Become a professional designer for the 21st century, ready to tackle current momentous challenges. Whether as an industry professional or an entrepreneur, you’ll develop design solutions and strategies that innovate and improve life.
Pratt Industrial Design students become designers, artists, educators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and corporate leaders — diversity fostered by a program that encourages exploration and professional growth. You’ll begin with grounding courses in drawing, color, 3-D form, model making, and digital computer skills, and design studios that introduce you to critical thinking, problem solving, and environmental responsibility. During junior and senior year, specialized studios focus on your individual areas of interest such as product design, furniture, tabletop, food design, athletic gear, or exhibition design.
The design studio is at the core of your educational experience at Pratt. It is a creative space and a community in microcosm, from which we connect to the larger community. We believe education takes place in the studio and the classroom and that the work in the studio benefits the student’s growth equally. Working with tools and materials in the studio deepens knowledge of the opportunities inherent in form-making and design exploration.
Maker Spaces and Labs
Sustainability, material exploration, and methods of production drive our passion for making. We are hands-on and immersive; any student of design can discover, iterate and refine their investigations through the use of our many labs. Learn more
Capstone Project
In your senior year, you’ll complete a capstone project focused on an area of your interest which is a first milestone towards your future professional practice. The capstone studio project is presented at the annual design show, a public event attended by industry leaders and potential employers. Pratt Shows 2023.
Study Abroad
Isamu Noguchi sculpture, Keio University’s Art Center, Japan
Immersing yourself in another culture is an incredible experience that can extend the boundaries of creativity. Study abroad programs are an integral part of the college experience, and Pratt has deep connections with university partners around the world. See where you can go.
Learning Resources
We develop disciplinary fluency in our program of study and we celebrate the interdisciplinary nature of design critical to address the plurality and complexity of the environments in which we operate. Learn more.
Our Faculty
Pratt’s distinguished faculty of outstanding creative professionals and scholars share a common desire to fully develop each student’s individual potential and creativity. The faculty come from diverse educational and professional backgrounds representing the breadth of Industrial Design’s complexity. This multiplicity of views and experiences provide for a tailored education that is as unique as each of the students. See the full list of Industrial Design faculty and administrators.
Industrial Design alumni have risen to the tops of their fields in product design, exhibition design, health and wellness industry, academia, transportation, government, community development and advanced research.
Where They Work
Creative Director of Brand Strategy, General Motors
Executive Director, Smart Design
Creative Director, Tumi
Director of Design Development, Bioforcetech Corp
Executive Director, Global Visual Merchandising at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
Ready for More?
HERE’S HOW TO APPLY
PORTFOLIO HELP
OUR CAMPUS & BEYOND
Thinking seriously about Pratt? Learn more about admissions requirements, plan your visit, talk to a counselor, and start your application. Take the next step.
Building your portfolio can be daunting. We’ll answer your questions and help you feel confident about the portfolio you submit with your application. Start building your portfolio, now.
Find yourself at home at Pratt: our residence halls, student organizations, athletics, exhibitions, events, the amazing City of New York and our Brooklyn neighbors. Check us out.
Equine models Cisco and Tibble of the @JamaicaBayRidingAcademy came to campus for an outdoor figure drawing session.
Coaches and members of the @PrattEquestrian team handled the horses and were available to speak to community members.
The annual event is a campus favorite and allows our students a moment to destress and enjoy the spring weather before finals!
Did you sketch Cisco and Tybolt? Tag us in your posts!
@SoArtPratt @PrattFineArt
Videography: @kerryrichardsonn and @galenmarquess
#Horses #LiveDrawing #FigureDrawing #PrattInstitute #Brooklyn #ClintonHill #HorseGirl
Happy Earth Day! 🌎
Twice a year our campus community comes together for Pratt Earth Action week, a week-long series of events that celebrate the creative collaborations of the Pratt sustainability community and networks, and help us connect, in person and remotely, across groups, disciplines and initiatives. Highlights from this spring's Eath Action Week included plant propagation, rain garden clean up, and a mending workshop with Pratt Envirolutions!
#EarthDay #PrattInstitute #Pratt #Sustainability
25 days until commencement at Radio City Music Hall! Use #PrattGrad24 to share your celebrations on the big screen!
