A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of an artefact built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. “Prototyping” refers to a group of analogue and digital techniques that allow the fabrication of such scale model.  

This course will introduce students to a variety of prototyping techniques, focusing especially on digital practices. Students will initially build digital 3D models of their designs, and then produce their initially virtual ideas via computer-controlled machinery from materials such as cardboard, wood, and/or acrylic.  

This course is project based and will focus on technical demonstration and a continuous studio practice to inspire in the students the abilities to think fluidly about how ideas can be filtered through prototyping. This course is designed to show what the prototyping may do to extend the students’ creativity into alternative mediums and processes. The core objective of this course is to give students an ability to play with such techniques to expand their creative output in whatever creative area they may choose to practice in later.