Bachelor of Industrial Design

Discover how to harness your creativity to solve complex design challenges with our Bachelor of Industrial Design.

Learn how to think like a designer, express your ideas visually and create a vast range of products, systems and services that people use every day. Discover the role human factors, useability, aesthetics, manufacturing technologies, materials and environmental sustainability play in design, production and user experience.

Get hands-on experience using industry-standard tools and techniques to create virtual models of a variety of three-dimensional products. Learn about commonly used materials and the important role material selection plays in the production process. Consider the environmental impact of products throughout their lifecycle - from manufacture and purchase to repair and end-of-life - and how designers can work in more sustainable ways.

Take classes in purpose-built studio and workshop spaces. Learn to use analogue and digital fabrication equipment - including CNC equipment, 3D printers, laser cutters and virtual reality/augmented reality systems - to produce physical models and prototypes of your designs.

Complete a capstone design project and apply your learning to real-world design challenges.

Emerge with the knowledge, skills and expertise to launch your design career.

What you'll learn

In the Bachelor of Industrial Design, you'll complete a range of core courses that provide a comprehensive grounding in key industrial design concepts, theories, principles and methods.

Courses also bring together knowledge from a variety of fields - including art, engineering, ergonomics, User Interface (UI) design, User Experience (UX) design, business, sociology and materials science - and show how these can be applied to enhance your design practice.

Hands-on learning forms an important part of the program. You'll complete a number of practical design projects throughout your studies to develop and hone your technical and visual communication skills.

In your first year, you'll complete courses that introduce you to key design theory. Through hands-on projects, you'll explore two- and three-dimensional forms, shape, and design elements and principles. In others you'll get up close with industry-standard digital design tools, environments and workflows. Practice drawing using a range of materials and methods to develop your observation, documentation, visual ideation and communication skills. You'll also examine commonly used materials and manufacturing processes.

In second year, you'll examine design from historical, contemporary and global perspectives. Explore the role of design in modern societies and reflect on the relationship between mass-consumerism and current environmental and social crises. Consider sustainable approaches to production and manufacturing. Learn about human-centered approaches to design for products, interfaces and services. Discover how products, systems and services can be designed with a user's specific needs, desires and challenges in mind.

In your final year, you'll complete a major design capstone project where you'll develop an innovative, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable solution to a complex design challenge. The Industrial Design Practice course enables you to sharpen your professional skills further by completing design challenges in conjunction with industry partners.

All these experiences come together to ensure you'll graduate with the knowledge, skills and expertise to thrive in your industrial design career.