7. Bachelor of Design Computing

The Bachelor of Design Computing program teaches design with a focus on the pragmatic, creative, and aesthetic possibilities of computer-expressed works.

Although once regarded as being only about website design, special effects, computer games and animation, digital design has infused architecture, industrial design, fashion, and the arts. The experimental digital practices of a vanguard of designers have promulgated a digital design culture whose aesthetic is defining both the means of conception, implementation, and industrial production of designed works and the aesthetic that is producible by new computing technologies. The Bachelor of Design Computing program responds to this convergence of design and computing. The academic program prepares graduates for careers in a style of design in which computation is integral to the performance of design.

More than simply learning industry de facto software tools for the production of designed works, the Bachelor of Design Computing program establishes new ways of doing design in which the modus operandi of computation is implicated in changing the course of the realisation of designed works. You will design works such as interactive digital media, virtual environments, digital audio, information visualisation, mobile phone-based applications, and digital art in the units of study. You will master advanced software from Adobe, Autodesk and Virtools for digital media production, modelling, and animation. You will learn programming in Java- and web-based languages. You will work with hardware such as sensors, information devices and high-end mobile phones. If imagining the world as it could be is your goal, the Bachelor of Design Computing program can give you the opportunity to develop your own design language.

Graduates from the Bachelor of Design Computing program have gone on to work in various design firms and design industries including computer gaming, web design, media production, public relations and marketing, digital design consulting, start-up digital design firms, and digital design 'think tanks'.

The are four knowledge areas of design computing that provide the basis for developing the students’ capacity to be both skilled crafters of digitally designed works and emerge as part of a new generation of digital design specialists:

Design

Masterful technical achievement with an attention to the interfacing of design, technology and originality of content, the design studios and lecture-based units of study serve as the principal forum for the conception and implementation of your designed works.

• Digital Design Studio
• Interaction Design Studio
• Information Visualisation Design Studio
• Human-Computer Experience Design Studio
• Sound Design and Sonification
• Understanding Design and Cognition.

Programming

Programming is the glue between the conception and the implementation of your creative projects. The following units of study teach the fundamentals of computer programming within a visual design context; however, programming is situated in most units of study. Programming languages taught include PHP, Java, Javascript, and Processing. Students can increase their depth of knowledge of programming, which is still the most sought-after skill in industry, through elective units of study in the School of Information Technologies:

• Design Programming.

Modelling

Modelling takes on two key directions in the Design Computing curriculum: modelling for the representation of form and simulation of the designed work such as with computer-aided design and animation, and modelling of the design process to enable the generative processes underpinning digital design. The latter is the trend in digital design, in which ever more complex forms for designed works are impossible to conceive without the use of computing. Software utilised in these units of study include Maya, Virtools, and MySQL.

• 3D Modelling
• Principles of 3D Animation
• Database Systems 1.

Interaction

The theme of interaction deals with designing for the contact surface between humans and computers. These units of study address issues in interaction design such as interface architectures, handling the feedback loop between humans and computers, and ease-of-use evaluation. Software used in these units of study include Director, Max/MSP+Jitter, and Virtools.

• Collaborative Virtual Environments
• Real Time 3D Multimedia
• Advanced Interactive Multimedia Design.

The Bachelor of Design Computing is a three-year degree, or four years with honours. The first year introduces the concept of design, CAD, Web page design, and programming. These units form the basic knowledge needed for a broad range of design computing topics in second year, and the integrated design computing studio in the third year. The electives allow the student to develop additional skills and knowledge in design computing, computer science, architectural design, or engineering.

In order to qualify for the degree, candidates must complete the requirements as specified in the Resolutions of the Senate and faculty for this degree. All students should read the degree resolutions and monitor their progress throughout the degree by reference to them. The following points summarise the resolutions but do not replace them:

Summary of requirements

In order to qualify for the award of the pass degree candidates:

• must maintain a full-time enrolment (18 credit points or more per semester; a normal full-time load is 24 credit points per semester, the maximum allowed is 30 credit points per semester)

• must complete successfully 144 credit points in total

• must complete successfully 84 credit points from the core units of study described in Table B

• must complete successfully 18 credit points from Technical Electives from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, from units of study prefixed COMP, ELEC, INFO, ISYS, MTRX and/or SOFT. At least 6 credit points of this must be at 2000 level or higher

• must complete successfully 18 credit points from the Faculties of Arts, Science or Economics and Business. At least 6 credit points of this must be at 2000 level or higher

• must complete successfully at most 24 credit points from elective units of study from those listed in Table B, or with the permission of the unit coordinator concerned, units of study from the faculty’s tables of graduate units, provided they have completed at least 96 credit points with a WAM of at least 70.

Honours

In order to qualify for the honours degree, candidates must satisfy the requirements for the pass degree with a Weighted Average Mark of at least 70 and in addition successfully complete 48 credit points consisting of a research thesis. In their third year, students would normally enrol in the preparatory unit of study as an elective. Honours may only be undertaken on a full-time basis. For more information about honours see the chapter of this handbook about undergraduate honours.

Planning your degree

The program has been designed so that the core units should be taken in a certain order and the elective units fitted with them. The enrolment guide below shows the progression through the core units for a student commencing first year in 2008.

The Bachelor of Design Computing curriculum and degree requirements have changed effective from 2008. Students who commenced their studies in 2007 or before will continue under the rules in force at the time of their first enrolment.
The enrolment guide below shows the progression through the core units for a student commencing in 2008 or after.
A second Table B, (Table B(i)) showing units available for pre-2008 students follows the first Table B on the next page.

Bachelor of Design Computing planner

The following table shows the progression through the core units for a student commencing first year in 2008.

Bachelor of Design Computing Planner (pre-2008)

The following table shows the progression through the core units for a student commencing prior to 2008.