Credit Points: 6
Trimester 3

Using design principles and visual hierarchy, students will engage in the creation of compelling stories that use the visual medium to convey effective messages and build emotional connection. This unit combines and builds on knowledge acquired in previous trimesters, specifically from Design Fundamentals and Storytelling Fundamentals. Students will explore the role of visual storytelling at different stages of the design process and its application in current fields like data visualisation experience mapping and interactive media, as well as in classic mediums like video stories and posters.

Credit Points: 6
Trimester 4

This unit takes on a real-world approach to design projects, using relevant project management tools and the design process to answer an industry-standard brief. Students will have the chance to apply the skills and tools they have learned to define, develop and resolve a design problem as they would in a professional studio setting and when available, responding to a real client. Students will be required to collaborate in the application of relevant design methodologies to develop and produce strong and meaningful visual outcomes in response to the brief. At the conclusion of the unit, students will be expected to deliver an MVP that addresses the brief, incorporating feedback received during the design and development phases.

Credit Points: 6
Trimester 3

This unit introduces students to the creative processes, technical tools, animation principles and visual storytelling techniques used by designers working in the motion graphics domain. They will learn how to translate their existing visual design skills to include the 4th dimension – motion over time. The applications of these techniques include work such as title design, infographic animations, explainer videos, motion posters, and motion graphic visual effects elements for interactive media.

This unit will give students practical experience in the standard creative development processes unique to creating moving image work, and a literacy in current real-world practices that is directly applicable to the creative marketplace. In addition to this, it will give students the opportunity to develop a final motion graphics work using industry standard digital tools.

Credit Points: 6
Trimester 4

This unit gives students the opportunity to learn about multidisciplinary design practices by exploring exhibition design, its components and communicated information. Exhibition design offers an integrated way of communicating narratives that have an emotional and educative impact on the viewer. It involves collaborations between a range of practitioners in the design industry. Special focus is placed on experience design that provides new ways for audiences to interact with content formed from convergent design and technology skills.

The unit is designed as a series of lectures, discussions and activities including guest speakers from diverse areas of the design industry. It aims to present students with current trends, relevant opportunities and the various specialisations available to them at present and in the future

The main project in this unit requires students to work in teams, reflecting the collaborative nature of exhibition design. Each team undertakes a design project in response to a brief that employs many of the ideas and techniques covered in the unit topics. Industry practitioners may be appointed as mentors to guide the students through the assessment.

Credit Points: 6
Trimester 3

This unit explores the foundations of human centred interaction design. Students will learn the different elements and principles of interaction design, including user centred design, usability heuristics, concept development, information architecture, usability testing, designing for accessibility, and dark patterns. Students will explore and uncover the dialogue between a person and the products they use, whether they be digital or non-digital forms. Students will have the opportunity to understand user needs, the context, and the limitations between humans and products. Students will explore how to bring these components together to create usable and useful interactions in a practical project.

Credit Points: 6
Trimester 5

Tech lab is a space for students to push the limits of current media and experiment with emerging tech and innovation. This unit also gives them the opportunity to collaborate with students from other disciplines like Animation, Games and Film, on a creative project.

Credit Points: 6
Trimester 3

At this point in their study, students will have developed an iterative design approach to problem solving and product/service/experience development. In a co-design environment that simulates real-world studio practice, students will be required to work individually or in teams to produce a range of different low and high-fidelity prototypes depending on the design context set by the lecturer. A prototype is a product or process that demonstrates its fundamental function to address an idea, plan, assumption or problem. Often, a prototype will be referred to as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) – the minimum functioning version of a product that a user could interact with. Prototypes typically explore the tangible qualities of a design solution. However, they can also be used to test and explore the intangible qualities of a design, such as experience prototyping. Exploring a range of prototyping processes will provide students with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and skills of design and testing methodologies.

Credit Points: 6
Trimester 3

This unit is delivered as a series of lectures and workshops that cover a range of topics that are essential to shaping a designer's mindset and approach and informing their work. It includes topic areas covering ethics, wicked problems, philosophy, behavioural psychology, histories, emerging technologies and futurology.

This unit aims to foster curiosity & lifelong learning by expanding students' knowledge about history, local and global design culture & society and environment issues in contexts aligned with visual communication models and strategy. The purpose of this unit is to engage students in a critical review, discussion and analysis of a range of topics especially in relation to their practice and to visual communication practices and principles more generally.

Credit Points: 6
Trimester 6

This unit is designed to help students prepare for a career in design and visual communication. Students have opportunities to develop their knowledge of key business skills, compile and organise their portfolios, develop their visual identity, understand industry standards and expectations, and identify and respond to employment opportunities. Key to this unit is working with students to develop their identity as professional visual communicators and maintaining their creative practice over the longer term as well as providing an opportunity to develop a method of showcasing their work to an external audience.

Credit Points: 12
Trimester 5

This unit represents the first stage of students' major work. In effect it is a capstone unit that provides students with the opportunity to focus their attention on a design project that reflects their career aspirations, reflects their beliefs, and speaks to their strengths as problem solvers and visual communicators. It is an open, self-initiated brief, with team or individual options. It gives students the opportunity to delve deeper into a specific area of design that they want to learn more about, and to work on a project that aligns with their own interests and vision.

