What is design?

Designers couple knowledge and technology with creativity, in activities that predict and control an outcome. In every situation that requires you to identify a problem, devise a solution, and put in train a sequence of steps to implement your solution, you are acting as a designer.

Traditionally, design professions have been clustered around production of the constructed environment: buildings, furniture, appliances, vehicles, and graphic design and printed media. More recently, design has been a major contributor in the emergence of Internet and electronic media, such as multimedia design, website design, gaming design, and virtual imaging. But there are no limits to the fields where designers can (and do) contribute. As new technologies are continually developed, designers play a key role in their adoption, application and dissemination. And whilst we can reasonably expect that the traditional design professions will endure and evolve, there is no telling exactly what new arenas may call upon the talents of designers.

Monash design students are equipped with a range of core research skills and adaptive creative approaches. These will equip you for the challenges that lie ahead in a rapidly changing professional landscape. We also ensure that our design students develop high-level skills in the current practices and technologies that are employed in design professions. The opportunity to integrate elective subjects from other faculties and departments is available in all Design degrees.

Department of Design academic staff maintain creative activities and currency in their respective fields, bringing this expertise back into their teaching. There are also numerous guest speakers, seminars and information nights organised by the Department for the benefit of practising professionals and students. Every year, final year Design students produce ambitious end of year exhibitions of their work. The opening night for these shows attracts key employers looking to recruit the best students. The nights are heavily sponsored by industry, with awards being made to top students. All this makes for a dynamic and, at times, intense learning environment, and a range of exciting professional career-paths. We expect Monash design students to be different, and to want to make a difference, for they will be the trailblazers creating the world we will live in tomorrow. The capabilities and values we cultivate in them today will shape the nature of that world, so environmental awareness, social responsibility, and critical analysis rank alongside innovation, creativity, and technical skills when we prepare design students for their futures.