DE6024 - Final Major Project

Learning and teaching strategies on the Product Design programme encourage you to acquire a flexible and imaginative approach to problem solving through enquiry-based learning. You will become an active participant in your learning, integrating design practice with academic and intellectual skills.

The studio environment is integral to this process, encouraging individual intellectual freedom and a creative collaborative community. Hands-on participation and the exploration of theories, concepts and processes enable you to display evidence of creative thinking through the exploration and communication of strategies whilst refining your project brief. This type of experiential activity engages you in self-initiated research, encouraging independent judgement and critical self-awareness.

You are encouraged to advance your visual literacy and explore current issues and debates. Working individually and in peer groups, you will learn to be flexible and collaborative, to identify and redefine problems in a creative way and focus on solutions that are both relevant and empathetic. Traditional, new, and emerging technologies are used both in the delivery and realisation of outcomes, and you will learn to present your work and ideas to a variety of peers, tutorial staff and external collaborators.

The module will be delivered using a combination of lectures, tutorials, and critiques. Most of your time will be spent in directed design practice and independent learning.

Your module tutors will provide specialist project support through the timetabled sessions You will have regular weekly sessions in a studio setting to structure your learning experience. In these sessions, you’ll participate in group discussions to receive guidance and feedback from your peers and tutors. Your module tutors will provide specialist project support throughout the timetabled sessions. Tutors are aligned to each module that relates closely to their own design expertise and experience – whether that is through prior professional experience, through ongoing industrial collaborations or through current research work undertaken within the University.



The module has a specific virtual learning environment (eLearning Portal) which acts as resource where you can access all the relevant documentation including module briefs and guides, presentations and assessment requirements. The digital submission of work for both formative and summative assessment allows for expedient communication and the effective review of work whilst also utilising industry standard practices. During core working hours for the Design School but outside your timetabled sessions and project dependent, you will have access to a wide range of technician-supported workshop environments. Project and solution driven, these will support all your making requirements including specialist model making materials, laser-cutting, 3D printing, creating sewn soft-products, sensors and electronics, photography and videography. CAD workstations and industry-standard digital modelling software are accessible on campus 24/7 in certain buildings.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:

Evidence how your project is informed by, and responds to, wider issues such as cultural, aesthetic, technical and commercial contexts.



Articulate how your ideas are relevant, original, and justified in relation to a contemporary design challenge or opportunity.



Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the detail and nuance required to give your project credibility and originality.



Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

Employ communication techniques in order to exhibit a creative research process and appropriate outcomes to professional standards.



Show a process of creative experimentation, iteration, and on-going evaluation in order to develop and refine your design propositions.



Select, experiment with and make appropriate use of materials, processes and technologies as relevant to your project.



Demonstrate a high degree of proficiency and attention to detail in the realisation of design outputs.



Personal Values Attributes

(Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

Justify your opinions and the decision-making that informs the development and resolution of a design project.



Demonstrate how you have applied social and personal values to your work, showing an awareness of the social, environmental, and ethical implications of your design choices.



Show how you have sought and responded to external input including from relevant experts, users, or other stakeholders.



Show maturity in the handling of your project, using resourcefulness, independence, and curiosity to drive your project to completion.

You will be regularly assessed formatively and informally, using verbal feedback during timetabled sessions and at key stages of the design development process. Students may be asked to present their work verbally to an audience of peers, tutors and stakeholders to receive feedback and guidance. 



Tutorials and interim reviews will be timetabled at regular intervals during the project to provide a framework for progression of design practice and to support reflection and the development of solutions. Feedback will be tailored to the stage of the project, e.g., initial feedback will be focused on the understanding of the problem space and broader context. As the project develops feedback will be more concerned with the definition of a design direction and refinement of potential solutions as concepts are developed and iterated.



Summative Assessment


The submission point for part 1 is a physical exhibition at the end of block 2, including both 2D (8 A3 presentation boards or equivalent, visual booklets and videos/animations) and 3D elements (material samples, physical models, and prototypes) relevant to each individual project. The Work will be assessed holistically against the learning outcomes with consideration of the brief and how well the student has understood the context, gathered, and considered research material, developed creative solutions, and communicated the proposal to an audience.



The submission for part 2 is a physical exhibition at the end of block 3, including both 2D (8 A3 presentations boards or equivalent) and 3D materials that will likely consist of a range of designed outputs or media, including models, prototypes, graphics, videos, animations. Similarly to part 1 these will be relevant to each individual project and assessed against the marking criteria as set out in the initial assignment brief.

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This module gives you the creative freedom to research, conceptualise and realise a self-determined Product Design project, building on the skills, knowledge and understanding that you have developed over the previous years of the programme. Embracing an experimental mindset, you will develop a product concept that is original, imaginative, and credible. You will undertake in-depth research on a subject area of your own choosing, using a range of methods to explore markets and intended audiences. Central to success is an iterative approach, including continual testing, evaluation, and refinement of concepts. Your design ethos should reflect your personal values and theoretical understanding, demonstrating relevance and authenticity to stakeholders, experts, and external collaborators.