The move to four-year undergraduate degrees in 2012 will bring a number of significant changes for the Polytechnic University's school of design.
'We took the opportunity to completely overhaul and upgrade our curriculum,' says school director Professor Lorraine Justice. 'We brought in external experts to evaluate what we are doing and have looked at what's needed for us to remain among the best in the world.'
The first year of courses in the main specialist disciplines - visual, products, digital media, advertising, and interior environment - will still focus on giving students a good grounding in the basics. As before, this will highlight the fact that good design combines creativity with hard-nosed practicality.
Essentially, the end-user is the final arbiter and designers, unlike artists, must realise early on the need to meet clearly defined commercial objectives.
Professor Tak Lee, the school's associate director of external relations, says students must develop critical thinking and good judgment, while also understanding the impact of cultural influences on how people behave and what they buy.
'It is always necessary to take account of real-world needs,' he says.
