ADD306 - Creative Design Studio

Unit details

Year

2027 unit information

Enrolment modesTrimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online
Credit point(s)1
Previously coded asADD304
EFTSL value0.125
Unit chairTrimester 1: Aaron Hoffman
Prerequisite

Students must pass ADD105 Design Fundamentals plus 4 level 2 units

CorequisiteNil
Incompatible withNil
Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment

1 x 3-hour on-campus seminar per week

Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment

1 x 3-hour online seminar per week (livestreamed recordings provided)

Typical study commitment

Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site.

Content

Creative Design Studio is an open-ended, research-driven studio unit where students develop a distinctive creative practice through deep investigation of designers, movements, and methods that resonate with their own interests and values.
At the heart of the unit, students author their own brief, defining their creative territory, setting their own parameters, and taking ownership of their design direction from the outset. This act of self-determination is itself a critical design skill, requiring students to articulate what they want to explore, why it matters, and how they intend to pursue it.

Students are encouraged to take creative risks, follow unexpected directions, and embrace productive experimentation as a legitimate design methodology. By engaging with inspirational designers and contemporary design discourse, they build a critical framework that informs and challenges their own making.

The unit values iteration, speculation, and creative courage as the pathway to resolved, professional outcomes. Working independently and self-directedly, students develop a polished body of work that reflects an emerging design voice across physical and digital contexts, ready to present to industry and include in a professional portfolio.

Learning outcomes

Each unit in your course is a building block towards Deakin's Graduate Learning Outcomes - not all units develop and assess every Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO).

ULO These are the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can:

Alignment to Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs)

ULO1

Critically investigate and evaluate inspirational designers, movements, and contemporary design discourse to build a personal critical framework that informs and challenges an individual creative direction.

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO2: Communication

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO2

Independently author a self-directed design brief, recognising the human and place-based consequences of design decisions to articulate a clear creative territory, design intent, and methodology that reflects an emerging design voice.

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO2: Communication

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO3

Fluently explore and apply diverse design methods, materials, and processes to realise a resolved, polished body of work that is personally motivated, considerate of its impact on people and place, and portfolio ready.

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO2: Communication

GLO3: Digital literacy

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO4

Embrace iterative experimentation and productive risk-taking as core creative strategies, critically reflecting on the human and place-based impact of design decisions to demonstrate growth, creative courage, and an emerging independent design practice.

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO2: Communication

GLO3: Digital literacy

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year.

Assessment

Assessment Description Student output Grading and weighting
(% total mark for unit)
Indicative due week
Assessment 1: Design Research Project

1200 word
or equivalent

30% Week 5
Assessment 2: Design Execution

1600 word
or equivalent

40% Week 11
Assessment 3: Progressive design portfolio

1200 word
or equivalent

30% Week 12

The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.

Learning resource

The texts and reading list for ADD306 can be found via the University Library.

Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

To fully engage with Deakin's learning experiences, students must be able to access and use internet-connected devices as outlined in computing requirements at Deakin.

To support student success at Deakin, we have a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) learning environment that acknowledges that students and educators bring with them the digital tools they regularly use to complete academic tasks. These tools stay with you beyond the classroom, helping you to keep learning, explore ideas more deeply, and connect with knowledge in ways that matter to you.

Students requiring a loan device should visit our Loan Laptop webpage or students requiring longer-term assistance should visit our Student Financial Assistance webpage.

Unit fee information

Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.

Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.

Estimate your fees

For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current Students website.