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Product Design BA (Hons)

Realise your creative ideas by developing design skills and in-depth knowledge of materials across areas as diverse as transport, sports equipment, toys, and packaging.

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Block teaching designed around you

You deserve a positive teaching and learning experience, where you feel part of a supportive and nurturing community. That’s why most students will enjoy an innovative approach to learning using block teaching, where you will study one module at a time. You’ll benefit from regular assessments - rather than lots of exams at the end of the year - and a simple timetable that allows you to engage with your subject and enjoy other aspects of university life such as sports, societies, meeting friends and discovering your new city. By studying with the same peers and tutor for each block, you’ll build friendships and a sense of belonging.

Read more about block teaching

Overview

Learn more about DMU's Product Design courses, including the distinction between the BA and BSc, the facilities you'll study in and our unique commercial focus.

Product Design is the study of the whole creative design process – from idea to production. On this course you’ll study the aesthetic, human-centered and market-led requirements of product and furniture design to create products that are valued by the end user.

The curriculum balances both creative and technical aspects of contemporary design practices. You will focus on research insights, concept generation, three-dimensional design, product styling, brand definition, user interaction and the manufacturing process. You will also learn about sustainability and develop socially conscious products that reduce waste and conserve energy.

Benefit from the very latest physical and digital facilities in a studio environment that is designed to mimic professional practice. We will nurture you to become an industry-ready graduate who can provide innovative creative solutions to real world challenges. 

Key features

  • Accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirements for Registered Product Designer (RProdDes).
  • Bring your ideas to life both digitally and physically with industry standard tools that will enable you to produce digital designs, renders and animations as well as 3D artefacts in plastics, wood and metals.
  • Gain professional experience with placement opportunities that have seen students work at prestigious names such as BMW, Hodges & Drake, Lewis Design Associates and Artform International. 
  • We work with industry to shape our curriculum and you will be taught by professionally-active staff who are involved in projects with global brands, as well as benefit from our in-house design consultancy.
  • 90% of students were satisfied overall with the course (National Student Survey, 2022).
  • Strengthen your portfolio by entering prestigious competitions and showcasing your work. Our students have recently been recognised in the Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) competition and have exhibited their projects at New Designers in London.
  • The award-winning Vijay Patel Building provides both the space and the facilities for ideas to develop and flourish. We offer superb workshops including the latest in additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping equipment supported by expert technicians.
  • Benefit from block teaching, where most students study one subject at a time. A simple timetable will allow you to really engage with your learning, receive regular feedback and assessments, get to know your course mates and enjoy a better study-life balance.

 

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  • UK
  • EU/International

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: W240

Duration: Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees and funding: 

2025/26 tuition fees for UK students: £9,250

Find out more about tuition fees and available funding.

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

How to apply

Order a prospectus

Book an Open Day

Submit a study-related enquiry

Duration: Three years full-time, four years with placement.

Fees and funding: 

2024/25 tuition fees for international students: £15,750

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

How to apply

Order a prospectus

Submit a study-related enquiry

Entry criteria

Typical entry requirements

We welcome applicants from a range of backgrounds.

  • Art and Design Foundation or
  • 112 UCAS points from at least 2 A levels 
  •  BTEC Extended Diploma DMM
  • International Baccalaureate: 26+ Points or
  • T Levels Merit

Plus five GCSEs grades 9-4 including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above.

  • Pass Access with 30 Level 3 credits at Merit and GCSE English (Language or Literature) at grade 4 or above

We will normally require students to have had a break from full time education before undertaking the Access course.

  • We also accept the BTEC First Diploma plus two GCSEs including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

Interview and portfolio

Interview required: No

Portfolio required: Yes

Please see our portfolio advice page for full details.

