productdesign-ba-banner

Product Design BA (Hons)

Realise your creative ideas by developing design skills and in-depth knowledge of materials across areas as diverse as transport, sports equipment, toys, and packaging.

Overview

Nick Rowan our Senior Lecturer discuss why you should study Product Design at DMU.

Product Design is the study of the whole design lifecycle – from idea to production. On this course you’ll study the functional and market-led requirements of product and furniture design, looking at ergonomics, aesthetics, usability and the application of technology.

Specific areas include visual language, branding, user-centred design, computer-aided design (CAD), 3D design and modelling, and design cultures. You’ll learn about sustainability and examine the development of socially conscious products that, through their technical specification, reduce waste and conserve energy.

You’ll study with professionally-active academic staff who are involved in commercial projects with big names such as Google USA, BAA Furniture & Interiors, and Adidas.

Key features

  • This course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers – this enables graduates to work towards membership.
  • Gain professional experience with placement opportunities that have seen students work at prestigious names such as BMW, Hodges & Drake, Lewis Design Associates and Artform International. This industry experience helps graduates boost their employability by helping them to hone the design process, develop good sketching and CAD abilities, and acquire a sensitivity/passion for user experience.
  • Strengthen your portfolio by entering national and international competitions. Recently students have won prizes from Seymourpowell, Whitemeadow and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
  • Our successful graduates have gone on to work for a wide range of world-leading companies such as Dyson, Cambridge Consultants and Aston Martin Lagonda.
  • The award-winning Vijay Patel Building provides both the space and the facilities to foster creative thinking, where ideas can develop and flourish for all our art and design course students. We offer superb workshops in wood, metal and plastics including the latest in additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping equipment.
  • We provide core workshop materials at no cost, and give cash awards – £150, £200 and £300 in years one, two and three respectively – to support personal materials/printing costs.*

See our student work


More courses like this

Product Design BSc (Hons)

Design Crafts BA (Hons)

Interior Design BA (Hons)

  • UK
  • EU/International

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: W240

Duration: Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees and funding: 

2024/25 tuition fees for UK students: £9,250

Find out more about tuition fees and available funding.

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

Contact us: For more information, call us on +44 (0)116 2 50 60 70.

Duration: Three years full-time, four years with placement.

Fees and funding: 

2024/25 tuition fees for international students: £15,750

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

Contact us: For more information, call us on +44 (0)116 2 50 60 70.

Entry criteria

Typical entry requirements

We welcome applicants from a range of backgrounds.

  • Art and Design Foundation or
  • 112 points from at least 2 A ‘levels 
  •  BTEC Extended Diploma DMM
  • International Baccalaureate: 26+ Points 

Plus five GCSEs grades 9-4 including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above.

  • Pass Access with 30 Level 3 credits at Merit and GCSE English (Language or Literature) at grade 4 or above

We will normally require students to have had a break from full time education before undertaking the Access course.

  • We also accept the BTEC First Diploma plus two GCSEs including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

Interview and Portfolio

Applicants with relevant qualifications will be invited to submit a portfolio of work. Please see our portfolio advice page for full details.

Non-standard applicants may be invited to attend an interview via MS Teams with a portfolio.

Structure and assessment

 

Course modules

Teaching and assessments

Accreditation

 

First year

  • The Principles of Design
  • CAD for Product Designers 1
  • Visual Communication
  • Design for Manufacture
  • Design Cultures 1
  • Workshop Practice

Second year

  • Design Practise 2
  • CAD for Product Designers 2
  • Advanced Visual Communication
  • Advanced Design for Manufacture
  • Design Cultures 2

Third year

  • Product Communication and Career Launch Marketing
  • Product Design – Personal Project
  • Product Design – Student Design Competitions

Overview

The curriculum is focussed on vocational skills and intellectual development – encompassing a broad range of content from manufacturing to aesthetics. Coursework is the main method of learning and assessment which is monitored on a regular basis via a formal tutorial system.

You are taught by design academics, designers in residence and visiting design consultants with specialist knowledge and skills in product design. All our staff have worked in industry and carry out commercial activity and leading research. Visiting lecturers support week-long projects or run weekly seminars, tutorials or lecture series. Previous visiting lecturers include Steve Mosley (Mosley&), Ryan Helps (Empathic), and designers and model makers from Redline Studios.

Our students have won many major awards in recent years including the prestigious D&AD Award for Product Design and the RSA Student Design Awards. 

Contact hours

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. Assessment is through coursework (presentations, essays and reports) Your precise timetable will depend on the optional modules you choose to take, however, in your first year you will normally attend around 13 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 26 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

 

Institution of Engineering Designers (IED)

ied-logo

Facilities and features

Art and design facilities

The award-winning Vijay Patel Building brings all of our art and design courses together providing inspiring, flexible spaces, studios and facilities which invite creativity and innovation.

The creative industries require imaginative graduates who can develop new ideas and products. Students use our state-of-the-art workshops, labs and studios to experiment and test in the same way they will in industry, while the open and transparent spaces in the building encourage collaboration between disciplines. In doing so, the building supports students to be both ready for industry and future leaders in their respective fields.

Take a look at our stunning showcase of the building at dmu.ac.uk/aad.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

Campus centre

The home of  De Montfort Students' Union, (DSU) our Campus Centre offers a welcoming and lively hub for student life. Conveniently located at the heart of campus, it includes a convenience store, a Subway and a Starbucks. Here you can find the DSU-owned charitable accommodation service Sulets and DSU’s shop, SUpplies, selling art supplies, stationery and clothing, and printing and binding services. The building is also home to the DSU officer team. 

Opportunities and careers

Find the people who will open doors for you

DMU's award-winning careers service provides guaranteed work experience opportunities DMU Careers Team
placements-img-01

Placements

 This course gives you the option to enhance and build your professional skills to progress within your chosen career, through a placement. Our dedicated team offers a range of careers resources and opportunities so you can start planning your future.

We have excellent industry links, ensuring you work on relevant projects and clients briefs to grow your experience and build your external reputation before you graduate. This invaluable experience can enrich student capabilities as well as their final-year projects. Recent placements include Jaguar Land Rover, Cambridge Consultants, Made in Mind, Lewis Design Associates, Bluefrog and BMW. 

Olivia Alexander secured a placement with Innovate Product Design Ltd after winning the national Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) competition. The brief was to develop an innovative product that could be used in a garden, which would better connect people with nature.

Students on the #DMUglobal trip to New York

DMU Global

This is our innovative international experience programme which aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons – helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world.

Through DMU Global you can take advantage of a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK activities, overseas study, internships, faculty-led field trips and volunteering, as well as Erasmus+ and international exchanges.

Students on this course have recently undertaken DMU Global trips to European cities including Copenhagen, where they explored first-hand historical and contemporary Danish design, and Berlin, which provided the opportunity to examine the city’s art, artists and museums to gain a broader design perspective. DMU Global trips have also taken students further afield to New York.

graduate-careers-img-01

Graduate careers

Our graduates have gone on to work in a variety of areas within product design including consumer product design, marketing, industrial design consultancy, project planning, and furniture design.

Recent employers include Cambridge Consultants, Aston Martin, Hozelock and Magmatic.

Chris Kay, who recently graduated with a Product Design degree, has secured a role as design engineer with Strix Technology. Chris has also been praised for developing a reusable syringe system for administering hospital injections, which was made the finals of the annual Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) competition. Judges have said his innovation could be a ‘game changer’ if put into production.

Take your next steps

More from DMU