Bachelor of Designwith a Major in Communication Design

Unit code: DCO20009
Duration: 1 Teaching Period
Contact hours: Recommended 10 hours of study per week

About this unit

The aim of this unit is to enhance the student’s developing typographic knowledge by exploring typographic conventions, standards, specifications and hierarchy. Students will be equipped to identify visual relationships between typographic forms and communicate typographic concerns.

Content

• Topics for discussion may include:
• Publication design contexts, standards, conventions and innovations
• Type and text legibility, typesetting and editing conventions
• Grids, proportions, page and document structure for print and screen
• Text setting style sheets and master pages and multi-sectioned publications
• Publication conventions, pre-press, printing and for digital media application.

This unit is found in Bachelor of Design with a Major in Communication Design.

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Unit code: DCO30001
Duration: 1 Teaching Period
Contact hours: Recommended 10 hours of study per week

About this unit

Students will work on a collaborative project that draws upon the skills developed during the course.

Content

• Topics will vary based on the nature of the Capstone project. Communication Design students in Melbourne will undertake an Information
• Design Capstone where topics for discussion may include:
• Information design principles and techniques, publication architecture, hierarchy, structure and conventions
• Researching, organising and presenting data, information and content. Interpreting and presenting data, information and content as visual explanations, editorial structures, narratives and sequences
• Information graphic devices and representational conventions
• User centred design: Graphic user interface (GUI) design principles and techniques.
• Students off-campus will undertake an Advertising Design Capstone where topics may include:
• Community, brand and product advertising, brand management
• Advertising industry practices and strategic planning for advertising
• Multiple media campaigns and Communication strategies
• Literal and lateral thinking
• Creative writing and visual coherence.

This unit is found in Bachelor of Design with a Major in Communication Design.

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Unit code: DCO30002
Duration: 1 Teaching Period
Contact hours: Recommended 10 hours of study per week

About this unit

This unit introduces a range of industry standard production processes, including mass production and one-to-many communication. It explores methods of selection and sourcing of appropriate suppliers and manufacturers in relation to a specific project outcome. Learn about workflow for production and examine communication issues for designers and manufacturers.

Content

• Accessing, analysing and presenting research data
• Developing a creative strategy and communication plan
• Investigating selected media systems
• Developing communication design concept and idea
• Executing designed communication outcomes
• Publishing a design presentation document.
• Studio-based exercises and tutorial activities, peer review and critique, online submission and discussion, research and reading. A workbook/reflective journal will be maintained.

This unit is found in Bachelor of Design with a Major in Communication Design.

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Unit code: DCO30017
Duration: 1 Teaching Period
Contact hours: Recommended 10 hours of study per week

About this unit

This unit requires students to develop a strategic communication design project from initiation through to design production and evaluation. The project will examine the strategies underpinning a variety of commercial communication design projects and apply the skills of design research methods to a practical application.

Content

• Accessing, analysing and presenting research data
• Developing a creative strategy and communication plan
• Investigating selected media systems
• Developing communication design concept and idea
• Executing designed communication outcomes
• Publishing a design presentation document.
• Studio-based exercises and tutorial activities, peer review and critique, online submission and discussion, research and reading. A workbook/reflective journal will be maintained.

This unit is found in Bachelor of Design with a Major in Communication Design.

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Unit code: DDD10001
Duration: 1 Teaching Period
Contact hours: Recommended 10 hours of study per week

About this unit

This unit investigates the historical development of 20th century design as a creative, cultural and professional practice, exploring key designers, innovations and movements. Students learn how design has been historically practiced and how this informs today’s designers who utilise modern technology, materials and production techniques.

Content

Topics to be discussed may include:

• Modernism/post-modernism/contemporary design
• Design as political and social action
• Design, technology, progress and change
• Design principles, theories and significant figures
• Design, ideas and cultural production
  Internationalism/Regionalism/Globalism.

This unit is found in Bachelor of Design with a Major in Communication Design.

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Unit code: DDD20004
Duration: 1 Teaching Period
Contact hours: Recommended 10 hours of study per week

About this unit

This unit develops a strategic knowledge of how design is practised in the world today through the exploration of contemporary design and media practices. Students are challenged to consider the technological, economic, social, political, cultural and environmental impact of their work.

Content

• The unit will explore a wide range of thematic areas that may include discussions on topics such as:
• The role of design, new technologies and new materials in 21st century
• Cross/inter-disciplinary practices in design and new media
• Key contemporary practitioners
• Design philosophies
• Aesthetics in the 21st century
• Design for environmental, global and social sustainability
• Concepts of user-centred design.

This unit is found in Bachelor of Design with a Major in Communication Design.

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Unit code: DDD30013
Duration: 1 Teaching Period
Contact hours: Recommended 10 hours of study per week

About this unit

This unit explores the formal, organisational, and craft aspects of publication design and provide the opportunity to engage in the development of experimental and innovative typographic and publication design. This unit enables students to examine how type communicates as a graphic form and its emotional impact on the audience. There is an emphasis on critical thinking, advanced visualisation and the application of communication intent to a complex document. Through the investigation and analysis of text and image organisation, structure and order, advanced typography, imaging and craft knowledge, students will produce professional quality graphic documents.

This unit is found in Bachelor of Design with a Major in Communication Design.

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Elective units are what turn a degree into your degree. They are units that you choose to tailor your course to suit your strengths, interests and career goals.

Take a look at the availability of the elective units we offer online.

Why do you need to study electives?

Through elective units you can explore subjects of interest that may not be included in the core structure of your degree. The electives you choose will enrich your understanding of your field of study and shape the way you think about the core units in your degree.
Electives can be an opportunity to further specialise in a particular area or diversify your knowledge base.

When should you choose your electives?

It’s a good idea to plan your electives at the start of your degree – this way you get a clear idea of what you’ll have completed at the end of your studies. However, if you’re unsure what to choose, or need more time, you do have the option to select them as you go.

How do electives work?

Electives can be chosen from a wide selection of Swinburne Online courses. And there are two ways that students select them:
You can broaden your knowledge by selecting units from a variety of focus areas

Here’s an example of how a student studying a Bachelor of Communications (Media Studies) might choose to broaden their knowledge by choosing a mix of electives from courses such as Bachelor of Design (Communications Design), Bachelor of Business (Marketing), Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology) and Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood).

ELECTIVES

• Design Studio: Concepts and Narratives
• Introduction to Business Information Systems
• Design Studio: Typography
• Fundamentals of Marketing
• Sociological Foundations
• Introduction to Management
• Understanding Language and Literacy
• Introduction to Business Law

You can further complement your core studies by choosing electives from a similar discipline

Here’s an example of how a student studying a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) might choose to further specialise by selecting electives from similar disciplines, in this instance Management and Sports Management.

ELECTIVES

• Introduction to Management
• Introduction to Sports Business Management
• Critical Thinking in Management
• Sports Marketing
• Business and Society
• Business and Society
• Organisational Behaviour
• Sports Clubs and Facilitites Management

If you’d like to start thinking about the electives that you will build into your degree, visit the list of Swinburne Online Courses.