Structure and assessment

 

Course modules

Teaching and assessments

Accreditation

 

First year

Block 1: DMU Designer

Block 2: Advanced Product Design Skills

Block 3: Design Conception – Thinking and Methods

Block 4: Design Delivery

Second year

Block 1: DMU Designer 2

Block 2: Advanced Product Design Skills 2

Block 3: Design Communication and Definition

Block 4: Design Practice

Third year

Block 1: Design Practice 2

Block 2: Design Conception – Personal Project

Block 3: Design Development – Personal Project

Block 4: Design Delivery – Personal Project

See detailed module information


Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

 

 

Overview

The curriculum is focussed on developing professional practice skills and knowledge for a career in industrial product design for manufacture. You will study a broad range of areas including user-research, design methodologies, ergonomics, aesthetics, drawing, visual communication, interface, materials, manufacturing, technical specification, 2D and 3D CAD, sustainability, additive manufacturing, technology integration, team working and project management. You can determine your own design direction according to your passions and aspirations. We have seen students design a wearable sports tracking device, foldable electric scooter, augmented reality cycling helmet, urban beehive and sensory furniture to name just a few innovative projects.

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, lab sessions, seminars, tutorials, workshops and self-directed study. There is a varied mix of assessment including: portfolios, group presentations, case study analysis, individual exercises, report writing, short form unseen exercises and essay writing.

You are taught by design academics, designers in residence and visiting design consultants with specialist knowledge and skills in product design. All our staff have worked in industry and carry out commercial activity and leading research. Visiting lecturers support week-long projects or run weekly seminars, tutorials or lecture series. Previous visiting lecturers have come from leading companies including Mosley&, Empathic, Redline Studios, Seymourpowell, Out of the Bubble Design and Retail Lab.

Our students have won many major awards in recent years including the prestigious D&AD Award for Product Design and the RSA Student Design Awards. 

Contact hours

In your first year you will normally attend around 13 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 26 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

 

Institution of Engineering Designers (IED)

This course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) which enables you to work towards professional chartership after you graduate.

 

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Facilities and features

Art and design facilities

The award-winning Vijay Patel Building brings all of our art and design courses together providing inspiring, flexible spaces, studios and facilities which invite creativity and innovation.

The creative industries require imaginative graduates who can develop new ideas and products. Students use our state-of-the-art workshops, labs and studios to experiment and test in the same way they will in industry, while the open and transparent spaces in the building encourage collaboration between disciplines. In doing so, the building supports students to be both ready for industry and future leaders in their respective fields.

Take a look at our stunning showcase of the building at dmu.ac.uk/aad.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

Campus centre

The home of  De Montfort Students' Union, (DSU) our Campus Centre offers a welcoming and lively hub for student life. Conveniently located at the heart of campus, it includes a convenience store, a Subway and a Starbucks. Here you can find the DSU-owned charitable accommodation service Sulets and DSU’s shop, SUpplies, selling art supplies, stationery and clothing, and printing and binding services. The building is also home to the DSU officer team. 

Opportunities and careers

Find the people who will open doors for you

DMU's award-winning careers service provides guaranteed work experience opportunities DMU Careers Team
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Placements

 This course gives you the option to enhance and build your professional skills to progress within your chosen career, through a placement. Our dedicated team offers a range of careers resources and opportunities so you can start planning your future.

We have excellent industry links, ensuring you work on relevant projects and clients briefs to grow your experience and build your external reputation before you graduate. This invaluable experience can enrich student capabilities as well as their final-year projects. Recent placements include Jaguar Land Rover, Cambridge Consultants, Made in Mind, Lewis Design Associates, Bluefrog and BMW. 

Students on the #DMUglobal trip to New York

DMU Global

This is our innovative international experience programme which aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons – helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world.

Through DMU Global you can take advantage of a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK activities, overseas study, internships, faculty-led field trips and volunteering, as well as Erasmus+ and international exchanges.

Students on this course have undertaken DMU Global trips to European cities including Copenhagen, where they explored first-hand historical and contemporary Danish design, and Berlin, which provided the opportunity to examine the city’s art, artists and museums to gain a broader design perspective. DMU Global trips have also taken students further afield to New York.

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Graduate careers

We aim to produce industry-ready graduates who can work across the sector with their understanding of function, user, aesthetic, technology and design for manufacture.

Our graduates are employed across the world and include senior designers and specialists in a variety of areas including consumer product design, industrial design consultancy, project planning, furniture design, manufacturing design, design management, user experience design, interaction design and in research. They are working for global companies including Cambridge Consultants, Aston Martin, Triumph, Jaguar Land Rover, Hozelock, Dyson, Marshalls and Magmatic. Graduates have also gone on to set up their own successful businesses.

 

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