ITS Course “Design and Digital Innovation for Arts and Crafts”
Planned location Poggiardo (LE) – Biennium 2024-2026
Territorial declination: national figure “9.2.3 Higher technician for the promotion, design and creation of handicraft objects and collections with cultural and artistic value”
Context
the handicraft production sector has experienced and is experiencing profound renovations thanks to the development of the so-called digital craftsmanship which represents a possible way out of the crisis in the manufacturing sector, divided between the risk of extinction and the challenge of Industry 4.0. In 2023, the annual growth of digital artisan businesses was 3.3% and is the best performance in the last ten years: we have to go back to 2012 to find a better starting point (+3.6%). It is in this context that the Makers – digital artisans – and the FabLabs, the digital fabrication laboratories, or open spaces for creation and sharing, are inserted; these are a host of digital artisans who are changing the economy and business models, with a cutting-edge approach in the creation of products and projects capable of bringing our society closer to a more innovative future, simple and functional. The ITS course prepares students for the design and creation of artistic artifacts using different materials from the Made in Puglia tradition, an innovative technological approach in compliance with aesthetic, safety and quality standards, supported by strategies relating to products and markets, marketing and corporate and product communication.
Professional profile
the higher Technician works in contexts where artifacts related to the different forms of craftsmanship of territorial excellence are designed and manufactured. It transforms the project proposal into an executive project, also dealing with researching advanced and intelligent production systems. It works for the creation of new product and process designs, applying innovative technologies and tools, in compliance with the aesthetic, safety and quality standards of reference. It uses simulation tools to carry out the development of virtual models and is able to select the most appropriate advanced manufacturing, additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies for prototyping and product industrialization. He/She knows and experiments with the most “advanced” mechanisms of communication, sales and digital marketing applied, enhances the manufacturing tradition of the territory and relates to customers through innovative promotions linked to the territorial context and supply chain logic, applying new sales models.
Skills
Participants will be able to:
- design and model objects using the typical materials of Apulian productions also through 3D modeling
- prepare tools, equipment and all the technologies necessary for the different processing phases
- design artifacts using innovative design techniques
- define and plan phases/succession of operations to be carried out
- experimenting with innovative materials and artistic languages
- anticipate market trends and changes in customer tastes
- design and implement branding activities and use promotion and sales tools, favoring digital, e-commerce and social media
- identify methods and artifacts in a sustainable way
- use artificial intelligence applied to design, production, branding and marketing
PARTNER
- artisan companies and workshops or large companies that use artisanal processes
- planning and design studios, style offices, product offices, modeling and prototyping departments
- external technical consultancy firms
- companies of artistic and typical craftsmanship
- restoration companies
- consortia of artisan operators for the performance of promotion and marketing activities of the products
The course lasts 2000 hours in total, distributed over two years and divided as follows:
– 1200 hours dedicated to classroom laboratory teaching, case studies in the laboratory and/or in work contexts, seminar activities, educational and study visits, project work;
-800 hours of internship activities in work contexts.
The daily timetable will be determined on the basis of the operational program and may vary from 5 to 8 hours.
Attendance is mandatory for at least 80% of the training activities, under penalty of exclusion from the final exam which will be held in accordance with the methods established by the Ministry of Education.
At the end of the course, by passing the final exam, the DIPLOMA OF HIGHER TECHNICIAN issued by the Ministry of Education and Merit is obtained, corresponding to the 5th LEVEL of the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF), pursuant to art. 8, paragraph 1, of the Prime Ministerial Decree of 25 January 2008.
Where the requirements are met, and in relation to the specificity of the study program, students will acquire the skills aimed at taking the exam tests for the following certifications:
Certifications for the use of specific sector software
Foreign language certifications according to the levels of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)
Certifications relating to safety in the workplace
