Product sound design in education

Abstract

Product Sound Design is an elective course of the Master of Industrial Design Engineering at the Delft University of Technology. The educational goal of the course is to make students consciously aware of constructive parts in the design of appliances. The paper details the experience and the design of product sounds. The course runs during the second half year and the students are involved through project teams. Products have mostly moving parts with a certain mass that generate sounds. Clearance is the result of tolerances of two fitted parts and the quality of manufacturing these parts. Two types of sounds can be distinguished: intentional sounds and consequential sounds. In product sound design an integrative vision of perception and engineering is needed to be a successful designer/engineer of products. The content of the product sound design course has three main subjects to explain: product, product sound and product sound design. The first quarter consists of an intentional sound project and the consequential sound project takes place in the second quarter. The education format is two projects, one in each quarter, and supported by lectures. The project is finished with a presentation and report. Results for projects in the academic year 2010-2011 will be presented. Findings of these projects will be adapted in the next course. The experiences of course leaders and students are good, which is translated in relatively good marks. The product sound design course fills the gap that exists between sound experts and product designers.