Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) (Honours)

The Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) (Honours) is designed to equip students to become imaginative and advanced communication designers and researchers.

Through strong links with industry, the course offers students the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to seek employment in advanced areas of communication design.

Students develop high-end strategic and critical thinking skills informed by the latest research and practice.

They learn how to create powerful, innovative and refined design solutions to meet the needs of the communication design industry.

The degree offers students mentoring by experts via industry-focused workshops.

Students have the opportunity to build networks through an embedded industry placement and participation in industry projects.

Alternatively they can apply to work in the Design Factory Melbourne in their final year of study.

Successful completion of the Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) (Honours) requires students to complete units of study to the value of 400 credit points. All units of study are valued at 12.5 credit points unless otherwise stated. View course rules and special requirements

Core studies

12 units (150 credit points)

+

Final year (honours)

4 units (100 credit points)

Choose an honours-year option:

+

Major in Communication Design

5 units (100 credit points)

Explore the communication imperative in a commercial environment and learn how to respond confidently to design problems. Explore an area of specialisation and produce a portfolio that demonstrates diverse idea generation and production skills.

+

Other studies

4 units (50 credit points)

Choose from a combination of the following course components to complete 50 credit points of other study. Students may also select elective units (12.5 credit points each).

Advanced minor Minors Elective units Signature Series

Advanced minor (50 credit points)

Advanced minors are a structured set of 4 units or 50 credit points in a field of study which builds upon your first major. Advanced minors can only be taken in conjunction with specific majors - more information will be available soon.

Minors (50 credit points)

Minors are a structured set of 4 units or 50 credit points and may be chosen from any field of study.The following minors are suggested for this course. Please also refer to the full list of available minors.

Elective units

Any of the following units may be undertaken.

Signature Series

A Swinburne education prepares you for life. That’s why we’ve developed the Swinburne Signature Series. It’s a suite of study opportunities that embody Swinburne’s ethos – of confidence, clarity and adventure. These opportunities give our students something extra; whether that’s a new perspective on the world through a Study Tour unit, an expanded sense of possibilities through our Innovation Minor, or a deeper understanding and respect for culture through our Indigenous Minor. Like Swinburne University itself, our Signature Series will grow and adapt to reflect the evolving issues of the day.

• Full-time study: 100 credit points/eight standard units of study per year
• Part-time study: 50 credit points/four standard units of study per year
• One credit point is equivalent to one hour of study per week per semester (including contact hours and private study)
• See the course planner for an example degree structure

On successful completion of the Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) (Honours), graduates will be able to:

• demonstrate knowledge of cognitive skills to critically review, analyse, consolidate (apply) and synthesise knowledge in the field of communication design and apply this with initiative in planning, problem solving and decision making in professional practice and/or scholarship
• demonstrate technical and practical skills, and a broad understanding of communication design knowledge with depth in, conceptualisation, visualisation, application, usability and sustainability
• demonstrate knowledge and creative skills to exercise grounded judgment in design thinking to identify and solve communication problems collaboratively and/or independently, in diverse contexts
• apply communication skills to present a clear, coherent and independent understanding of communication sesign to diverse audiences and stakeholders, explaining the role and significance of the communication design project
• apply knowledge of production skills to evaluate environmental considerations and apply principles of sustainability to the development of responsible and accountable design solutions
• exercise organisational and leadership skills, and the ability to plan and execute a project and research with groups that may include academics, industry professionals and students
• foster and develop professional networks and to synthesise the nexus between research and design practice
• apply cognitive skills to exercise critical thinking in developing new understandings of professional communication design problems and research principles, and be able to adapt these in diverse contexts.