BH104 - Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours)

Plan: BH104P15 - Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours)
Campus: City Campus

Program delivery and structure

Approach to learning and assessment
Work integrated learning
Program structure
Program transition plan

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Approach to learning and assessment

The four year full-time Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours) program gives significant scope to explore established and emerging disciplinary domains via four core study streams.

The Design Studies and Professional Practice stream explores the contemporary industrial design landscape, its histories, theories, methods and issues. The Specialist Knowledge and Skills stream provides practical and theoretical learning in methods of design visualization, representation and communication, and the material, manufacturing and technological constructs of Industrial Design practice. The Design Studio stream, which sits as the central and connective element of the curriculum, provides a diverse suite of applied, industry linked and research integrated design project experiences. Through these 'projects' the dimensions of particular needs and problems, in specific situations and contexts, are teased out in order to propose new and better alternatives through design. The Honours year courses provide a space for undertaking a large self-directed design research project and the articulation of the breadth and depth of that project in a variety of the forms. 

The first year provides foundational exposures to the methods and nature of the designed form to the sociocultural factors of design and designing. The second year sees an increase of the technical, technological, and contextual complexity by which design activity and its implications are to be considered and provides avenues of choice in industrial design practice. The third year significantly defines individual design capabilities and interests. The fourth, and final year of the program provides the challenge of defining and demonstrating an area of professional engagement through a year-long, research-led and industry engaged design project.

Here, the many meanings, purposes of, and orientations to design are privileged: as an enabler of social reform and cultural enrichment; as a means of creative response to the issues and opportunities of sustainability; as a way of intervening in the problems of rapid technological advancement and the increasingly blurred intersections of our digital and material worlds, and as a form of play where the generative possibilities and delight of form, process and material are activated. Importantly the act of designing is positioned as a particular way of understanding and addressing the needs of clients, user groups and communities. Combined, these immersions manifest as a highly transferable mode of critically engaged, propositional and practical thinking, which acts as a scaffold for entry into the profession and opens up opportunities to pursue research and further study.

You will learn through a range of formal and informal encounters. These include participation in design studio and project oriented courses, lectures and tutorials, technical tuition in the use of specialist software and prototyping techniques, engaging with online materials and readings, exhibitions, exucrsions and field trips. You will work as an individual and as a member of design project teams, and a significant emphasis is placed on the ability to initiate individual and peer learning activitities and to be self-directed in your approach to study.

You will be assessed throughout the program on how well you meet the learning outcomes of each course, and on your development against the program learning outcomes. Assessment will cover both theoretical and practical aspects of your learning. You will be able to develop your work in relation to your own specific areas of interest in your professional practice and will receive ongoing formative feedback as you progress. This feedback comes from your lecturers, from industry guests and mentors, and from your peers in view of continuous improvement and greater degrees of reflectivity on your own learning.

If you have a disability, long-term illness and/or mental health condition or are the primary carer of individuals with a disability it is possible to have adjustments arranged and negotiated to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or the Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.

If you have already developed areas of skill and knowledge included in this program (for example, through prior studies or work experience), you can apply for credit once you have enrolled in this program. There is information on the RMIT University website about how to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) 

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Work integrated learning

RMIT University is committed to providing you with an education that strongly links formal learning with professional or vocational practice. As a student enrolled in this RMIT University program you will:

• undertake and be assessed on structured activities that allow you to learn, apply and demonstrate your professional or vocational practice;
• interact with industry and community when undertaking these activities;
• complete these activities in real work contexts or situations;

and in addition:

• these interactions and the work contexts provide distinctive sources of feedback to you to assist your learning.

Any or all of these aspects of a WIL experience may be simulated in a workplace environment.

The Industrial Design program has a strong set of relationships across a range of industry, research and community entities and works with industry in a variety of ways: through student engagement with academic and professional staff who are practitioners in the field; through the structure and content of courses that are often linked directly to, or taught by, industry partners, through assessment and feedback where industry practitioners will be involved in appraising and critiquing your design work; and, through specialised work placements via the Design Practicum and Atelier elective courses.

