Program Title
Bachelor of Arts (Honors) Scheme in Design

Career Prospects
Graduates are equipped with the types of skills and knowledge needed to use design to help sustain a competitive economy and improve the world in which we live. They have a wide choice of careers as designers in the mainstream design industries or in alternative professional activities, as we extend their competencies in design thinking to the media, company management, design forecasting and social and economic planning.

Professional Recognition
Graduates are eligible for Diploma Membership of the Chartered Society of Designers, UK.

Aims
The aim of the BA (Hons) Scheme in Design is to educate innovative problem-solvers, equipping them with the necessary intellectual, technical and managerial skills that will facilitate their development as designers able to invent desirable regional and global futures.

Characteristics
The Scheme offers students a design education that is attuned to new trends and is sensitive to rapidly changing cultural contexts. We encourage dynamic thinking and independent learning, experimentation and questioning the status quo, and the willingness to take risks and revisit rules.

Program Structure
Year 1 provides students with exposure to other design disciplines through class activities such as lectures, workshops and group work, in subjects such as the Freshman Seminar, and Design Thinking. The broad-based pedagogical approach trains students to learning to learn. Complemented with the teaching of foundation visualization and production skills specific to each design discipline, it instills students with a solid appreciation of the discipline of their choice.

In Year 2 students further investigate through studio work the characteristics of their chosen discipline, build their skills, and strengthen their ability to make, build, and execute their designs. Students are given the opportunity to explore different cultures through local and international Study Trips.  

Year 3 encourages students to deepen the exploration of their design interests and sharpen their skill set so as to prepare them for professional life. Studio work is enriched by the offering of diverse design discipline-specific specialist subjects. Work-Integrated Education (WIE) subjects such as the Internship provides students with an opportunity to try their skills in real-world contexts.  

Year 4 students refine their ability to think critically, and are encouraged to formulate perspectives of their own on contemporary sociocultural contexts, as evidenced in personal design thinking methodology, execution and production processes, and communication strategies. In the Cooperative Project interdisciplinary teams of students apply the knowledge acquired over the previous years to provide solutions in response to real-world client briefs, with a chance to see their work developed and commercialized. In the Capstone Project students are expected to initiate independent projects to mature their chosen learning pathways, while developing a personal portfolio of a professional standard, in view to seek employment or apply for postgraduate studies. 

* For JUPAS applicants, please note that the number shown after ‘JS’ or ‘JA’ in the JUPAS Catalogue Number equals to the PolyU program code.