Students will have the opportunity to investigate widely used design processes, including the UK Design Council’s “Double Diamond” and human-centred design practices. This unit explores foundational theory related to universal design (‘design for all’) and assistive technology (‘design for need’) principles. The unit investigates the relational aspects of inclusive design with a view to addressing human needs and desires, including culturally and linguistically diverse communities, the aged, children/youth, and people with disability sectors. This is the first of two units that take students through the full life span of a creative project, from brief to implementation.

This unit addresses the principles and practices of the ‘first diamond’, from challenging the brief and discovery, to conducting research, and developing insights – right through to identifying opportunity areas. Students will be required to apply the methodology learned to a design project, focussing on challenging their position (beliefs, values) in relation to the process and the brief.  

This unit explores the foundations of good visual design. Students will learn the different elements and principles of visual communication including Gestalt, colour theory, layout and typography. They will explore how to bring these components together to create strong visual messages.

In Lab I students are presented with the opportunity to develop and execute a small individual project utilising the key skills they are focusing on in their streams. They must log required hours in the lab environment and meet weekly with an assigned project supervisor who will act as a mentor and support person. A range of creative briefs will be provided covering potential projects in areas such as art and design, modelling, animation, game development, or hybrids of these. In addition to the creative work, students will be guided through planning, documenting, reporting, and reflecting on their work. Additional workshops may be provided where required to extend technical knowledge. Finished projects will form the basis of a portfolio to be built upon in successive trimesters.

This unit introduces students to practices, processes, and tools utilised in animation, games, and visual effects (VFX). Students will work through a series of self-contained exercises, with mentoring support from lecturers, which will provide entry-level practical experience. These will primarily be completed during class time. Areas of focus may include design research, design sketching and visualisation, concept ideation, simple animation, colour grading, editing, and delivery to different platforms. While students are not expected to achieve full competence in these skills, they will gain a practical grasp of the steps and thinking required to produce animation, games, and VFX. At the conclusion of this unit students will be supported to make an informed decision regarding the focus streams they will choose in Trimester 2.

2D Animation I - AGA204

Students are introduced to the conventions and common principles that have developed over animation’s rich hundred-year history. Students will explore traditional frame-by-frame techniques including cut-out, stop-motion, and drawn animation underpinning and developing an understanding of principles of movement and the animation process. Work will be undertaken using both traditional hand-made and photographed techniques and newer digital versions of these.

3D Animation I - AGA205

3D Animation I guides students through the analysis and application of key principles of animation in a 3D context at a basic level. Technical workflow and animation mechanics are illustrated through lectures, and ongoing practical exercises build foundational knowledge and skills. This is a practice led class with weekly exercises.

This unit introduces students to practices, processes, and tools utilised in animation, games, and visual effects (VFX). Students will work through a series of self-contained exercises, with mentoring support from lecturers, which will provide entry-level practical experience. These will primarily be completed during class time. Areas of focus may include 3D modelling, surfacing, texturing, basic rigging, simple animation, rendering, game mechanics, simple programming, and delivery to different platforms. While students are not expected to achieve full competence in these skills, they will gain a practical grasp of the steps and thinking required to produce animation, games, and VFX. At the conclusion of this unit students will be supported to make an informed decision regarding the focus streams they will choose in Trimester 2.

Production Art I: Characters - AGA207

Character Design introduces key design principles for the creation of memorable animation and game characters in a range of styles. Students will be introduced to fundamentals of form and construction, basics of anatomy and gesture through life drawing, and the visual development of characters from story contexts. Artwork workflow and finishing styles will be covered, along with unified approaches to developing a full cast. Industry practice in documentation and presentation will also be covered.

CG Art I: Modelling - AGA208

The unit focuses on general 3D art creation with an emphasis on process. Block-outs, low poly modelling in 3D, mesh optimisation, unwrapping, rendering to texture, texturing, and project management, are all covered using a low poly diorama as a vehicle for the project. The final project is uploaded to an online real-time WebGL 3D viewer.

The course begins with an introduction to the pipeline through the creation of simple prop objects such as telephone poles and signs. A scene block-out is then created and students work through the elements. For houses, a modular texturing approach is introduced along with stencils to reduce the number of textures. Finally, vegetation is created. Post-processing effects and lighting are added in the online viewer.

Game Dev I: Game Development - AGA206

This unit provides a broad introduction to working within game editor systems, integrating art elements into projects. The use of 2D & 3D graphics programs will be developed in conjunction with 2D & 3D features in the engine.  Students will be provided with a template for gameplay and will apply principles of design and technical art skills to develop a playable project. This will provide an overview of a range of core engine features and practical experience integrating content.

2D Animation I - AGA204 (available if you chose 3D Animation as Major Specialisation)

Students are introduced to the conventions and common principles that have developed over animation’s rich hundred-year history. Students will explore traditional frame-by-frame techniques including cut-out, stop-motion, and drawn animation underpinning and developing an understanding of principles of movement and the animation process. Work will be undertaken using both traditional hand-made and photographed techniques and newer digital versions of these.

3D Animation I - AGA205 (available if you chose 2D Animation as Major Specialisation)

3D Animation I guides students through the analysis and application of key principles of animation in a 3D context at a basic level. Technical workflow and animation mechanics are illustrated through lectures, and ongoing practical exercises build foundational knowledge and skills. This is a practice led class with weekly exercises.