Product and Furniture Design with a Foundation Year - BA (Hons)
| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2023-09-01 | - |
Program Overview
Why study Architecture and Design at Birmingham City University?
Our BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design with Foundation Year degree course focuses on the design and development of creative, contemporary and innovative products and furniture, considering user centred design, social context and commercial understanding.
You will be encouraged to explore materials, techniques and processes in relation to scales of manufacture, from one-off bespoke design to design for standardised mass production.
You will learn a range of research and design methods alongside continual practical skills development. Live student projects take place throughout the course to enhance your employability, communication skills and professional practice.
About foundation courses
This four year degree course has been specifically designed to you to undertake additional level 3 study designed to ensure you are successful on your chosen degree.
After successful completion of your foundation year, you will have the flexibility to switch (should you wish to change direction) onto a number of related undergraduate degree options within Birmingham School of Architecture and Design.
This course is
open
toInternational
students.What's covered in this course?
You will examine the process of designing and developing functional and desirable products and furniture, examining how social and cultural factors influence design decisions. You will develop knowledge and understanding of design in response to collaborative, professional, commercial and economic considerations.
Alongside research and design development skills, you will also increase your practical knowledge through extensive hands-on exploration. Engaging with making from the outset enables you to fully realise design concepts and create convincing models and prototypes. Underpinned with strong contemporary design thinking, you will explore the breadth of scales of manufacture across product and furniture design to be able to position yourself within a global industry.
By working on live projects, work placements and collaborative projects, you will explore how businesses operate at a commercial, technological, ethical and sustainable level. Second year students recently worked with Philips, developing user-centred lighting applications and third year students exhibited and sold work at Minima: one of Birmingham’s key contemporary design showrooms. You’ll also benefit from the insight of guest speakers from across the design spectrum from designer makers to industrial designers and product and furniture developers.
I had the most amazing experience on the Product and Furniture degree. There was such a wide range of projects and skills learnt over the three years, which meant I was able to discover the niche of design I am truly passionate about. This allowed me to really develop my design ethos, specialist knowledge and skills in my final year.
2019 Graduate – Alice Evans
Why Choose Us?
From Barcelona to New York, study trips and international opportunities provide new cultural perspectives and shared common experiences.
You’ll have the chance to join the student-led Society of 3D Design to take part in collaborative opportunities, creating a community between different disciplines of 3D design.
You’ll develop design communication and visualisation skills using recognised industry standard programmes such as SolidWorks, Adobe Creative Suite and AutoCAD.
You will develop practical skills throughout the programme through extensive workshop practice and develop skills in rapid prototyping and digitally driven techniques.
Live projects and industrial collaborations provide you with invaluable real world experiences and hone your communication and professional development skills.
Two-thirds of the impact of our research was judged to be very considerable (3*) or outstanding (4*) - REF2021
Studying with us during the Covid-19 pandemic
The University has put in place
measures in response to Covid-19
to allow us to safely deliver our courses. Should the impact of the pandemic continue in future years, any additional or alternative arrangements put in place by the University will be in accordance with the latest government public health advice, health and safety legislation, and the terms and conditions of thestudent contract
.Program Outline
Foundation year
Year one
Year two
Year three
Foundation year
The foundation year provides an opportunity to explore the exciting world of contemporary design through various scales and develop creative solutions, encapsulating Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design, and Product and Furniture Design.
It provides a supported learning environment to explore conceptual ideas through to detailed design, mapping and modelling and is assessed through mini design-focussed projects and a specialised final project in a chosen field.
The foundation year is ideally suited to students who need to develop their design, drawing, technical and presentations skills before entering a BA course, or for those who have not yet decided which specific design discipline or career to pursue.
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits):
Communication Skills 20 credits
This module focuses on developing the 2D design skills and techniques required to communicate and visualise design concepts around space and form. You will work on a series of mini projects using predominantly manual techniques such as freehand sketching, technical drawing, and physical model-making. You will also be introduced to some digital techniques such as Photoshop and Desktop Publishing via InDesign.
Professional and Academic Development 20 credits
This module is designed to develop your academic skills and make the transition to degree level study. It specifically focuses on your ability to critique, reflect and verbalise your thoughts and concepts through channels such as presentations, blogs and live journals.
You will learn how to use research methods to inform your practice and have the opportunity to advance your academic writing and referencing skills.
Design Techniques 20 credits
This module is designed to give you an introduction to the design processes used by the various disciplines and includes appraisal of design briefs, understanding context, design drivers, and the development of concepts and visuals through design feasibility studies. You will begin to understand how to turn your ideas into designs and the level required to reach a professional standard.
