module specification

This module is intended to enable designers to gain experience and understanding of working practices within the creative industries. Through working on projects that reflect real-world situations, you will consolidate both disciplinary and creative skills, develop professional confidence and navigate individual and collaborative approaches to working.

Projects will provide the opportunity to explore in-depth professional ways of working, encouraging students to foster creative imagination and critical judgement, and to develop individual and team-working skills to real-world problems and opportunities.

The module is driven by workplace goals, objectives and constraints in order to develop, test and extend knowledge and understanding of professional practice and employability. Particular emphasis is placed upon the completion of agreed practice-based outcomes to a professional standard within agreed timescales, promoting confidence in communication skills, including visual and verbal presentation methods. Professional ethics, social enterprise and entrepreneurial strategies will be explored, debated, and applied to produce creative solutions.

This module develops your ‘learning for work’. Within the module, you will gather work-related experience through live or simulated projects. You will gather employment transferable skills, desirable and advantageous for employment. You will foster your ability to develop and present your creative ideas to a professional client relevant (or adjacent) to your overall practice/ employment intentions.

Pass & Completion of Prior Level

This module seeks to enable you to:

• Develop social and professional skills and confidence for collaboration, negotiation and decision making in individual and team working contexts

• Acquire knowledge of professional ways of working and standards required in your field, including recognition of relevant ethical concerns

• Embed in your practice professional methods of project management, recording, communication and presentation

• Employ creativity and enterprise in problem solving through effective industry techniques for analysis and evaluation, setting goals and targets in relation to the opportunities and constraints of the brief

Studios and projects will necessarily reflect contemporary working methods and the practice of professional agencies, practitioners and industries. Project outcomes will normally respond to a specific context, space, market, company, commission institution or collection. Taught sessions will normally develop:

• cross-disciplinary design thinking and professional contexts
• methods of research, creative concept development and solution finding for ‘real world’ issues and problems
• planned and recorded (through detailed diary, workbook or log) project management through all stages of development and realisation
• case and precedent study
• the formulation of a project proposal in response as appropriate to a context or place, a live project, a competition or commission, and professionally constructed presentation
• consideration of the market conditions applicable to the brief and proposal
• individual and team review of work in progress and outcomes

The module focuses on individual and/or team self-directed study in response to design studios and professional project briefs with tutor guidance. Teaching and learning will normally include discipline-specific lectures, workshops and/or presentations on industry practice, briefings, company/industry visits, and critiques enabling reflection and analysis of work in progress and feedback.  You will have access to regular tutor feedback within sessions and will be encouraged to use blended learning resources to maintain and share progress. Ongoing support, monitoring and guidance in studio and workshop sessions will be available during projects.

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

Knowledge and Understanding
Discover, acquire and apply professional ways of working in respect of research, information-gathering, project development and presentation, evidencing knowledge of discipline-specific quality standards and requirements

Cognitive Intellectual Skills
Develop and apply professional approaches to problem analysis, evaluation, and personal strategies for developing and assessing creative solutions

Transferable Skills
Exercise effective interpersonal, negotiating and decision-making skills, having regard to the relevant personal and professional ethical standards of the field

Subject Specific Practical Skills
Employ contemporary design models for practice and professional thinking in order to generate new design concepts
 

In end of project critiques, you will present a coherent visual and text-based summary of your project development, process, concepts and findings, together with individual critical evaluation of relative successes and failures, debated with others.

Interim work in progress will be formatively assessed and feedback provided throughout the project. Satisfactory engagement in relevant workshop activities and continuing independent practice (and associated health and safety procedures) will also be monitored throughout.

At the end of the module, overall project work will be assessed through a portfolio normally including research, industry analysis, findings, creative development and project management recorded through for example, a logbook or diary. Specific project requirements will be detailed in project briefs contained in the module guide.

The submissions must clearly demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and requirements of professional practice, together with evidence of ethical consideration in decision-making.  Work must be carefully organized and presented to indicate the development of work and the content must be clearly labeled.

Students must attend all timetabled taught studio and/or workshop sessions.

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Bucher, S (2004) All Access: Making of 30 Extraordinary Graphic Designers, Gloucester: Rockport
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Dodge, C et al, (2000) The Crit, London, Architectural Press
Farrelly, L (2007) Basics Architecture: Representational Techniques, Lausanne: AVA Publishing
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