Product Design (with Foundation Year)

This exciting very hands on practical approach we take on the BA (Hons) Product Design programme provides an educational and creative framework that enable you to become professional product designers and will ultimately give you, as graduates, the knowledge and tools to explore, experiment and find interesting solutions to complex problems.

The curriculum will provide you with the right transferable skills required to be problem-solvers and creative product design thinkers. These traits include having the ability to empathise so that you fully understand who you are solving the problem for and why and how it benefits society.

The course will help you gain a solid understanding of the processes, practices and expectations of a future product design culture in an international workplace which is changing at an ever-increasing pace. Throughout the course, engagement with industry experts and real work experience will be embedded into the core elements of learning and assessment.

Foundation Year: Techniques for Designing (Core), Design Project (Core), Art and Design Workshop (Core), Design Media (Core), History and Theory (Core), Professional Life (Mental Wealth) (Core)

Year 1: Material Integration 1 (Core), Design Resolution 1 (Core), Design Investigation 1 (Core), Technical Studies and Representation 1 (Core), History and Theory 1 (Core), Mental Wealth: Professional Life 1 (Core)

Year 2: Material Integration 2 (Core), Design Resolution 2 (Core), Design Investigation 2 (Core), Technical Studies and Representation 2 (Core), History and Theory 2 (Core), Mental Wealth: Professional Life 2 (Core)

Year 3: Material Integration 3 (Core), Design Resolution 3 (Core), Design Investigation 3 (Core), Technical Studies and Representation 3 (Core), History and Theory 3 (Core), Mental Wealth: Professional Life 3 (Core)

For more information about individual modules, please visit our course pages via the link below.

No exams are taken to appraise a student’s progress on the Product Design programme. Instead you are assessed on a continual basis under supervision using various methods, such as, through personal and group tutorials and presentations where work is appraised by a panel of teaching staff along with a peer group of fellow students. Through these methods, as well as carrying out activities in the workshop and laboratory, you will receive regular formative feedback. This feedback is offered to assist the learning process and improve the quality of work before final hand-in.

Design modules require a series of presentations for each project throughout the course. You will be asked to present your work to your student colleagues and teachers highlighting details relating to your primary research, through to concept developments and the fabrication of design(s), as well as a concluding pitch of your chosen final design. You will also develop a creative portfolio of work. Other modules require a group presentation and a short written assignment.

Feedback is provided within 15 working days in line with UEL's assessment and feedback policy.