Course Overview

Design is a way of using thinking skills to come up with creative ideas for products, services and environments. Design activities are undertaken in response to human needs, wants and opportunities. Designing is a complex form of problem-solving that uses divergent and convergent thinking strategies. There are many specific types of Designers but generally they can be categorised into one of the following:

Graphic

Industrial

Architectural

Graphic Design focuses on things such as Advertising, Logos, Brands, Book & Magazine Covers, Web sites, Packaging the images used in video Games.

Industrial Design, which is sometimes referred to as Product Design, is all about the design of products. This can include almost everything in our human world - from the chairs we sit on to the pens we write with. These products are usually mass produced and are often designed with ergonomic consideration.

Architectural Design is sometimes referred to as Built Environment Design. It relates to the design of indoor and outdoor spaces.

Architecture involves the design of buildings and structures.

Landscape Architecture involves the design of outdoor spaces like parks, gardens, sporting complexes, and infrastructure systems such as roads and railways.

Interior Design is concerned with the interior of domestic residences, commercial buildings, entertainment and retail spaces and including vehicle and train interiors.

Unit Overviews

In Unit 1, you will be introduced to design in practice through the experience of applying a design process.

In Unit 2, you will learn about and experience commercial design, considering the role of the client and the influence of economic, social and cultural issues. You will also learn about collaborative design approachs.

In Unit 3, you will concentrate on human-centred design. You will use designing with empathy as an approach when you design for the needs and wants of a range of different people or groups.

In Unit 4, you will earn about sustainable design, employing a redesigning approach.

Teaching & Learning

The teaching and learning approach uses a design process grounded in the problem-based learning framework. This approach empowers you to to learn about and experience design through exploring needs, wants and opportunities; developing ideas and design concepts; using drawing and low-fidelity prototyping skills; and evaluating ideas and design concepts.

You will communicate design proposals to suit different audiences and learn how design has influenced the economic, social and cultural environment in which you live.

You will consider the involvement of humans in conceiving and imagining possible futures through design.

You will develop valuable 21st century skills in critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration and teamwork, personal and social skills as well as ICT skills.

Collaboration, teamwork and communication are crucial skills needed to work in design teams and liaise with stakeholders. The design thinking you will learn is broadly applicable to a range of professions and supports the development of critical and creative thinking.

You will develop an appreciation of designers and their role in society.

You will learn about the value of creativity and build resilience as you experience iterative design processes, where the best ideas may be the result of trial and error and a willingness to take risks and experiment with alternatives.

Studying Design will equip you with highly transferrable, future-focused thinking skills relevant to a global context.