Product Design BSc(Hons)

Why choose this course?

The Product Design BSc(Hons) course provides a unique opportunity to develop product design skills complimented by strategic theoretical and practical knowledge of science, engineering and computing.

The contemporary skill set provided by the course enables students to explore not only how we experience and interact with objects but also the opportunities presented by industrial manufacture.

The course seeks students interested in design, technology, science and computing who wish to develop and realise concepts for new physical design interactions, experiences and behaviours.

What will you study?

The curriculum introduces professional design practice with core technical modules that explore the principles of engineering, industrial production, and design interaction. You will develop a range of skills to help you generate ideas and resolve designs – from traditional methods such as sketching and model making, to digital applications such as computer-aided design software.

Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list. Those listed here may also be a mixture of core and optional modules.

Year 1

• Design Fundamentals

• Design Fundamentals

  This module introduces you to the basic two- and three-dimensional design tools you need to communicate ideas and concepts to both yourself and the outside world, including:

  • drawing, measuring and rendering techniques;
  • various 3D model-making methods; and
  • presentation techniques.

  The module explores the subjective nature of design through form giving and visual language, and introduces the design process.

  Teaching and learning on this module takes place through a combination of practical workshop and studio-based projects, introducing workshop, design, presentation and communication skills.

  
   
• Design I

• Design I

  This module introduces you to the design process - understanding, observation, idea generation, concept development and communication - balanced against a user-centred design philosophy. You will gain a simple understanding of:

  • product design practices;
  • the relationship between designer and the other traditional design empathies;
  • human factors and ergonomics;
  • usability;
  • sustainable practices;
  • context of use, materials and form giving; and
  • creative tools like brainstorming and design workshops (if appropriate).

  Fundamentally, the module uses user-focused design techniques to create inspired and pertinent design solutions.

  
   
• Engineering Design
• Engineering Applications
• Structural Mechanics and Dynamics
• Design in Context I

• Design in Context I

  This module offers a chronological overview of design practice from the nineteenth century to today.

  It aims to introduce you to some of the key issues in the history and theory of design. In particular, it asks how design histories have been constructed and how the role of the designer as become professionalised and mediated.

  You will develop skills of object analysis through a seminar presentation and explore the role of design within broader social, historical and economic contexts in the essay.

  
   

Year 2

• Sustainable Futures
• Future Factory
• Innovation and Insight

• Innovation and Insight

  Innovation is the intelligent convergence of materials, technology, user requirements, personal insight and context.For example, when Dyson decided to explore the vacuum cleaner market, the insight was to make a bag-less cleaner. The quest for a solution resulted in borrowing cyclone technology from one market and applying it to another. The exploration embraced many technologies, user requirements, cultural and design issues, but the solution was a marriage of all.

  This module supports the investigation and exploration of new and better products for the market, leveraging intelligent design insights and placing the user at the centre of the process. The innovation process may deliver design approaches that foster brand development or open new solutions in new markets.

  You will cover:

  • personal insight and consumer trends;
  • new materials and production;
  • multidisciplinary team working;
  • strategic exploration; and
  • new product opportunity.
  
   
• Engineering Design Materials
• Electronic Products

• Electronic Products

  This module develops your knowledge of:

  • electrical principles;
  • analogue electronic principles;
  • digital electronic principles; and
  • how to apply electrical and electronic principles to design problems.
  
   
• Engineering Design and Manufacture
• Multimedia (Programming and Interaction)
• Design in Context II

• Design in Context II

  This module builds upon the historical survey introduced in Design in Context I and seeks to develop further an understanding of the processes and theories that inform design and manufacturing practice today.

  The module aims to provide a familiarity and understanding of the issues and debates of contemporary design practice. This is intended to develop your awareness of how your own practice is used and valued by consumers.

  Issues considered include design, advertising and branding, collection and display, consumption, objects and their appearance.

  
   

Year 3

• Production Project
• Design (Major Project)

• Design (Major Project)

  This module gives you the chance to personally develop and realise a comprehensive design project. You will:

  • develop a holistic approach – balancing creativity, context and commercial reality;
  • produce a comprehensive presentation – clearly articulating the design proposal; and
  • exhibit high creative and professional standards – driven by independent ambition through self-directed study and planning.
  
   
• Professional Portfolio

• Professional Portfolio

  In this module, you develop a professional communication design portfolio, which will help you to embark on your chosen career path.

  
   
• Major Project Reflection
• Technology Systems
• Design in Context III

• Design in Context III

  This module provides the opportunity for you to initiate and develop your own research in relation to their design practice and thinking.

  You further develop your critical research, analytical and presentational skills by conducting a sustained piece of research into a subject of your own choosing. This may relate directly to your studio practice. You will work on it throughout the semester, and present it first as research in progress and then subsequently written up as a formal essay.