Bachelor of Design

The world is changing, almost faster than we can keep up with. While we can't accurately imagine future realities, we can develop skills that will help us adapt to them. The Bachelor of Design uses a combination of case studies and real-world project briefs to enable your experimentation in making and prototyping. You will investigate the potential practical, social, political and environmental impacts of different design outcomes, using both digital and material technologies. Your learning will be supported by research academics and specialists drawn from industries relevant to contemporary design. You can also study the BDes alongside another discipline as part of a conjoint degree, which means you can take two undergraduate programmes at the same time. You can do a conjoint with , , , or .

In your first year of study, you'll be introduced to design methods, processes and rationale. You will also investigate design as a driver and responder to social needs in both contemporary and historic contexts.

Throughout your degree, you will build a personalised study plan around your Stage II compulsory courses, selecting your electives from four design themes:

• Design and Local Community Practices
  
  
• Design and Global Challenges
  
  
• Design and Business
  
  
• Design and Emerging Technologies
  
  

You can choose to focus on one or two design themes, or you can mix and match courses to suit your experience and developing interests.

In your final year, you will undertake a capstone design research project, working from the initial discovery phase right through to testing and implementation. This will be supported by a course aimed at advancing your understanding of design research methodologies. You will document your creative process in your project report.

The broad structure of the programme is:

• Seven core courses: DESIGN 100, 101, 200, 201, 300, 301, 302 (165 points)
• Nine elective courses from your chosen design themes: DESIGN 210-243 (135 points)
• Two General Education courses (30 points)
• Two additional elective courses from this degree or other bachelors degrees (30 points)

Learn more about Design courses.