DE5006 - Industrial Design Practice

The module will be delivered through the School of Design’s extended studio approach (X-Studio) that embraces our physical studios as well as our virtual spaces to create a flexible and rich environment that is responsive to our learners’ needs. You will undertake projects working directly with tutors, peers and other collaborators, engaging in discussion and constructive critique of your own and others work during project activity. This will happen either in attendance in the studio/workshop or through online platforms.

This type of experiential activity engages you in self-initiated research, encouraging independent judgement and critical self-awareness.
Working as an individual and/or in groups, you 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 techniques are used both in the delivery and realisation of outcomes, and you will learn to present your work and ideas to a variety of audiences in different situations.

You will learn to present you projects to others (peers, tutors and stakeholders), in various forms (verbal, visual, digital) during development and at the conclusion of your project, in order to receive feedback and guidance.

You will produce a creative process journal as you work, capturing a range of design development work created in the pursuit of your design projects. This may contain, but not be limited to, some/all of the following; sketches of products, form exploration, design details, construction ideas, research insights, customer journey maps, experience flows, service wireframes and others. The ability to think and explore visually in two-dimensions is still a crucial skill for designers and one that is sought by employers.

Regular contact with tutors and peers will give you formative feedback and advice about your practice. Building on your experience in Level 4 you will be expected to show a greater degree of independence, professionalism and autonomy in the pursuit of your work, both as an individual and when working with others. Projects begin with a briefing to explain the context, aims and expectations of the work and wherever possible with external stakeholders involved to give real-life insights into the project. Initial project sessions will expand the problem space to identify possible approaches or opportunities for design research and exploration.

You will be encouraged and supported to have the confidence to engage in discussion and constructive critique of your own and others work in a safe environment throughout the project.

Regular contact with tutors and peers will give you formative feedback and advice about your practice. You will be expected to show a degree of independence, professionalism and time management in the pursuit of your work, both as an individual and when working with others.

Tutors and other staff will be aligned to support specific projects (e.g. product, service or experience.) Guidance sessions with specific tutors are scheduled to support and review progress of work on all modules. Written feedback will be provided within 20 working days of assignment submission.

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:
MK5.1 – Develop understanding by synthesising information relevant to multi-faceted contexts to identify design opportunities.

MK5.2 – Demonstrate knowledge of the established design research and design practice methods for human-centred design, service design and interaction design.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
MI5.1 - Display critical thinking and explorative practice by conceiving and developing design solutions that respond to complex, multi-faceted contexts.

MI5.2 – Plan, undertake and evaluate design research inquiries within specific contexts utilising key practices related to human-centred design, service design and interaction design.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
MP5.1 – Explore who you are as a designer, using a range of media to communicate the value of your design practice and outcomes to a particular audience.

Regular contact with tutors will provide formal and informal formative assessment feedback and advice about your work, based upon a schedule of interim reviews.

Formal formative assessment;

Projects undertaken will normally culminate in the presentation of design proposals in physical and/or digital form. Students may be asked to present their work verbally to an audience of peers, tutors and stakeholders in order to receive feedback and guidance.

Competition projects will be assessed following a review of visual and other material requested in the specific design brief, such projects may not always be presented to others.

A continuing visual development sketchbook will serve as a useful resource for feedback and help you to document your developing design processes.

Summative Assessment;

Holistic summative assessment against all learning outcomes will be made at the conclusion of each individual project. These will consist of a range of presentation materials appropriate to the projects and in accordance with the brief. The combined marks for the projects will represent this component, which is worth 80% of the assessment for this module.

You will also submit a creative process journal, capturing your design and development process. This will form 20% of the assessment.

Level 4 modules

DE5007 Contemporary Design Contexts
DE5008 Personal Project and Placement

You will learn to tackle more challenging design projects, developing your skills and design process as a student of design. You will be encouraged to develop a flexible and creative enquiry-based approach to projects. You will become more engaged in this process, beginning to integrate your design practice with your developing intellectual skills and awareness of broader contexts.

A mixed diet of design briefs and industry-facing projects will provide you with the opportunity to develop your design processes, specialist skills and abilities through simulated and real-life scenarios – providing a rich learning experience. A range of projects will be presented in order for you to experience different specialised practices in the pursuit of design solutions in the sphere of products, services and experiences. You will work across each area of activity offered (including but not limited to product, service and experience).