Index
Undergraduate - Bachelor of Design (Industrial Design)
On this page:
- Program overview
- The Lower Pool
- The Upper Pool
- PreMajor/Major Project
- More program related information
Program overview
The four-year full-time undergraduate Industrial Design course gives significant scope to explore established and emerging disciplinary domains via four core study streams that thread through the degree.
- The Design Studies and Professional Practice stream explores the contemporary industrial design landscape, its histories, theories, methods and issues.
- The Communications stream provides methods of design visualization, representation and communication.
- The Technology stream opens up the material, manufacturing, engineering and constructs of industrial design.
- The Design Studio Stream, which sits as the central and connective element of the curriculum, provides a diverse suite of applied, industry linked and research integrated design project experiences. Through these 'projects' the dimensions of particular needs and problems, in specific situations and contexts, are teased out in order to propose new and better alternatives through design.
The first year provides foundational exposures to the methods and nature of the designed form to the socio-cultural factors of design and designing. The second year sees an increase of the technical, technological and contextual complexity by which design activity and its social and environmental implications are to be considered and provides avenues of choice in how you may develop your own specialization of industrial design practice. The third year significantly defines individual design capabilities and interests by providing a variety of design studio and elective topics from the program as well as from other disciplines in the University. The fourth and final year of the program provides the challenge of defining and demonstrating an area of professional engagement through a year-long, research led and industry engaged design project which is then publicly presented at the Industrial Design graduate exhibition.
Program guide: Bachelor of Design (Industrial Design)
The Lower Pool
The first stage lasts for three semesters. In this period the student leaves behind the ways of the school- chiefly strategic learning, or learning by guessing what the teacher wants - and begins the process of developing her/his creativity and problem solving skills. And also the crucial skills of communication and realising their thinking in material form. Students in this phase talk of the idea of design they came into uni with - and how it had all changed. Students leave this stage competent - and eager to challenge themselves in the hurly burly of the upper pool studios.
The Upper Pool
The second stage lasts three semesters. RMIT University assumes the student is accomplished and ready to take the plunge into a host of design situations. In this stage the student faces options - many studios, many electives and then the opportunity to study abroad. This is unique to RMIT Industrial Design - and demonstrates that the uni has faith in the student and trusts her/him to construct their own meaning of design. A meaning that is unique- and that may include studios in Architecture, Interior, Landscape Arch or Fashion.
PreMajor/ Major
The last stage is of two semesters. This is the stage of Mastery, this is the stage where the student leaves behind their groping for meanings and reliance on the tutor to tell them what to do. This stage is crucially about Individual Self Reliance and the ability of each individual to get totally excited about a project they have dreamed up. In that sense this is also the stage at which the student has to address issues of core competencies and their ability to perform as independent designers.
More program related information
Current students - Design studies