A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.
Headshot of Antonio Belton, a Black adult with a medium-dark skin tone, glasses, bald head, and gray and black beard.

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Antonio Belton

Lecturer

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Bio

Antonio (Tony) Belton is an accomplished design leader with a career focused on transforming complex ideas into purposeful, manufacturable products that connect with users and strengthen brands. With expertise in design thinking, product strategy, and execution, Tony has guided cross-functional teams, shaped innovation pipelines, and refined user experiences across industries such as medical devices, diagnostic platforms, consumer goods, and structural packaging. His work bridges creativity and business objectives, resulting in solutions that thrive in the market.

Awards

Multiple Design and Utility Patents; IDEA Gold Design Award; Red Dot "Best of the Best" Award; IDSA Silver Design Award; Good Design Award; Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Design for Life Honoree

Personal Statement

Design, for me, is a dynamic dialogue between creativity and purposeful problem-solving. Throughout my career, I've been passionate about not just developing products but creating experiences that resonate and endure. My work reflects a belief in the transformative power of thoughtful design to improve lives, whether through healthcare innovations or everyday consumer goods.

In the classroom, I strive to foster an environment where curiosity leads the way. I emphasize building core skills that transcend technology and media, focusing on imparting the fundamental design thinking abilities that serve as the basis of good design. I encourage students to challenge conventions, embrace iterative thinking, and connect design decisions to real-world impact. My teaching philosophy centers on nurturing critical inquiry, collaboration, and resilience, equipping aspiring designers with the skills and mindset to innovate meaningfully in an ever-evolving landscape.

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

Designed Objects Core Studio 1 introduces students to design as an intentional practice oriented toward people beyond themselves. The studio centers on the shift from self-directed making to designing with responsibility toward users, contexts, and real-world constraints.
Work in this studio is primarily analog and hands-on. Students develop ideas through observation, sketching, physical mockups, and full-scale prototyping. The studio introduces a builder mindset, framing making and fabrication as ways of generating insight rather than simply executing ideas. Digital tools are introduced selectively to support thinking and making rather than to define the work. Students learn two-dimensional CAD workflows using vector tools to develop patterns, layouts, and templates for 3D mockups and prototypes, exploring form and proportion.
Emphasis is placed on translating insight into form and testing ideas through iteration. Prototypes are used to ask questions, reveal assumptions, and gather feedback. Critique is introduced as a collaborative process focused on clarity of intent and use.
By the end of the studio, students understand that design always addresses an ¿other,¿ and that building¿whether with cardboard, foam, or digital files¿is a primary way designers think, test, and learn.
This studio is for students beginning their product design studies, including those new to design, fabrication, or digital tools. It is best taken early in the Designed Objects curriculum alongside core skills courses such as Sketching, Digital Modeling, and Designing Interaction.

Class Number

2246

Credits

3