Contact
Martin Linder, Founding Director
Phone: (415) 338-6525
Website: industrialdesignoutreach.org
About the Institute
The mission of iDo is to promote the field of industrial design and use its methodologies to enhance education. iDo provides high school participants with a no-cost introduction to design. Participants and San Francisco State University (SF State) students majoring in design collaborate on developing and delivering hands-on interdisciplinary design projects. These experiences foster curiosity in youth participants, promote creativity, build self-confidence, and allow participants to develop valuable vocational and college skills. In turn, college students learn to build and deliver curriculum, which enhances their communication, organization, presentation, team building, and design skills.
iDo is a unique program that serves as an incubator for the next generation of creative thinkers in the design industry. Since its inception, the program has been successfully implemented at four San Francisco public high schools: Abraham Lincoln High School, Academy of Arts and Science High School, School of the Arts (SOTA), and Thurgood Marshall High School.
The Need
iDo was founded in 2003 as a direct response to the lack of design course offerings in public high school curriculum in San Francisco. Most high school students in the city have not been exposed to design, given the specialized nature of the field and statewide cuts in education that have dramatically decreased the number of arts offerings in public schools. Consequently, most students are unaware of potential careers in design.