Supported by their lecturer as mentor, students will develop and refine a brief for their project. They will be required to follow a recognised design methodology in a process that encompasses research, ideation, and concept definition. It is expected that the project will address a contemporary issue where the student—as designer—can make a significant contribution to the discussion. Importantly, students will be expected to set and meet deadlines, and work autonomously to lead their project to a state of readiness for realisation in DES413 Major Project 2.

Specialist design facilities are provided to students to enable their completion of this unit. These include a physical collaboration and ideation space with an ideation wall, markers, post-it notes, butcher’s paper and printing facilities, as well as access to computers and digital software (for example: Adobe Creative Cloud). To encourage innovation and creative experimentation in their unit of study, students also have access to 3D printing facilities as well as virtual and augmented reality technology.

Credit Points: 12
Trimester 6

This unit is the second part of the students' major work. Building on the concept they pitched in the first part, they will design, prototype, test and deliver a fully completed project or a working minimum viable product (MVP.) Through this process, students will combine their learnings from their whole course of study and demonstrate their ability to develop and deliver a design project from idea to implementation according to industry standards. This project aims to become their main portfolio piece that they can use as evidence to their capabilities as designers and to facilitate their entry into employment in the industry upon graduation.

Trimester 5

Trimester 6

* indicates elective stream unit (Digital Design Stream)

Credit Points: 6

Creative coding is increasingly more common in advertising, marketing and the wider design industry. This unit provides an opportunity for students to use software, code and computational process to be expressive in the creation of generative design and art experiences. The aim of the unit is to understand how programmed algorithms can be used as a creative tool. Simple programming language will used in conjunction with GAI inputs to make interactive digital experiments that explore the possibilities of design elements such as colour, form, typography, and images. The outcome may include scalability in terms of commercial aspects, projection opportunities, print or digital asset production, murals, time-based storytelling and more. The experimental approach is directed towards the creation of experiences that delight and excite audiences as well as the maker. 

* indicates elective stream unit (Digital Design Stream)

Credit Points: 6

In the context of Human Centred Design, User Research is a methodical study of the impact design can have on the target user, in terms of human behaviour and quality of life. Experience designers work across products, journeys, services, events, and environments to deliver seamless user experiences. In this unit, students will deploy various methods and principles to expose problems and find design opportunities that can be used as crucial information and insights in their design process. Students are required to develop a research plan to converge their scope, and apply their understanding of different data collection strategies and methodologies.

Correspondingly, students will review and analyse concepts related to user experience, including time, context, triggers, and touch points. Students will explore user experiences from a visual communication perspective; employing data collection methods to create visual artefacts such as empathy maps, user stories and journey maps.

* indicates elective stream unit (Visual Design Stream)

Credit Points: 6

Designing for the third dimension offers greater opportunities to build on knowledge and skill constructed through a classic two-dimensional design practice. Creating for the third dimension augments the designer’s toolkit allowing for entry into creative industries such as object or product design, special effects, information and data visualisation, game design and 3D printing.

Design X is a subject that focuses on the creative potential of the third dimension for design students that are used to working in classic 2D design areas. The 3D space in this subject is utilised to create and visualise ideas and concepts and produce a series of 3-dimensional assets and a final, more extensive project that will use 3D space to communicate the objectives of the current working brief. The addition of time and motion adds an additional dimension allowing graphics to become 4D.

Design X provides students with practical experience in the standard creative development processes unique to creating work in 3D spaces, both physical and digital. The unit expands design literacy in current real-world practices that is directly applicable to the creative marketplace.

Credit Points: 6

This is a work-integrated learning subject where students participate in a work placement relevant to their design field for a specified amount of time. Within the experience, students work on industry projects from brief to implementation and get the chance to interact with clients and develop interpersonal and communication skills needed in this industry. The internship relies on the application of knowledge and skills you have gained throughout your Bachelor Course in a ‘real-world’ situation. When you are enrolled in the subject, you will meet with your project supervisor regularly while working in industry. Upon completion of the subject, it is expected that you will have enhanced your skills in pitching, project management and dealing with clients, as part of your individual professional development.

*by application only

This subject is a special project based on research, experiences and learning undertaken in conjunction with the overseas academic partners and JMC Academy.  Students will be immersed in two weeks of educational experiences prior to JMC Academy trimester start, hosted by the overseas academic partners. They will cover a range of topics, skills and knowledge taught by industry experts and educators in the students’ area of study (Entertainment Business Management, Music, Design, Film and Television, Audio Engineering, Animation and Game Design). 

On completion of the two weeks of study, students will continue with a 12 week special project on campus at JMC Academy in Australia. 

Individual projects are based on a specific project topic of the student’s choice made in consultation with their term supervisor. That is then developed over the length of the subject. Students will be supervised and will work in conjunction with their supervisor to complete their project (Academic or Practical).