Certificate III in Design Fundamentals Design Course
Our vocational qualifications are accredited by VETAB and Nationally Recognised Training qualifications.

Certificate III in Design Fundamentals
Provider Code: 00246M
National Code: CUV30303
CRICOS Code: 056812A
Duration: 18 weeks
Description:

The Design Fundamentals program recognises that there are some people who would love to study design but who haven't been able to compile a portfolio. Its main aim is to help you do just that.

The course is designed specifically to ensure that when you finish, you will have a portfolio you can be proud of. It will also equip you with the academic skills necessary for successful tertiary study and on completion, provide you with the option of entering Year 1 of our Communication Design or Multimedia Design streams. It’s an ideal way to familiarise yourself with our campus and meet your possible future classmates.

The Design Fundamentals program is an important step towards a creative and rewarding career in design. It provides students with the knowledge, skills, experience, cultural context and portfolio they need to go on to a successful tertiary education in the visual arts.

[For Australian students and students who have a sufficient English level, there is an option to study the design component of the program only.]
Study Content:
Australian Culture:

• Australian landscape and character

• Lifestyle: rural and urban, leisure and sport

• Australian artists and designers

• Products, inventions, discoveries and icons

• Indigenous population (art, music, film)

• Australian art and architecture

• Literature, music and theatre

• Food and film

• Ethnic groups

• Disasters and dangers

• Sydney

Academic Study Skills:

• Reading, listening and genre writing

• Presentation skills

• Research, referencing and critical analysis

Design Concepts:

• Graphic Design, difference to other types of design

• The designer, how to generate ideas and concepts

• Clients, studios and suppliers

• Identity design and briefs

• Naming, research

• Logos, symbols and thumbnails

• Stationary

• How to present work

Hand Skills:

• Observational drawing and painting, use of colour

• Conceptual drawing, get ideas down quickly and so that others can understand them

Computer Skills:

• Adobe PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat

• Using Macintosh computers

• Scan hand skills artwork and make them into digital files

Portfolio:

• Research as major part of what makes a good designer

• Creating the portfolio, using grids and elements that will make the work stand out

• Presentation of the ideas and the portfolio

Subjects:

Term 1
• Follow health, safety and security procedures (core)
• Research and apply the history and theory of design to design practice (core)
• Apply the design process to 2-dimensional work in response to a brief (core)
• Source and apply industry knowledge (core)
• Integrate colour theory and design processes in response to a brief (core)
• Apply colour theory in response to a brief (core)
• Produce drawings to represent and communicate the concept (core)
• Apply the design process to 3-dimensional work in response to a brief (core)

Term 2
• Apply techniques to produce digital images (elective)
• Produce digital images (elective)
• Research and experiment with techniques for digital image enhancement & manipulation (elective)
• Develop self as designer (elective)
• Research and apply techniques for graphic design (elective)
• Develop, refine and communicate concept for own work (core)

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