Typically these engagements occur through Design Studio , but are in fact common in all courses. Collaborative teaching relationships with other disciplines at RMIT and other universities both locally and abroad extend WIL opportunities so that you will learn to work with people from other fields. In addition the program frequently runs design studios and electives with students and practitioners from other programs at RMIT, including Architecture, Fine Art, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design, Textiles Design, Fashion Design, Engineering, and Business programs. These activities often involve external industry or community partners, provide you relevant and collaborative WIL opportunities, and offer you interdisciplinary learning opportunities within the realm of larger projects with other disciplines.

These industry and community connections contribute to the program and the development of your capabilities in the following ways:

• By situating commercial or speculative projects within the curriculum of design studio and electives courses
• By releasing practitioners as teaching staff across all courses and year levels in the program
• By participating in the review, assessment and moderation of your design projects, offering verbal and
  written feedback.
• By locating students’ design activities and outcomes within real-world professional activities including projects, exhibitions, competitions, and campaigns

 The designated WIL Course is:

GRAP 1040 Industrial Design Honours Project Part Two: Design Research and Prototyping

This course is the capstone of the Bachelor Honours program and engages in work integrated learning through the inclusion of design industry practitioners and experts in relevant fields in the evaluation and feedback of individual design research projects as they develop. Professional practice in this course involves the communication of design research findings and propositions to industry and community stakeholders in a professional and scholarly manner, and to reflect deeply on the meanings and findings you have discovered in your particular approach to design practice. Additionally external industry specialists will contribute to the assessment of design research project outcomes.

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Program Structure

For students who commence their study in this program from 1 January 2016 onwards, please note that some courses listed in this structure will have their course marks count toward your program's weighted average mark. Your weighted average mark will determine the honours level of your award once you have completed the program. If a course counts toward your weighted average mark, that fact will be stated in its course guide. In Enrolment Online, after you completed your course enrolment, you will be notified which of the enrolled courses will count toward the weighted average mark.
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Year One of Program
Complete the following Eight Courses:
Course Title Credit Points Course Code Campus User Centred Design Studio 12 GRAP1031 City Campus Design in Society: Histories, Politics and Contexts of Application 12 GRAP1041 City Campus Design Prototyping: Materials, Processes and Experimentation 12 GRAP1052 City Campus Industrial Design Drawing 12 GRAP1049 City Campus Design for Sustainability Studio 12 GRAP1032 City Campus Industrial Design Ecologies: Sustainability, Socio-technical Systems and Change 12 GRAP1042 City Campus Computer Aided Industrial Design 12 GRAP1050 City Campus Industrial Design Engineering: Materials, Mechanics, Processes and Principles of Production 12 GRAP1051 City Campus
AND
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Year Two of Program
Complete the following Two (2) Courses:
Course Title Credit Points Course Code Campus Industrial Design Tactics: Temporal, Perceptual and Experiential Methods 12 GRAP1043 City Campus Interactive Systems Design 12 ARCH1479 City Campus
AND
Select and Complete Two (2) of the following Courses:
Course Title Credit Points Course Code Campus Design Studio: Materiality 24 GRAP1033 City Campus Design Studio Speculative 24 GRAP1034 City Campus Design Studio: Social 24 GRAP1035 City Campus Design Studio: Digital 24 GRAP2221 City Campus
AND
Select and Complete One (1) course from the Program Options List at the end of this program structure
AND
Select and Complete One (1) University Elective or another Program Option Course:
University Elective
AND
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Year Three of Program
Complete the following Two (2) Core Courses:
Course Title Credit Points Course Code Campus The Contemporary Industrial Design Enterprise: Modes and Practice in Design Business 12 GRAP1045 City Campus Methods in Design Research and Practice 12 GRAP2225 City Campus
AND
Select and Complete Two (2) of the following courses that you have not taken or passed already.
Course Title Credit Points Course Code Campus Design Studio: Materiality 24 GRAP1033 City Campus Design Studio Speculative 24 GRAP1034 City Campus Design Studio: Social 24 GRAP1035 City Campus Design Studio: Digital 24 GRAP2221 City Campus
AND
Select and Complete One (1) course from the Program Options list at the end of this program structure:
AND
Select and Complete One (1) Course from any University Elective or another Program Option course:
University Elective
AND
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Year Four of Program
Complete the following Four (4) Courses:
Course Title Credit Points Course Code Campus Industrial Design Honours Project Part One: Design Research and Development 24 GRAP2290 City Campus Industrial Design Honours Project Part Two: Design Research and Prototyping 24 GRAP1040 City Campus Professional Ethics and Design Strategy 12 GRAP1046 City Campus Industrial Design Honours: Reflection and Exposition 12 GRAP2573 City Campus
AND
Select and Complete One (1) course from the Program Options list at the end of this program structure:
AND
Select and Complete One (1) Courses from any University Elective or another Program Option:
University Elective
AND
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Industrial Design:
Program Option Course List:
Course Title Credit Points Course Code Campus Advanced Industrial Design Engineering 12 GRAP2575 City Campus Advanced Industrial Design Visualisation 12 GRAP2576 City Campus Advanced CAID 12 GRAP2577 City Campus Industrial Design Prototyping and Complex Fabrication 12 GRAP2578 City Campus Electronic and Interactive Prototyping 12 GRAP2572 City Campus Computational Prototyping for Industrial Design 12 ARCH1477 City Campus Systems and Service Visualisation for Industrial Design 12 ARCH1478 City Campus Make Things Interactive: How to create physically interactive objects and environments 12 GRAP1038 City Campus Design Internship 12 GRAP2571 City Campus Atelier 12 GRAP2570 City Campus
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Program transition plan

