Product Design with Professional Experience BSc(Hons)

International equivalencies

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Interview

Applying for a place in 2019?
You will be invited to attend an interview at one of our applicant days, held between October and March. Applicant days are an opportunity for you to meet our staff and students, and to find out more about our courses and facilities.

The interview meanwhile is a chance to ask us questions, present your portfolio and tell us about yourself. In particular, be prepared to tell us about your:

• research skills
• creative strengths
• technical abilities
• understanding of people and behaviour
• business acumen.

We are interested not just in your educational qualifications but in your personality and potential as a professional designer, so you should also be prepared to talk about your aspirations.

Portfolio advice

Applying for a place in 2019?
We appreciate that a school curriculum may affect what you are able to present and that some applicants may not have a formal portfolio. However, you should look at presenting a range of work that demonstrates an understanding of the skills that you need to undertake design project work. These skills include:

• an eye for insight
• determination
• analytical as well as creative working
• practical as well as theoretical working.

You can draw from your extracurricular activities as well as your schoolwork.

It can be tempting to include a lot in your portfolio, but we advise you to limit it to a few pages of your best work. This is a good way to more concisely demonstrate your abilities

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Course structure

You will spend 40% of your time at the university with academic tutors who teach, listen and support you as you progress through the course. Technicians are also on hand to provide support and encourage you to actively solve problems.

Workshops, activities and events provide informal contact with and support from tutors, and you can contact them via email or in person at their offices and the design studio.

Practical project work is key to the course, whether in engineering, technology or user-centred design (UCD). Assessment takes place through your coursework and project work.

Hear from 2017 graduate Cameron de Bacchus Lacy discuss his experience of Product Design at Brighton

From concept to completion

Each year is centred on four core themes – product research, product ideation, product development and product launch – in which you take a product from concept to completion. Working in this way allows you to gain practical experience of product design as you build your skills year on year.

Product research 

• Research and analyse relevant literature, and understand how to apply your findings to develop your own product
• Apply core design research methods to solve real-world design challenges
• Analyse yours and others' research data
• Document the knowledge in a formal and accessible format that you can use to inspire your own designs

Product ideation 

• Master creative techniques that you can apply at concept stage
• Produce concept sketches, technical drawings and rendered images to professionally communicate your ideas
• Create principle models using appropriate techniques and materials to explore, test and illustrate your ideas and any working mechanisms
• Present and pitch your ideas in a live group setting and on your digital online portfolio

Product development 

• Evaluate, specify and select suitable materials for your product 
• Find practical solutions to engineering problems
• Create and develop working prototype models using professional standard techniques

Product launch 

• Begin to plan how to market your product by applying costing techniques
• Gain awareness of product testing and evaluation before you release your product commercially
• Select and apply basic visual techniques to promote your newly developed products

Syllabus

Year 1 modules

• Product Desirability
• Product Durability
• Product Usability
• Design Studies 1

Year 2 modules

• Design and Everyday Life
• Design and Social Interaction
• Design Studies 2

Year 2 options*

• Design for a Global Context, or choose from a list of architecture and design option modules 

Final year modules

• Design Research
• Product Ideation
• Product Development
• Product Launch
• Professional Design Pathways

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Alexander Matthams, KAY jar opener

Placement year

A year-long placement in the third year is integral to this course. The experience you gain is invaluable in helping you on your way to becoming a professional designer.

Many students find that this year informs their final year projects and enhances their employment prospects after graduating. Some go into their final year with a job offer from their placement company when they graduate.

You might choose to spend this year in local or international industry, gaining professional experience. If you want a more varied experience, you can work for a number of companies rather than just one. You may even try your hand as a self-employed designer, honing your entrepreneurial skills.

Our Product Design students have undertaken placements with industry heavyweights in the UK and abroad, including Adidas, L’Oréal, Triumph, The Body Shop, Amplicon, Triumph, Trivista, Puma, Mini, Jaguar, Nokia, Mars and Dyson.

University of Brighton Product Design graduate Emily Brooke MBE is the creator of the Laserlight, a revolutionary bike safety light which uses lasers to project symbols on to the road ahead of cyclists

Facilities

Product Design students have their own design studio workspace – a light, open and dynamic space equipped with a presentation area including screens and whiteboards. Computer facilities include specialised software such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Solidworks.

You will also have full access to the 3D print workspace – which hosts over 12 different printers and finishing areas – as well as the wood workshop, the metal and welding workshop, the finishing room equipped with spray booths, the wind tunnel and a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) workshop with a five-axis CNC machine.

Technicians are on hand to offer expert guidance on the use of all facilities. They offer support and training with machinery and software as well as providing professional knowledge and advice for making and manufacturing your prototypes.

Exhibitions

At the end of each year, students normally exhibit their work publicly, with the final-year exhibition forming part of the Brighton Fringe Festival. Some final-year students go to the New Designers event in London.

New Designers is where industry professionals scout for new and emerging talent. It attracts over 20,000 visitors each year and is a fantastic way for you to show off the hard work you have created and skills you have mastered. Students are often approached at New Designers with offers or recommendations for work.

Taking part in New Designers puts you in a strong position as you graduate from university. It is an opportunity not only to showcase your work to industry, but also to be inspired by other young professionals who are entering the world of design.

Brighton students' work at the New Designers exhibition

Study abroad 

Our course exchange programmes give you the opportunity to study overseas at one of our partner institutions, for example in Barcelona, Milan, Transylvania or Lund, Sweden.

On exchange you can experience different cultures, see alternative perspectives in design and add to your knowledge in specialist subjects. When coupled with the wider experience of your placement year, this can make a significant improvement to your final degree grading.

I studied in Milan through the Erasmus scheme. It’s difficult to pinpoint one thing I enjoyed the most – I made friends from across the world and now I feel like I’ll always have somewhere to stay whereever I am. Everyone was on the same wavelength, wanting to go and study in a new place and learn a new language. I now know how easy it is to live in another country and I’d like to do it again.

Louie Amphlett

Staff profile

Location

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Moulsecoomb campus map