Courses / Module

This module has two key components. At the core of the module is a Design project. Students are typically tasked with designing and making a simple consumer product. They are guided through each design stage through an intensive practical studio and workshop based course. The chosen products are usually items of gift or homeware and are designed to a specific theme. Students are required to produce among the deliverables a professional quality presentation board outlining their idea. They are also required to produce a high quality prototype as close to a final product as possible. The packaging requirements for the product are also addressed. Students will be encouraged to incorporate programs such as Solid works to develop and present their products. Students are encouraged to explore a broad range of materials and manufacturing processes to bring their ideas to life.
Weaving through this process, this module will seek to further develop student’s basic skills of drawing and visual representation for use in everyday professional visual analysis, creativity and conceptualisation. It builds on the skills learnt by students in PD151, Design sketching.

The module aims to encourage familiarity and fluidity in the way students use sketching and sketching notebooks as a designer’s key medium of conceptual expression. It aims to establish a pattern of behaviour in the students that will be encouraged and monitored throughout the full duration of the BSc programme, and that will provide a solid foundation of behavioural practice for entry into professional life.

Assessment will be based mostly on the analytical basis, clarity of thought and conceptualisation represented in the visualisations, and to a lesser extent the skill employed in creating the sketch.