Guided by renowned designer and module leader Francesco Faccin, students from the Master in Product Design explored the potential of Small Series production, objects that live between artisanal craftsmanship and industrial processes. The goal: to create a refined product that embodies cultural memory while speaking to contemporary design values.
Designing for a Niche Market
In this project, students were asked to design a piece—furniture, lighting, or accessory—intended for limited-run production. This type of product is typically aimed at a high-end audience, such as design galleries or private collectors, where uniqueness, narrative, and quality craftsmanship are essential. Positioned at the intersection of heritage and innovation, Small Series items are neither mass-produced nor purely handmade, but rather represent a hybrid model of design for niche markets.
Made in Italy, Reinvented
Italy’s unparalleled ecosystem of highly skilled artisans and small-scale manufacturers—many of whom incorporate cutting-edge technologies—offered an ideal context for students to explore this hybrid production model. The course encouraged students to embrace both manual and digital techniques, proving that advanced technology and craftsmanship can, and should, coexist.
Tradition as Inspiration
Each student began the project by selecting a traditional object from their own cultural heritage—often anonymous or folkloric in origin—and reinterpreting it through the lens of material, process, and meaning. The aim was not to replicate the past, but to translate it into contemporary language, creating emotionally resonant products that are both rooted in history and relevant to today’s design landscape.
A Reflective and Material-Driven Process
Throughout the course, students navigated the full design cycle—from research and ideation to prototyping and presentation—always keeping in mind the product’s cultural context and production feasibility. Emphasis was placed on the emotional and symbolic value of objects, as well as their ability to tell stories through materiality and form.
Designing with Time in Mind
In this Small Series project, design became a tool for continuity—connecting past, present, and future. With Francesco Faccin’s mentorship, students were challenged to think beyond trends and aesthetics, and to act as cultural interpreters, shaping objects that resonate deeply and last longer than a season.