BDes (Hons) Product Design

You'll gain practical skills in design, sketching, use of digital media, 3D modelling, materials and manufacture, plus business and marketing skills. This course will address future technologies, changing consumer culture and the impact of carbon neutral lifestyles, both locally and globally. You’ll gain an understanding of the creative economy and professional design practice. You’ll work with our industry partners on live projects and have the opportunity to undertake a work placement. We encourage links with industry through external lectures, placements and participation in competitions. In Year 3 you can also study overseas with one of our partners in Europe, China, Australia or North America. You’ll develop your skills in research, problem solving, conceptual development and initiative and apply these to other creative areas such as branding, interaction design and service design. The course is supported by designated studio spaces for you to learn and practice in, and a modelling workshop with rapid prototyping and excellent computing facilities. Based at a multi-disciplinary campus, you'll be in close contact with students and staff involved in other aspects of design, giving you access to a breadth of inspiration and expertise that can add further depth to your study. Our graduates enjoy a high success rate in gaining employment after graduation, and our alumni form an important part of our industry network. This is a full-time course studied over four years. You’ll learn by a variety of teaching methods including lectures, tutorials, laboratory sessions and independent study. What you'll study Year 1 Foundation product design 1 and 2 Debates in design 1 Foundation digital media 1 & 2 Visual research methods Year 2 Materials for inspirational design 1 and 2 Product design studio 1 and 2 Debates in design 2 Design and business Year 3 Materials for inspirational design 3 Product design studio 3 and 4 Design & urbanism or Branding Design research methods Prototyping interactive experiences Optional work experience or overseas study Year 4 Professional practice Major project Dissertation You'll also enter your work into competitions. Work placement Optional supervised work placement or overseas study module. Study modules mentioned above are indicative only. Some changes may occur between now and the time that you study. You can view a list of all current modules in our module catalogue.