Analyst to assist in developing and executing their sustainability strategy. 

These organizations offer diverse opportunities for Industrial Design graduates with a focus on ecological practices, allowing them to engage in sustainable and impactful design work.

This minor equips Industrial Designers with the skills and mindset needed to shape the future of sustainable innovation, ensuring they are leaders in designing for people, the planet, and long-term ecological balance.