Product Design BA (Hons)

Course overview

Our long-established degree course aims to prepare you for a range of roles in the creative industries, including product design, UX design, research, development, modelling, visualisation and design management.

• Visualising and Prototyping: You will explore a range of hands-on and digital tools and techniques with access to our extensive workshop facilities.
• Human-centred Design: You will design products informed by insights and trends identified through focussed research, that deliver a rich user experience.
• Design for Manufacture: You will balance aesthetic and functional requirements to optimise products for sustainable production.

What you'll study

This course has a common first year.

The common first year enables you to work alongside students doing similar courses to you, to widen your knowledge and exposure to other subject areas and professions. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with other students, so you can share your insights and experience which will help you to develop and learn. 

If you discover an interest in a specific subject you have studied, upon successful completion of your first year, you could swap degrees with another course in your common first year (subject to meeting progression requirements).

Common first year courses

• Automotive and Transport Design BA (Hons)
• Graphic Design BA (Hons)
• Product Design BA (Hons)

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

The School of Art and Design teaching and learning mirrors the needs of the Creative Industries with the aim of ensuring that our graduates are equipped with the skills and attributes to become industry specialists, leaders and innovators to drive social responsibility and design global change.

The ability to be entrepreneurial, innovative and embrace change underpins our Art and Design courses. Our studio and workshop culture ensures you are socially responsible in our creative community and develop critical thinking in research and making processes. Our global initiatives will give you skills to become collaborative communicators and make you culturally competent in the ever-changing world of Art or Design.

As the creative arena is an ever-evolving space, being curious and adaptable learners is key to our school’s graduates. You will learn how to recognise your strengths and learning needs, how to self-reflect and grow. You will identify your personal development and drive your projects for ambitious career aspirations. 

Teaching contact hours

You will typically have 15 to 18 hours per week in your first year, 12 to 15 hours in your second year, and 9 to 12 hours in your final year. The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online activities.

Additionally, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study each week of approximately 15 hours each week, depending on the demands of individual modules.

We understand that everyone learns differently, so we’ll look to manage your learning journey to match your strengths and aspirations. Your learning experience on each of our courses will consist of structured teaching sessions, which can include:

• On campus lectures, seminars and workshops
• Group work
• Self-directed learning
• Work placement opportunities².

If you would like more information, you can request information about teaching hours.

Part of university life is undertaking self-directed learning. During a typical week you will have time that allows you to work independently to apply the skills and knowledge you have learnt in taught or facilitated sessions to your projects or assignment briefs.  This self-directed learning allows you to use your research skills, consolidate your knowledge or undertake collaborative group work.  

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the university may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

Since COVID-19, we have delivered our courses in a variety of forms, in line with public authority guidance, decisions, or orders and we will continue to adapt our delivery as appropriate. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.

Assessment

You will be assessed using a variety of methods which could vary depending upon the module. In the School of Art & Design we design our assessment methods to replicate the creative industry ways of working. This ensures that you have the chance to learn skills for future career opportunities.

Assessment methods may include reports, practical coursework and presentations as part of individual assignments or group work elements.

The Coventry University assessment strategy aims to ensure that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes. 

International experience opportunities

There are opportunities for exchange with students on a similar course in overseas universities. European cultural visits will be offered to students in all years².

Throughout the course, design briefs are written with an international focus, enhancing your global experience and broadening your mindset. You may engage in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects with participating institutions and other international universities around the world. 

Facilities

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities is joining two of our school’s completely refurbished Art and Design buildings and adding a range of new facilities⁴.

These will include a hyper studio designed for cross-disciplinary projects; immersive studios with cutting-edge virtual reality and mixed-reality technologies. Our aim is to offer you sector-leading facilities in a unique environment. The new Delia Derbyshire facility is planned to open in 2023.

Our current digital and industrial workshops are of industry-standard quality and house 3D rapid prototyping, laser cutters and milling machines. These facilities are available to all students on our courses at no extra cost. These are subject to availability.

We also have a ceramic and small-metal-working workshop, a large digital print bureau, and clay modelling studios where you can realise your creative artistic and design solutions.

The fashion workshops have digital embroidery machines, digital printers and a printmaking workshop that includes etching, screen printing and a letterpress studio.

In our Mac and PC CAD labs, you can become digitally literate in presentation and design skills using the Adobe suite of software. You can also learn other software packages including Alias, Toom Boom, Revit, and Maya that maybe relevant to your studies.