From Semester 1, 2025, BH104 Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours) will be updated with a new program structure.

The BH104P15 plan will be discontinued and replaced with BH104P25 Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours). The final intake into this plan will be Semester 2, 2024. If you are due to complete the program in Semester 2, 2024 you will not be affected by this change.

All other students will be transferred to the new plan from Semester 1, 2025. You will be provided with a study plan and a transition map of the same or equivalent courses. Your academic progress will be considered and reviewed with an academic advisor.

Your study plan will outline:

• Courses you have already completed
• Courses you are currently enrolled in (results pending)
• Courses, if any, that you will need to complete in the amended program structure to graduate with the new award

You will not be disadvantaged by this change in program structure, including if you are undertaking a reduced load, are on Leave of bsence (LOA), or have deferred studies.

The current and new program plans will be linked so that your current grade point average (GPA) will be transferred to the new program plan.    

If you have been classified as at risk of unsatisfactory academic progress, you will continue to be classified as at risk when you are enrolled in the new program plan. Your academic progress will be considered and reviewed with an academic advisor. 

Your time in the current program will be counted towards your total time taken to complete the program.    

To ensure all your currently completed courses are recognised in the new structure, some students may not be eligible to complete the full credit points required to receive a major or a minor.   

You will not incur any extra costs or be required to complete extra credit points because of this change in program structure.

Where to get help

If you have questions or concerns regarding this advice, please do not hesitate to contact your program manager, Frank Feltham via email to frank.feltham@rmit.edu.au.