Underpinning the practice, you will explore and discuss fundamental concepts, particularly relating to human scale, ergonomics and anthropometrics, looking at design and its relationship to the physical aspects of the environment.
Design Disciplines 20 credits
This module is designed to encourage you to make connections between theory and practice and engage further in critical analysis. You will explore the historical aspects across the two design disciplines (a major and minor) and scales and current practices.
You will further explore the use of precedent studies, which will provide you with the tools to respond to the challenges and changes in different environments and habitations.
Presentation Techniques 20 credits
This module focuses on developing presentation skills, from visual and graphic presentation techniques to pitching and presenting ideas.
You will have opportunities through workshops and online tutorials to learn Adobe Creative Suite and 3D software such as Sketch-up.
Hands on workshop practice will be introduced across a range of materials.
Place and Space and Objects 20 credits
The aim of this module is to develop a concept design within your chosen discipline. You will document the design process, reflect on the experience and the final outcomes and the reasons for selecting your chosen field. The project will culminate in a comprehensive presentation, which will capture the whole design process via a design portfolio.
Year one
First-year modules introduce key principles, processes and methods.
Modules include:
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits):
Design Principles and Processes 20 credits
Studio and workshop based activities will introduce you to a range of fundamental design principles to broaden and improve your knowledge and understanding of the design process. You will explore a variety of issues, guidelines and general design considerations that are relevant for designers.
Contextual and Cultural Studies 20 credits
The module introduces you to some of the critically defining key events and precedents that have influenced and shaped historical and contemporary design. This module engages with the key design ideologies of the 20th and 21st Century, developing an understanding of the principles of design analysis, critical analysis, academic writing, questioning and debate.
Design Visualisation 20 credits
This module introduces students to fundamental elements and key methodologies of visual expression and communication. Through drawing and image building assignments, students will develop a comprehensive range of 2D and 3D skills in order to develop a visual language to respond effectively and creatively to design tasks and formal briefs.
Materials and the Made Object 20 credits
The design process relies on a rich understanding of the nature of materials; their physical properties, inherent qualities, and how they can be manipulated (processed). This module seeks to embed an understanding of material and process technologies that will enable you to design with specific parameters in mind and appreciate the limitations of what you are designing with. This will encourage you to embrace material qualities as part of the design process, and actively explore the creative application of current and future technologies.
Scales of Manufacture 40 credits
This module will introduce basic principles and considerations when designing for various scales of manufacture, helping you to develop an awareness of the impact of economies of scale on design thinking. The module will introduce fundamental strategies in designing for different markets and you will explore the relationships between scale, context and implementation.
Year two
Employability-focused modules during your second year year enhance industry knowledge and experience.
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 100 credits)
Modules include:
Design Communication 20 credits
The main focus of this module is to enable you to develop more advanced CAD skills (SolidWorks) and use these in relation to the design process. As your skills develop you will be expected to utilise and correctly synthesise the SolidWorks program in line with industry recognised production methods and techniques. This will enable you to develop and realise designed concepts using digital technologies and to effectively communicate design intentions within the context of manufacturing and industry.
Design Synthesis 40 credits
This module will apply the ‘user-needs’ design philosophy as a framework to enable you to build upon and synthesise core design skills introduced at level 4 of the programme.
Design Synthesis will engage our students in the appropriate observational and analytical approaches required to develop user-centred design outcomes. The module will address the philosophy behind human-centred design and will encourage you to develop your own reasoning by putting the ‘needs and requirements’ of the ‘person/client/user’ at the centre of the process.
Design Focus 40 credits
This module will give you the opportunity to ‘focus’ your studies through self-directed practice, researching a personal area of interest and creating outcomes that reflect your developing knowledge of Product and Furniture Design. This gives a guided introduction to the largely self-initiated study you will experience in level 6.
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete at least 20 credits from the following list of OPTIONAL modules.
Collaborative Practice 20 credits
The module is an opportunity to learn and critically reflect on the skills of collaboration by enabling you to create an interdisciplinary project with students from complementary disciplines, or with academic staff. Collaboration is a vital employability skill within the Creative Industries and this module allows you to develop these skills, making use of University facilities and with the support of academic staff. Within this module framework, several kinds of collaborative opportunities are available.
For example, with the approval of your supervisor, you can determine a project based on your own interests; your supervisor may set you a predetermined project to enable you to work with other students in a way that is appropriate to your subject area; or there may be opportunities for you to collaborate with staff on research projects. In all cases, you must apply your subject skills to an interdisciplinary project which will be agreed in advance with your supervisor.
