Swinburne Foundation Year (Design) (12 months) at Swinburne University of Technology

You'll use industry standard software and gain in-depth knowledge of the design process to work in areas of visual and graphic design. As a graphic designer, daily activities may include: creating logos and artwork for products such as packaging or cafe menus focusing on graphics used for websites, digital and online platforms. creating graphics for clients to sell a product or service. This may be through print or digital publications such as newspapers and magazines or outdoor signage. This diploma provides you with a strong technical focus that develops your technical expertise in digital design, print production and typography, along with a thorough understanding of design concept development and the design process.

This diploma will equip you with the skills and knowledge to bring products from conception to market. We are the makers, the sketchers, the inventors, the experimenters, the idea generators, the thinkers and tinkerers. We are product designers. This is your hands-on pathway to the world of design. This diploma allows you to imagine, explore and create objects that people will manufacture, buy, use and appreciate. You will gain the skills and experience you need to work in small or large design companies or as an independent designer. Through your studies you will learn to create designs for consumer products, experiences and systems. You will present your ideas through a combination of skills in visual and verbal communication, 3D models and computer software.

Interaction design is concerned with designing interactive digital products, digital environments, systems, and services that can satisfactorily meet the needs and desires of the intended users. The Master of Interaction Design (Extension) prepares and equips students with up-to-date theoretical knowledge and requisite practical industry-standard skills in this rapidly advancing field. While industry demand for skilled interaction designers and various other jobs, such as user experience (UX) designers, service designers etc., is increasing, there is a lack of formal education/training offered by universities in interaction design. This course is designed to provide students with the most current and requisite skills in this fast-evolving field. Graduates possess skills in industrially applicable and cost-effective information environments (i.e. multimedia, interactive systems design and associated information technology). The course provides industry with graduates who can combine these skills with those of their original discipline in professional applications-oriented settings. The course is committed to producing graduates who have a deep understanding of human-centred approaches to designing digital technologies. This ensures that 'products' created are more likely to 'fit' meaningfully into users' lives, because the design process is informed by a deep understanding of people's practices, particular situations and values. This course is attractive to different types of learners, namely: those who are currently working in a job that is not related to interaction design those working in jobs closely related to interaction design, and those already working in interaction design-related jobs.