Transition map of existing courses

BH104P15 courses	BH104P25 structure
Year 1	Mapping to new structure
Course Code	Course Title	Credit Points	Course Code	Course Title	Credit Points	Change
GRAP1031	User Centred Design Studio	12	GRAP1031	Industrial Design Practice	12	Existing year 1 course - change of title
GRAP1041	Design in Society: Histories, Politics and Contexts of Application	12	GRAP1041	Design and Society	12	Existing year 1 course - change of title
GRAP1052	Design Prototyping: Materials, Processes and Experimentation	12	GRAP1052	Industrial Design Prototyping 1	12	Existing year 1 course - change of title
GRAP1049	Industrial Design Drawing	12	GRAP1049	Industrial Design Drawing 1	12	Existing year 1 course - change of title
GRAP1032	Design for Sustainability Studio	12	ARCH3355	Industrial Design Prototyping 2	12	New year 1 course
GRAP1042	Industrial Design Ecologies: Sustainability, Socio-technical Systems and Change	12	GRAP1042	Sustainability, Sociotechnical Systems and Change	12	Existing course - change of title - moved to Design for Sustainability major and minor
GRAP1050	Computer Aided Industrial Design	12	GRAP1050	Computer-Aided Industrial Design 1	12	Existing year 1 course - change of title
GRAP1051	Industrial Design Engineering: Materials, Mechanics, Processes and Principles of Production	12	GRAP1051	Design for Advanced Manufacture	12	Existing course - change of title - moved to Design for Advanced Manufacture major and minor
Year 2	Mapping to new structure
Course Code	Course Title	Credit Points	Course Code	Course Title	Credit Points	Change
GRAP1043	Industrial Design Tactics: Temporal, Perceptual and Experiential Methods	12	GRAP1043	Interactive Technologies in Culture	12	Existing course - change of title - moved to Interaction Design major and minor
ARCH1479	Interactive Systems Design	12	ARCH1479	Interactive Products and Systems Design	12	Existing course - change of title - moved to Interaction Design major and minor and Design for Sound Interfaces and Environments major
Studio options	Credit Points	Mapping to new structure	Credit Points	Change
GRAP1033	Design Studio: Materiality	24	ARCH3362	Design Studio: Experimentation	24	New Studio course (to include WAM)
GRAP1034	Design Studio: Speculative	24	ARCH3366	Design Studio: Innovation	24	New Studio course (to include WAM)
GRAP1035	Design Studio: Social	24	ARCH3364	Design Studio: Research	24	New Studio course (to include WAM)
GRAP2221	Design Studio: Digital	24	GRAP2221	Design Studio: Technology	24	Existing studio course - change of title – to include in WAM
Year 3	Mapping to new structure
Course Code	Course Title	Credit points	Course Code	Course Title	Credit points	Change
GRAP1045	The Contemporary Industrial Design Enterprise: Modes and Practice in Design Business	12		University elective	12	Replacement course
GRAP2225	Methods in Design Research and Practice	12	GRAP2225	Methods in Design Research and Practice	12	Existing course - moved to year 4
Studio options	Credit Points	Mapping to new structure	Credit points	Change
GRAP1033	Design Studio: Materiality	24	ARCH3362	Design Studio: Experimentation	24	New Studio course (to include WAM)
GRAP1034	Design Studio: Speculative	24	ARCH3366	Design Studio: Innovation	24	New Studio course (to include WAM)
GRAP1035	Design Studio: Social	24	ARCH3364	Design Studio: Research	24	New Studio course (to include WAM)
GRAP2221	Design Studio: Digital	24	GRAP2221	Design Studio: Technology	24	Existing studio course - change of title – to include in WAM
Year 4	Mapping to new structure
Course Code	Course Title	Credit points	Course Code	Course Title	Credit points	Change
GRAP2290	Industrial Design Honours Project Part One: Design Research and Development	24	ARCH3368	Design Honours Project 1	12	New course - changed from 24cp to 12cp (WAM course)
	AND University elective	12	Replacement course
GRAP1040	Industrial Design Honours Project Part Two: Design Research and Prototyping	24	GRAP1040	Design Honours Project 2	24	Existing year 4 course - change of title – WAM course
GRAP1046	Professional Ethics and Design Strategy	12		University elective	12	Replacement course
GRAP2573	Industrial Design Honours: Reflection and Exposition	12		University elective	12	Replacement course
Program options	Mapping to new structure
Course Code	Course Title	Credit points	Course Code	Course Title	Credit points	Change
GRAP2575	Advanced Industrial Design Engineering	12	GRAP2575	Design for Sustainable Production	12	Existing course - change of title - moved to Design for Sustainability major and minor (core) or option in all other majors
GRAP2576	Advanced Industrial Design Visualisation	12	GRAP2576	Industrial Design Drawing 2	12	Change of title. Moved to year 1 core
GRAP2577	Advanced CAID	12	GRAP2577	Computer-Aided Industrial Design 2	12	Change of title. Moved to year 1 core
GRAP2578	Industrial Design Prototyping and Complex Fabrication	12	GRAP2578	Design Prototyping and Complex Fabrication	12	Change of title. Moved to Design for Advanced Manufacture major and minor (core) or option in all other majors
GRAP2572	Electronic and Interactive Prototyping	12	GRAP2572	Electronic and Interactive Prototyping	12	Moved to Interaction Design major and minor (core) or option in all other majors
ARCH1477	Computational Prototyping for Industrial Design	12	ARCH1477	Computational Prototyping for Design	12	Change of title. Moved to Interaction Design major and minor (core) or option in all other majors
ARCH1478	Systems and Service Visualisation for Industrial Design	12	ARCH1478	Product, Service and Systems Design	12	Change of title. Moved to Interaction Design major and minor (core) or option in all other majors
GRAP1038	Make Things Interactive: How to create physically interactive objects and environments	12		University elective	12	Replacement course
GRAP2571	Design Internship	12	GRAP2571	Design Internship	12	Program option in all majors.
GRAP2570	Atelier	12	GRAP2570	Atelier	12	Program option in all majors.

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