Design Essentials

DESN S217 Design Essential is a one-year, ten-credit, middle-level course for students to take towards the core module of their BSc in Design and Innovation. It will also be suitable as a ‘one-off’ course for anyone who does not intend to complete an HKMU qualification but who wants to learn the essential knowledge of design.

The course material is developed by The Open University, United Kingdom. It consists of four blocks involving basic design principles, people’s need, creativity and embodying designs.

There are no compulsory prerequisites for this course. You will be required to make regular use of the Internet. The HKMU Online Learning Environment (OLE) will be used as a constant source of up-to-date course information.

This Course Guide tells you briefly what the course is about, what course materials you will be using and how you can work your way through these materials. It suggests some general guidelines for the amount of time you are likely to spend on each unit of the course in order to complete it successfully. It also gives you some guidance on your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs). Detailed information on tutor-marked assignments can be found in the separate Assignment File, which will be available from the OLE in due course.

Regular tutorial and surgery classes are linked to the course. You are advised to attend these sessions. Details of times and location of tutorials and surgeries are included on the OLE.

The course aims to:

• Develop your critical and inquisitive thinking skills when you observe designs around you
• Develop your skills for research, planning and development of a design project
• Teach you how to turn design concepts into a well-defined design description
• Develop your ability to think and communicate ideas through modeling and drawings

Upon completion of this course, you should able to:

1. Explain why designs take the forms that they do
2. Create and develop design ideas through drawing and modeling
3. Apply creative strategies for generating design ideas
4. Translate design idea into well-specified products

This course contains four blocks and covers the following topics:

1. Exploring designs and designing - this looks at the relation between people and products and discusses the human, cultural and engineering factors that influence the creation of designs
2. Designing for people - this focuses on designing for people and the research carried out in the early stages of the design process
3. Creative designing - this covers the core theories of creativities and focuses on the creative strategies that designers employ in order to address design problems
4. Embodying designs - this looks at the configuration and form of designs aiming to develop your visual and spatial thinking skills

Assignment File

The Assignment File will be posted on the OLE in due course. This file provides all the details of the work you must submit to your tutor for marking. The marks you obtain for these assignments will count towards the final mark you obtain for this course. Further information on assignments will be found in the Assignment File itself and later in this Course Guide in the section on assessment.

Presentation Schedule

The Presentation Schedule gives you the important dates for this year for the completion of tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and attending tutorials and surgeries. Remember, you are required to submit your assignments by the due date. You should guard against falling behind in your work.

Assessment

There are two aspects to the assessment of the course. First are the tutor-marked assignments; second, there is a written examination. You are encouraged to read your Student Handbook regarding assignments and examinations.

Assignments

There are three tutor-marked assignments in this course. You are required to submit all these assignments. The assignments count 50% towards your total course mark.

When you have completed each assignment, send it to your tutor. Make sure that each assignment reaches your tutor on or before the deadline given in the Presentation Schedule and Assignment File. If, for any reason, you cannot complete your work on time, contact your tutor before the assignment is due to discuss the possibility of an extension. All applications for late submission must be made via the 'Assignment Submission & Extension System' under the OLE.

Final examination and grading

The final examination for this course will be three hours long and carry 50% of the total course grade. Use the time between finishing the last block and sitting the examination to review the entire course. You might find it useful to review your tutor-marked assignments and comments on them before examination.

You will be provided with a specimen examination paper, similar in format to the final examination but with different questions. The final examination covers materials from all parts of the course.

Course marking scheme

The following table lays out how the actual course marking is broken down.

This table brings together the blocks, the number of weeks you should take to complete them, and the assignments associated to them.

Online learning support

Useful course information, TMAs, discussion board, and Presentation Schedule are available through the OLE.

Tutors and tutorials

There are 20 2-hour tutorials and surgeries provided in support of this course. You will be notified the name and phone number of your tutor, as soon as you are assigned to a tutorial group. All the tutorials will be video recorded and available for playback via the OLE.

Your tutor will mark and comment on your assignments, keep a close watch on your progress and on any difficulties you might encounter, and provide assistance to you during the course. You must send your tutor-marked assignments to your tutor well before the due date. They will be marked by your tutor and returned to you as soon as possible.

Do not hesitate to contact your tutor by telephone, email, or discussion forum if you need help. The following might be circumstances in which you would find help necessary. Contact your tutor if:
You do not understand any part of the study blocks or the assigned readings
You have a question or problem with an assignment, with your tutor's comments on an assignment, or with the grading of an assignment.

You should try your best to attend the tutorials. This is the only chance to have direct contact with your tutor and classmates and to ask questions that are discussed instantly. You can raise any problem encountered in the course of your study. To gain maximum benefit from course tutorials, prepare a question list before attending them. You will learn a lot from participating in the discussions.

The world is full of designed objects, from skyscrapers to products that fit into the palm of your hand. Designers have used their skills to translate ideas and needs into all the objects that you see around you. In this course, you will learn about the essential skills and practices of designers. You will also develop your own ability to identify design problems, meet the needs of potential users and create and communicate new design solutions. The knowledge and skills that you will gain can be applied in many design domains as well as being useful in a wide range of industries.

We wish you success with the course and hope that you will find it both interesting and useful. In the longer term, we hope you enjoy your acquaintance with the HKMU and we wish you every success in your future.