Product and Furniture Design, Undergraduate - BA (Hons) - 2022/23 entry

You will examine the process of designing and developing functional and desirable products and furniture, examining how social and cultural factors influence design decisions. You will develop knowledge and understanding of design in response to collaborative, professional, commercial and economic considerations.

Alongside research and design development skills, you will also increase your practical knowledge through extensive hands-on exploration. Engaging with making from the outset enables you to fully realise design concepts and create convincing models and prototypes. Underpinned with strong contemporary design thinking, you will explore the breadth of scales of manufacture across product and furniture design to be able to position yourself within a global industry.

By working on live projects, work placements and collaborative projects, you will explore how businesses operate at a commercial, technological, ethical and sustainable level. Second year students recently worked with Philips, developing user-centred lighting applications and third year students exhibited and sold work at Minima: one of Birminghams key contemporary design showrooms. Youll also benefit from the insight of guest speakers from across the design spectrum from designer makers to industrial designers and product and furniture developers

Certificate of General Secondary Education 60% PLUS Community College Diploma/Associate Degree with minimum grade 60% / 2.5 / C+

Note: Engineering courses require minimum C+ score in Mathematics.

Even though you may have met the stated requirements, if your first language is not English, we may ask you to take an additional English Language Test when you arrive.

Based on the results of the test, you may be required to attend regular English classes to improve your level of competence. English classes are provided free of charge and are available to all non-UK students who wish to attain greater fluency in English.

Enhancing employability skills

The course has a vocational emphasis and is focused on employability. Throughout your study you will engage with real briefs, collaborative opportunities and external industry links. You will develop skills in a broad range of working approaches, from synthesising and applying problem solving and creative thinking skills, to 3D computer modelling, where you will use the latest industry standard software.

Extensive workshops support modelling and prototyping skills, and you will create high-quality outcomes using a wide range of materials, techniques and processes. The course supports personal development as a creative, knowledgeable designer, maximising the potential to obtain positions in national and global companies. 

The course develops skills and experience in and around the subject of scales of manufacture, from bespoke, one-off and batch production to standardised mass production. The interdisciplinary nature of design engages relationships across a broad spectrum of specialist areas of study, and we nurture this philosophy through collaborative and professional practice approaches.