Live Project 20 credits
This module provides an opportunity for you to apply your knowledge and skills to an external, professional brief. The brief will be set by an external client/ agency, in consultation with your supervisor, and it could be a ‘real life’ problem to be solved, or a simulation. It is an opportunity for you to engage in a professional manner with an aspect of your subject area, which contributes to the development of employability skills within the supportive infrastructure of the University. Where appropriate, the project may involve interdisciplinary collaboration with students from other courses. In this way, it reflects the collaborative, flexible nature of employment within the Creative Industries.
Work Placement 20 credits
The purpose of this module is to enable you to develop professional attributes and subject skills through experience in the work place, and to critically reflect upon your learning in that context. You will normally be expected to arrange your own placement, with support from academic staff and ADM Careers+.
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
Year three
Modules in your final year encourage individual direction through live projects/competition and a self-written major design project.
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits)
Modules include:
Design in Context 20 credits
This module seeks to familiarise you with the initial stages of client contact in terms of responding to a brief and analysing an opportunity/problem. You will produce and evaluate appropriate innovative concepts with a view to selecting the most suitable for presentation back to the client/organisation as a series of options.
The source of the briefs for the module may be a competition such as the Royal Society of Arts or a live client company contact. In all cases, the briefs would be industry facing.
Major Project 40 credits
The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. It is important that we can support you appropriately, so you will be guided towards choosing a research topic which is relevant to your discipline and in which your lecturers have expertise. The outcome may take the form of a written dissertation or a practice-based portfolio.
Major Design Project (Development and Realisation) 60 credits
This module provides the opportunity for you to undertake a major self-directed design project derived from the major project research undertaken in the previous module Major Project. In consultation with academic staff you will be responsible for the planning and implementation of a programme of work that will enable you to showcase the skills you have attained throughout the course.
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Taught by experienced designers, makers and academics, this course combines practice with theory to give you a fully rounded learning experience.
Extensive workshop facilities will help you to realise your proposals, creating functional and commercially viable designs. This hands-on approach allows you to understand the opportunities and limitations of materials and construction methods.
Studio activities and projects
Final year BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design students recently exhibited and sold their work at Minima; one of Birmingham’s key contemporary design showrooms. The fifteen selected students work in the collection included table-top products, desk and pendant lighting designs, furniture and homewares.
The students’ final pieces were created in response to a brief that tasked them with designing and making a collection of innovative and desirable objects or artefacts that could be sold in either John Lewis, Made.com, Heal's, WallpaperSTORE, or Not On The High Street. The designed objects also needed to fit within the retailer’s ethos, beliefs, style and approach, and fulfil the necessary requirements to be sold within their retail spaces.
Speaking afterwards, Level 6 Co-Ordinator and Lecturer Richard Underhill said: “As aspiring designers, our students aim to create objects which can be touched, lived with and worn. Being able to show their work within a collective of designers is a powerful experience; it’s a boost of energy to any designer to be celebrated and seen.”
See what they created
Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers
In 2019, three students were given the opportunity to take part in the yearly Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers Tour. The four-day tour takes students around North West furniture businesses to see how the industry operates.
“I am very grateful to my tutors and the Furniture Makers Company for providing such an educational and valuable experience. Every day was a chance to learn about different methods of production within the furniture industry, this opened my eyes to the range of job opportunities that are out there. I had many interesting conversations about the current furniture industry, what is predicted for the future, portfolio advice and general career tips. It was extremely heartening to see the shared concern about the sustainability of furniture manufacturing within the UK.
We were all impressed by the companies we visited and the steps which have already been taken to reduce environmental impact, in addition to the acknowledgement that there is more to be done. The industry tour also allowed the meeting of like-minded people – everyone was enthusiastic about design and really friendly. It was great to share ideas and projects and we still keep in touch now.”
Emma Jones – Second Year Student
Students continue collaboration with Philips Lighting
Product and Furniture continued our industry collaboration with Philips Lighting during 2018 -19. Once again students were tasked with exploring Philips Lighting cutting edge technology and applying it to the ‘user centred’ design framework.
The focus of the project centred on the work space, with significance placed on new working practices and environments such as, co-working spaces. STEAMhouse was used as a live ‘co-working’ environment. Part of the objective was to understand both the cultural significance of co-working spaces/studio practice environments and home office environments and the various activities carried out within them. Students also explored and utilised a range of Philips Lighting technologies, which could enhance either the co-working / studio practice or home office environment itself and/or enhance and add value to the users experience of the co-working / studio practice / home office environment.
Throughout the project key members of staff from Philips Lighting provided students with feedback as well as technical guidance. The project also provided students with the experience of pitching and presenting their ideas to an established global company, which enriched the overall project from a student perspective.