module specification

3D Design Resolution ensures confident realisation of design concepts through consideration and manipulation of the materiality (form, colour, surface and texture) that affects meaning and value in all design. This module requires critical attention to context, aesthetics and construction and intelligent choices of process and production to consider and express how material and making methods can be tested through models, prototypes and final outcomes. Students will realise relevant design solutions to studio briefs in response to end users and/or sites, learning to work to a high level of professional presentation.

Through in-depth practice-led research, students will consider the social, functional and environmental impacts of products, samples, material choices and the performance of these upon designed outcomes and their users.
Through the development of their design approaches they will discover a logical and creative method to problem solve, appropriate to the needs of users and clients. Students will engage in responsible design with awareness of relevant social obligations as well as the end-user’s personal, physical and sensory wellbeing.

Completion and pass (120 credits) of previous level.

Through studio projects, students will develop knowledge and experience of aesthetics and user and market demands in relation to material and process selection.  L.O 1

Students will research and analyse construction and production methods and practices found in commercial environments specifying methods and approaches to making and production.  L.O 2

Students will learn and apply technical conventions of professional drawing and/or outworking appropriate to industry standards for relevant subcontracting industries.  L.O 3

Students will experiment with varied production techniques and technologies through prototyping & sampling methods leading to a final outcome.  L.O 4

Scheduled teaching ensures that independent study is effective and addresses the learning outcomes and assessment tasks. Students are expected to, and have the opportunity to, continue with their studies outside of scheduled classes. There will be a range of learning strategies deployed and individual learning styles will be accommodated. The module’s learning outcomes, its contents and delivery, have been scrutinised and will be regularly reviewed to ensure an inclusive approach to pedagogic practice.

The module and course utilise the University’s blended learning platform to support and reinforce learning, to foster peer-to-peer communication and to facilitate tutorial support for students. Reflective learning is promoted through assessment items and interim formative feedback points that ask students to reflect on their progress, seek help where they identify the opportunity for improvement in learning strategies and outcomes, and make recommendations to themselves for future development. Throughout the module, students build a body of work, including reflections on progress and achievement.

The School’s programme of employability events and embedded work-related learning within the curriculum supports students’ personal development planning. Through these initiatives, students are increasingly able, as they progress from year to year, to understand the professional environment of their disciplines, the various opportunities available to them, and how to shape their learning according to their ambitions.

At the end of the module, students will be able to:

1. Knowledge and Understanding
research and make considered material and process choices for chosen contexts, experimenting and testing materials and process as appropriate;
2. Cognitive Intellectual Abilities
reflect upon the complex demands made by the practical, creative and aesthetic issues linked to proposed outcomes through critical evaluation and analysis of options and choices;
3. Transferable Skills
accurately express  design intentions through a range of industry standard realisation and communication techniques, informed by users, clients and social context;
4. Subject Specific Practical Skills
practice and apply appropriate realisation techniques and technical competences for material, process and construction.

For assessment students are expected to produce a coherent exhibition and presentation, demonstrating project development, process and findings, together with individual critical evaluation of relative successes and failures, and to be able communicate and debate these with others.
Project work will be formatively assessed and reflected upon in feedback throughout. All students are required to undertake formal interim presentations with evidence of continuous reflection on design intentions through a range of industry standard realisation and communication techniques.

The final mark is given at the end of the module, demonstrated through a portfolio of project work demonstrating appropriate realisation techniques and technical competences as specified in project briefs.

Work must be carefully organised and presented to indicate the development of work and all content clearly labelled.
Students must attend timetabled studio and workshop sessions.

Portfolio & practical work submission, to include

exhibition and presentation, demonstrating project development, process and findings, critical evaluation;

communication and evidence of continuous reflection on design intentions through a range of industry standard realisation and communication techniques;

portfolio of project work demonstrating appropriate realisation techniques and technical competence;

organization and presentation.

Brepohl, P. (2003) The Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing, Brynmorgen Press
Clarkson, J. (Ed.) (2003) Inclusive Design, Springer
Colchester, C. (2000) The New Textiles, Thames & Hudson
Fuad-Luke A. (2003) The Eco-Design Handbook, Thames and Hudson
Jackson, A. and Day, D. (1995) Collins Good Wood Handbook, Harper Collins
Maier, T. and Tyrnauer, M. (2012) Bottega Veneta, Rizzoli International Publications
Mazza, S. (1996) In the Bag, Chronicle Books
Milton, A., and Rodgers, P. (2013) Research Methods for Product Design, Laurence King
Papanek, V. (2003) The Green Imperative, Thames & Hudson
Smith, P. (2003) Sustainability at the Cutting Edge, Architectural Press
Stoller, D. (2000) Stitch and Bitch Nation, Berg
Thomson, R. (2007) Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals, Thames and Hudson
Ursprung, P. (2006) Studio Olafur Eliasson, Taschen