#PrattInstitute #RadioCityMusicHall
We are thrilled to honor Francesco Risso, Creative Director of Marni, with the 2024 Pratt Fashion Visionary Award, Risso’s perspective on fashion has made a remarkable impact on the field and the minds of the next generation of fashion designers.
Last week Risso came to campus to share his expertise with our graduating fashion students and critique their in-process thesis collections. The accomplishments of Pratt Fashion’s graduating seniors will take center stage at “The Show,” the 123rd annual runway event, scheduled for Friday, May 3rd. Read more from WWD at the link in our profile.
@asliceofbambi @Marni @PrattFashion @Pratt_SoD
#PrattInstitute #PrattFashion #FrancescoRisso #Marni
Pratt Admitted Students Day in 40 seconds!#
We had a blast bringing admitted students to explore campus this past weekend. Tell us your favorite thing about campus in the comments!
#PrattInstitute #pratt #brooklyn #ClintonHill
The Student Design Marketplace provides our talented student community an opportunity to display and sell their work! Organized by the Pratt Student Government Association (@Pratt_SGA), students in all disciplines are invited to set up stalls and sell their exceptional work including posters, stickers, prints, jewelry, sculptures and so much more.
See your work or an artist you recognize? Drop a tag in the comments!
Internationally renowned chef Marcus Samuelson (@MarcusCooks) and activist and educator Tony Hillery (@TonyHillery/@HarlemGrown) joined us recently for a powerful discussion on food equity. Moderated by Industrial Design faculty member Amanda Huynh (@AmandaHuynh), the conversation explored the many ways food is foundational to culture, health, and flourishing communities, as well as how race, class, and justice issues come to bear on food access and equity.
Part of Pratt's Design Equity initiative, the event showcased how design innovates solutions to food equity challenges and how food is a catalyst for change.
#PrattInstitute #DesignEquity #FoodEquity #NewYorkCity
Pratt has gone to the dogs!
Each year the Pratt Community Engagement Board (@PrattCBoard) organizes activities and service projects during spring break. This year we kicked things off with a night of pet therapy and dog toy making benefiting Pillows for Paws (@PillowsForPaws), a trip to Tompkins Square Park to work with @LESEcologyCenter on re-mulching the garden beds, and a morning with Edible Schoolyard (@ESYNYC) prepping the garden beds at PS 216 in Gravesend, Brooklyn (@PS216Grows).
The chicken had no comment on the Pratt Cats' feelings about dogs on campus.
Images 1-4: Pet therapy animals
Images 5-7: Students work at PS 216
Images 8-10: Thompkins Square Park
Excitement is in the air as our 3rd annual Pratt Giving Day kicks off today! We are thrilled to announce that a generous donor has pledged to unlock $5,000 if 100 donors make their gift by 1PM. Hit the link in our bio.
Will you accept the challenge and be one of the first 100 donors to contribute to Pratt Giving Day? Every donation, no matter the size, helps us reach our goal of supporting creative expression and education at Pratt Institute.
Pratt industrial design alumni are designers, artists, educators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and corporate leaders. This diversity comes from a program of study that allows freedom to explore. In the first and second years, students take core courses, which provide grounding in drawing, color theory, 3-D form, model making, and a full suite of digital design and production skills. At the same time, they take design studios that introduce them to critical thinking, problem-solving, and sustainability. Various studio options are available to the students in the junior and senior years when students can take specialized studios that align with their individual interests and professional aspirations, such as product design, furniture, tabletop and food design, shoes, athletic gear, exhibition design, and interdisciplinary design.
At the end of the senior year, students will complete a capstone studio, which aligns with their concentration area and the direction their future careers may follow. The capstone studio project is exhibited at the annual design show, a public event that industry leaders and potential employers attend.
The department offers study-abroad exchanges with several leading European design schools and a summer furniture-making program in Copenhagen through the Danish International School.
Upon completion of their studies:
Students demonstrate entry-level professional competence in translating their ideas into 2D and 3D design solutions.
Students can apply the steps of the design process according to current professional practice.
Students demonstrate fluency in using digital and analog design tools.
Students use a life cycle approach to examine environmental and social impacts of their design, and apply that knowledge to the development of holistic sustainable strategies.
Students approach the needs of clients and end-users from an ethical, socially responsible perspective.
Students use intellectual, ethical, and critical methods of design inquiry.
Students demonstrate an understanding of the broader context of design in relation to issues of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusivity.
