The Media Design programme (BDI and MDI)
The Media Design programme examines the major conduits where people interface with digital technology: Web/Internet experiences, visual and audio communication, augmented reality, gaming, interaction design and embedded/portable computing. These areas present special challenges in terms of communication, work, play, and daily life in general. As designers, we address these real-world problems in the studio through course briefs that relate in some way to this overarching question: How can we employ digital technology to make life easier, more efficient, safer, sustainable and more richly experienced? In finding answers, we encourage studio experimentation, research, innovation and interdisciplinary approaches to develop creative solutions for the future of the design industry, and humanity as a whole.
At the forefront of Media Design
Being at the forefront of media design is to move beyond conventional approaches and to understand design as connector and facilitator of many processes. As such, we encourage our students to inform their studio practices by engaging in collaborative and cross-disciplinary course work. The new BDI degree highlights this by offering students the opportunity to choose from a large variety of Minors, for example, Psychology, Engineering or Commerce. This format allows students to pursue unique specialisations, which will elevate them towards careers as leading design innovators.
The Media Design lecturers are distinguished cross-disciplinary researchers, working in areas that connect design with technology, art and science. Such experience positions our staff as the ideal deliverers of the BDI curriculum, which is then infused throughout our programme. We do this in numerous ways, from inviting guest speakers, sharing new research in colloquia, to designing co-taught courses with other disciplines.
Outlook for Graduates
Our graduates are prepared for entering a wide range of design industry career options, such as web design, film and broadcast, interaction design and game design. Backing up this claim, our exciting young programme has alumni at some of the most interesting and successful local and international design firms.
Many design programmes are categorized as being either more conceptual, or more practical/technical. Our program discards such categorization, as we encourage expertise in both: students are challenged to develop striking concepts, which can then be visually, audibly and interactively communicated through sophisticated designs.