Why you should study this course
We designed this exciting course to give you an opportunity to develop the skills and expertise to produce innovative and visionary designs for all forms of transport. This includes cars, motorbikes, boats, luxury yachts, construction vehicles and vehicle interiors, as well as emerging areas such as electric vehicles and personal mobility devices.
We have current excellent industry links, with diverse employers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Herman Miller, Lotus, Dyson, Aston Martin, Speedo, Ford and Electrolux. These may give you opportunities for ‘live’ collaborative projects, work placements, industry visits, design competitions and expert advice through regular guest lectures. You can start building your contacts and gain the networking experience to establish yourself as a design professional long before you graduate.
We have gained an international reputation for automotive research and teaching covering design, engineering, business and media. We are a former winner of ‘Best Design School’ in the World Automotive Design competition. We have hosted major symposiums on the future of transport design, including RINA conferences and the ITS-UK Automotive User Interest Group.
You will be taught by current specialists in automotive, transport and broader industrial design who have expertise in concept, modelling, interior, exterior and design-led development of low carbon vehicles. Their extensive professional experience includes working for well-known companies like General Motors, Daihatsu, Nissan, Ford and JLR. (Please note that staff are subject to change).
We deliberately try to strike a balance between traditional hand-processes and emerging technologies. You’ll have the opportunity to participate in workshops for physical and digital model making, while having the opportunity to access state-of-the-art milling, rapid prototyping and 3D printing.
Year one
Year 1 is about learning core skills and gradually applying them to increasingly ambitious projects. We aim to develop your 2D skills and apply them to three-dimensional designs solutions. You will have the opportunity to work in groups to develop dialogue and criticism around form-based problem solving and concept creation. Teaching and learning will be supported by a curriculum that aims to cover all areas of design, practical and theoretical, historical and forward looking.
Modules
-
Form Design and Visual Communication - 20 credits
This module integrates the technical and environmental aspect of the design process and resolution of the design project. The module therefore builds on your technical knowledge and connects that knowledge with advanced application in a major building project.
Optional
Assessment: Portfolio
-
Design Studio Methods and the Industries - 20 credits
This module provides you the opportunity to explore design themes associated with the transportation environment. You will work on a series of short transportation design project briefs to practice creativity and design skills while developing awareness of typical design studio methods. You will experiment with presentation techniques to communicate design outcomes.
Optional
Assessment: Coursework
-
Design Context - 30 credits
During this module you will be introduced to investigation techniques, develop brand awareness and market values within an international context and against different transportation settings. You will be presented with design briefs and visually present design explorations and outcomes. A short, illustrated presentation will be prepared to explain relevant key design trends, influences and brand factors in relation to an identified transport context.
Optional
Assessment: Coursework
-
Design, Function and Users - 30 credits
The focus of this module is on understanding users in order to design effectively and to consider the technical and material factors associated with developing design solutions. You will look at user and functional issues in relation to transport and mobility and showcase engagement with different stages of the design process from conceptual development through to user analysis, occupant and mechanical package and technical specification.
Optional
Assessment: Coursework
Year two
Year 2 is focused on developing as aspiring designers and creating a professional profile that relates to your career aspirations. You will be working on projects, most of them set and supported by industry partners.
Modules
-
Design Innovation - 30 credits
In order to develop innovative ideas that are meaningful to users and a continuously changing world, you must be able to investigate and question what already exists in design terms and be prepared to challenge. You will critically explore and develop dialogue around design scenarios and consider the purpose and possibilities for future transport systems/devices from an innovation perspective.
Optional
Assessment: Coursework
-
Design Application - 20 credits
This module has a strong outward facing focus and it is where you can consider industry expectations, communication and develop design professionalism. You will manage an investigation and respond to industry-aligned or client-inspired design briefs and follow the design process through to design solutions that are considered in terms of its functional feasibility, potential brand alignment and user sensibility.
Optional
Assessment: Portfolio
-
Design and the Professions - 30 credits
The aim of this module is to support you in the development of a personal career focused portfolio which represents a cross-section of personal skills, knowledge and capabilities. You will also work on developing a CV, identify relevant networks and prepare rationales around your future career aspirations.
Optional
Assessment: Coursework
-
Design Futures - 30 credits
This module considers design in its wider setting and highlights future scenarios as a platform to explore creative ideas against future ecological, sustainable and social, technological contexts. The module encourages you to question design in its international and cross-cultural setting to bring external perspectives to discussions and design action.
Optional
Assessment: Coursework
If you wish to do so, you can opt to take the Work Placement Year module or Study Abroad Year module which both typically run for a full academic year between years 2 and 3 of your course. You are able to progress onto the relevant module if you have successfully completed the first two years of the course (i.e. having accumulated 240 credits) and provided that you confirm your interest in undertaking this option before the end of your second year, typically in August.
While the Professional Enhancement Year and International Enhancement Year modules you undertake are non-credit bearing but do not incur any additional tuition fees, if successfully completed, these modules will appear on your final academic transcript. In addition, if you complete this year, you will also gain an enhanced degree award title as the additional suffix of “With Professional Enhancement” if you’ve gone on a work placement and “With International Enhancement” if you’ve gone on a study abroad programme will be added.
Final year
The final year gives you the opportunity to apply the learning and the experiences you have made in the preceding years and to create a body of work that showcases your talent and vision to an external audience. You will work on a self-determined final major project.
Modules
-
Concept Creation - 50 credits
You will identify a range of potential themes for design innovation which respond to current global challenges or anticipated future trends/contexts. The module will involve students agreeing a brief, conducting an in-depth investigation that explores the identified themes, and then go on to produce initial conceptual designs, one of which may lead to an individual and tutor-negotiated major project in the Design Delivery module.
Optional
Assessment: Coursework, presentation
-
Design Delivery - 60 credits
During this project you will deliver an agreed transportation design project which strongly represents your personal creativity, interests and design ability. In order to do this work you will research, develop and present around a single detailed design theme that integrates the skills and learning acquired throughout the course. The detail design development undertaken in this this module will be supported by relevant research and knowledge into areas of aesthetics, user-factors, operational sense, and functional appreciation that responds to identified aspects of cultural political, environmental, technological, social and/or legislative contexts.
Optional
Assessment: Coursework, presentation
