BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design

at Birmingham City University

COURSE IN DEPTH

Year one
 

 

First-year modules introduce key principles, processes and methods. 

 

In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits)

 

Modules include:

 

Design Principles and Processes
20 credits

 

Studio and workshop based activities will introduce you to a range of fundamental design principles to broaden and improve your knowledge and understanding of the design process. You will explore a variety of issues, guidelines and general design considerations that are relevant for designers.

 

Contextual and Cultural Studies
20 credits

 

The module introduces you to some of the critically defining key events and precedents that have influenced and shaped historical and contemporary design. This module engages with the key design ideologies of the 20th and 21st Century, developing an understanding of the principles of design analysis, critical analysis, academic writing, questioning and debate.

 

Design Visualisation
20 credits

 

This module introduces students to fundamental elements and key methodologies of visual expression and communication. Through drawing and image building assignments, students will develop a comprehensive range of 2D and 3D skills in order to develop a visual language to respond effectively and creatively to design tasks and formal briefs.

 

Materials and the Made Object
20 credits

 

The design process relies on a rich understanding of the nature of materials; their physical properties, inherent qualities, and how they can be manipulated (processed). This module seeks to embed an understanding of material and process technologies that will enable you to design with specific parameters in mind and appreciate the limitations of what you are designing with. This will encourage you to embrace material qualities as part of the design process, and actively explore the creative application of current and future technologies.

 

Scales of Manufacture
40 credits

 

This module will introduce basic principles and considerations when designing for various scales of manufacture, helping you to develop an awareness of the impact of economies of scale on design thinking. The module will introduce fundamental strategies in designing for different markets and you will explore the relationships between scale, context and implementation.

 

Year two
 

Employability-focused modules during your second year year enhance industry knowledge and experience. 

 

In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 100 credits)

 

Modules include:

 

Design Communication
20 credits

 

The main focus of this module is to enable you to develop more advanced CAD skills (SolidWorks) and use these in relation to the design process. As your skills develop you will be expected to utilise and correctly synthesise the SolidWorks program in line with industry recognised production methods and techniques. This will enable you to develop and realise designed concepts using digital technologies and to effectively communicate design intentions within the context of manufacturing and industry.

 

Design Synthesis
40 credits

 

This module will apply the ‘user-needs’ design philosophy as a framework to enable you to build upon and synthesise core design skills introduced at level 4 of the programme.

 

Design Synthesis will engage our students in the appropriate observational and analytical approaches required to develop user-centred design outcomes. The module will address the philosophy behind human-centred design and will encourage you to develop your own reasoning by putting the ‘needs and requirements’ of the ‘person/client/user’ at the centre of the process.

 

Design Focus
40 credits

 

This module will give you the opportunity to ‘focus’ your studies through self-directed practice, researching a personal area of interest and creating outcomes that reflect your developing knowledge of Product and Furniture Design. This gives a guided introduction to the largely self-initiated study you will experience in level 6.

 

In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete at least 20 credits from the following list of OPTIONAL modules.

 

Collaborative Practice
20 credits

 

The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration by enabling you to create an interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines, or with academic staff. Collaboration is a vital employability skill within the Creative Industries and this module allows you to develop these skills, making use of University facilities and with the support of academic staff. Within this module framework, several kinds of collaborative opportunities are available.

 

For example, with the approval of your supervisor, you can determine a project based on your own interests; your supervisor may set you a predetermined project to enable you to work with other students in a way that is appropriate to your subject area; or there may be opportunities for you to collaborate with staff on research projects. In all cases, you must apply your subject skills to an interdisciplinary project which will be agreed in advance with your supervisor.

 

Live Project
20 credits

 

This module provides an opportunity for you to apply your knowledge and skills to an external, professional brief. The brief will be set by an external client/ agency, in consultation with your supervisor, and it could be a ‘real life’ problem to be solved, or a simulation. It is an opportunity for you to engage in a professional manner with an aspect of your subject area, which contributes to the development of employability skills within the supportive infrastructure of the University. Where appropriate, the project may involve interdisciplinary collaboration with students from other courses. In this way, it reflects the collaborative, flexible nature of employment within the Creative Industries.

 

Work Placement
20 credits

 

The purpose of this module is to enable you to develop professional attributes and subject skills through experience in the work place, and to critically reflect upon your learning in that context. You will normally be expected to arrange your own placement, with support from academic staff and ADM Careers+.

 

Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.

 

Year three

 

Modules in your final year encourage individual direction through live projects/competition and a self-written major design project.

 

In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits)

 

Modules include:

 

Design in Context
20 credits

 

This module seeks to familiarise you with the initial stages of client contact in terms of responding to a brief and analysing an opportunity/problem. You will produce and evaluate appropriate innovative concepts with a view to selecting the most suitable for presentation back to the client/organisation as a series of options.

 

The source of the briefs for the module may be a competition such as the Royal Society of Arts or a live client company contact. In all cases, the briefs would be industry facing.

 

Major Project
40 credits

 

The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. It is important that we can support you appropriately, so you will be guided towards choosing a research topic which is relevant to your discipline and in which your lecturers have expertise. The outcome may take the form of a written dissertation or a practice-based portfolio.

 

Major Design Project (Development and Realisation)
60 credits

 

This module provides the opportunity for you to undertake a major self-directed design project derived from the major project research undertaken in the previous module Major Project. In consultation with academic staff you will be responsible for the planning and implementation of a programme of work that will enable you to showcase the skills you have attained throughout the course.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.

Award: BA (Hons) Starting: Sep 2022
Full Time £13,500 in 2022/23

Enhancing employability skills

The course has a vocational emphasis and is focused on employability. Throughout your study you will engage with real briefs, collaborative opportunities and external industry links. You will develop skills in a broad range of working approaches, from synthesising and applying problem solving and creative thinking skills, to 3D computer modelling, where you will use the latest industry standard software.

 

Extensive workshops support modelling and prototyping skills, and you will create high-quality outcomes using a wide range of materials, techniques and processes. The course supports personal development as a creative, knowledgeable designer, maximising the potential to obtain positions in national and global companies. 

 

The course develops skills and experience in and around the subject of scales of manufacture, from bespoke, one-off and batch production to standardised mass production. The interdisciplinary nature of design engages relationships across a broad spectrum of specialist areas of study, and we nurture this philosophy through collaborative and professional practice approaches. 

 

PLACEMENTS

This BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design course offers you the opportunity to gain invaluable work placement experience during the second year of the course, through modules and industry collaborations.

 

The Faculty also offers a specific optional work placement module, which can be taken up in your second year. The purpose of this module is to enable you to develop professional attributes as well as subject and transferable skills through experience in the work place, and tasks course participants to critically reflect upon your learning in that context. Students are normally expected to arrange their own placement, with support from academic staff and BCU Careers.

 

As part of the work placement module, students have the opportunity to attend specific sessions, which relate to the development of their digital presence, portfolio content and presentation, and the formulation of CV’s and covering letters for potential work placement providers and future employers.

 

We also have a continually evolving and expanding data base of industry partners within and outside of the West Midlands, who have collaborated with the course on various projects and have taken on students within their practices, either whilst students continue to study on the course, during the summer break or once their academic studies are completed.