Milan universities team up to launch unique food design degree

The Milan-based Scuola Politecnica di Design (SPD) and International University of Languages and Media (ILUM) are to combine forces to launch the Master in Food Design in March 2015, which they claim will be ‘unique on a world scale’.

Comprising 11 teaching modules, the programme will bring together a teaching faculty of designers, academics, scientists, journalists, chefs and managers from the food industry.

“The main objective is to bring innovation to companies in the food sector and sectors related to it, and in my opinion the only way to do this is to get managers, designers and food technologists involved in a dialogue,” SPD director Antonello Fusetti told Dezeen.

“Without design-oriented people, marketing people are insufficient in creating new products or providing clients with new experiences,” he said. “The design world, meanwhile, needs to increasingly focus its attention beyond the traditional sectors of furniture and objects. The food industry not only offers them a great opportunity to experiment, but also to work.”

SPD’s degree aims to not only teach young students, but also offer retraining for designers and others who want to move their practice into food design.

It will define a ‘food designer’ as someone able to manage all of the design elements for processing, distribution and consumptions of food, its aesthetic presentation, the creation of equipment and tools for preparation and consumption and ‘all the communication activities implemented for the promotion of food products’.

The course is being sponsored by PepsiCo, who will fund two scholarships – one covering the full cost of the course and a second offering 50% of the necessary funding. The company will also offer internships to students.

“We strongly believe that applying design to the realm of food in a broad and holistic way, from food design to the design of a brand identity and its activations, can add great value to all businesses in this sector,” said Mauro Porcini, chief design officer at PepsiCo.

Further partnerships will be announced before teaching begins next year.