INSIDE OUT, STORIES 20*IPO

Industrial Product Design is written in the history books. Before the industrial revolution, it was about functionality: fork, spoon, knife, plough or boat shape. Later, decoration that reflected a style was added.

Over time, the métier took other forms: typical examples were the Art Nouveau movement with transition to Modernism. Not only movements, but also technology and materials, economic realities, individual personalities, etc., shaped design into what it is today. Often influenced by pure formalism, fetishism or kitch. Sometimes we don't even realise (anymore) where it all started, but for a programme like Industrial Product Design at Howest, the University College West Flanders, the roots and future visions of design mean a lot. They give direction to our design education.

The impact of Kunstwerkstede De Coene on our region at the time was huge. The impact of 30 years of Industrial Design Design (master) and 20 years of Industrial Product Design (professional Bachelor) in the Industrial Design Centre Howest, with its 1500 creative designers, is probably many times greater, but since we are living in the moment, not yet measurable. With IPO, we have now been in this world of rapidly developing, new design insights for 20 years. We want to highlight this by spending an academic year looking back together with our alumni, companies and partners, .... Though not with an industrial history story but through products that show what has changed in the last 20 years and what we are facing in the next 20. Under the title INSIDE OUT, we are bringing together a few moments in academic year 23-24. We bring to life a fragment of industrial design history, through products from the companies our alumni work, or have worked on.