Industrial Design BSc (Hons)

In the first year, you'll learn idea pitching and presentation, generating ideas and enhancing visual skills.

You’ll undertake contextual studies, exploring companies such as LEGO and the challenges of mass-production, and build and make your first prototypes.

Creative Thinking
You'll be introduced to a range of core skills in concept development, and representation, through sketching, model making, diagramming, and time-based media by engaging with a series of design projects aimed at provoking a response to a design ‘problem’. You'll be encouraged to use digital tools to record and reflect upon the design process.

Context & History
You'll be introduced to historical and current contexts relating to industrial design, making and crafting culture. You'll learn how to use research to drive practice and will produce structured narratives in a range of media, exploring the ways in which design has impacted culture and vice versa. This unit is delivered through a series of lectures and research seminars. The unit runs alongside the Industrial Design 01 unit so that the two combine to provide a broad introduction to both the practical design development process and the historical context of design practice.

Tooling
You'll work through analogue and digital tooling processes to explore the iterative steps of making across a range of scales and materials. You'll become familiar with specific qualities of materials and how they might be formed, crafted or otherwise manipulated through the development of bespoke tools. You'll also make use of software to develop tool design ideas.

Industrial Design 01
You'll explore the fundamental processes of industrial design practice through product analysis, deconstruction, documentation and augmentation. You'll develop a range of skills to aid you in this analysis process, such as sketching and drawing, assembly / disassembly, accurate measurement in 3D space, material analysis and documentation of both the physical product and its intended market.

Embedded Systems
In Embedded Systems you build on your understanding of material systems but expand it into the realm of fabrication and adaptation. You learn about “adaptive re-use” for electromechanical systems and are encouraged to locate and acquire low voltage devices, toys or other systems which exhibit interesting or useful properties such as the conversion of rotational force to linear actuation, or systems with sensors or triggers. These systems are usually very well designed and can provide an excellent learning experience for understanding mechanical or electrical systems through reverse engineering. You'll develop new functions for these devices by utilising rapid fabrication to manufacture bespoke components.

In the second year, you'll share a unit with the BSc (Hons) Creative Computing course, alongside encouraged collaboration with the School of Architecture.

Industrial Design 02
This unit follows on from Industrial Design 01 and further enhances your skill set in design development and conceptualisation. Your core skills of sketching, model making, and visualisation will be further refined through a series of design projects. You'll also develop rigorous research practices, carefully examining the relationships between product, brand, user experience and form, and respond to this research through your design proposals.

Context & Theory
This unit follows on from Context and History. You'll further develop your skills in academic research and producing a structured narrative. Working in a research team, you will build an understanding of human centred design and design thinking, and their implications for industrial design. You'll reflect upon and analyse the philosophical and practical underpinnings of these development methodologies.

CoLAB 01 (Diverse Practice)
In CoLAB 01 (Diverse Practice) you will develop your creative practice and your business skills, as you learn about business management, project planning, pitching, tendering and fees.

Fabricate
This unit immerses you in the world of fabrication and making. You'll gain further software skills in 3D digital design software for rapid prototyping, as well as hardware and health and safety knowledge on the use of laser cutting, 3D printing and Computer Numeric Control (CNC) technology. The unit builds on the knowledge you gained in the Embedded Systems unit. You'll learn to integrate analogue and digital fabrication technologies, to realise large scale materially appropriate, spatial interventions.

Study Abroad (optional)
This optional unit will allow you to spend a period of time in an overseas educational institution. 

This course offers the opportunity to study abroad for part of your second year. To find out more about studying abroad as part of your course please see the Study Abroad section:

• Study abroad information

You may enrol to undertake an additional ‘Professional Practice Year’ as an integral part of this course.  

This will take place in year three. You will undertake a work placement with a subject appropriate employer to further develop your skills and CV.

Please note: If you are an international applicant, you will need to enrol onto the course ‘with Professional Practice Year’. It will not be possible to transfer onto the Professional Practice Year after enrolment

Pitching and Prototyping
This unit challenges you to engage with exciting new technologies and to produce compelling digital and physical prototypes. This process expands on your experience in Industrial Design 02. You'll go on developing your individual and group working skills and start to experience the pace of work in practice as you move toward employment.

Research Thesis
You'll carry out self-directed research on a subject that is related to the historical, theoretical, and critical concerns of industrial design. For your assessment, you will complete a comprehensive research output in a medium agreed with your supervisor, which might combine written or visual means of dissemination.

CoLAB 02 (Entrepreneurial Practice)
In CoLAB 02 (Entrepreneurial Practice) you'll build a professional, cohesive profile of yourself, your skills, and your specialisms. You'll learn interview skills and further develop the business management and entrepreneurial skills you gained in CoLAB 01 (Diverse Practice), in areas such as tax, liability and networking.

Major Project
After writing your own brief, with the support of your tutor, you'll develop and complete an expansive project that uses all your skills in design, making, research and project development. The finished work should reflect your deep understanding of contemporary practice.