Overview

At the heart of the Product Design Innovation course is the belief that students should be capable of effective and productive critical and creative thinking in equal measures. It is not enough to be able to draw well if there is no thinking; it is not enough to think logically if there is no creativity or imagination.

In an increasingly technologically complex world in which the interpretation of data and information is as least as important as the capacity for original imaginative ideas, designers are expected to be masters of creativity, communication and collaboration. They must understand the processes of innovation, problem solving and strategic decision making. They must understand how to research, to embrace change, to tolerate uncertainty and unpredictability. They must recognise the role and influence of cultural difference and they must understand the needs of the end-user, manufacturers and of the environment in which we must all live.

Course information

We prepare you for global industrial product design careers, enhancing your research and technical skills, together with your critical and creative thinking abilities. We adopt a user-centred, interdisciplinary approach covering areas such as branding, the social impact of design, design management, design innovation, design technology and global design issues.

Structured around the three themes of communication, collaboration and creativity, we focus on the design of products that interface directly with people and are manufactured through methods of mass production. Within competitive markets, the ability to interpret and manage ‘user’ perception and expectations is just as important within the overall design process as the functional, operational and production considerations.