I'll start this of by saying that if you have any amount of intelligence or interest in design then this course is so easy it hurt's. When i was on this course i didn't go to one lecture for the last six months and i never went to anything on tuesday mornings for three years due to the cheapness ... Read review
Advantages: good department, good equipment, loads of guest lecturers Disadvantages: Too wide a range of subjects, some evil maths, teaching on a superficial level
I'll start this of by saying that if you have any amount of intelligence or interest in design then this course is so easy it hurt's. When i was on this course i didn't go to one lecture for the last six months and i never went to anything on tuesday mornings for three years due to the cheapness of the alcohol at the student union on monday nights. Despite all this i still have a 2:2 in design and could have probably got a 1st simply by blagging ... ...year.
This doesn't mean that this course is of a low quality. Bournemouth has one of the best design departments in the country, especially when it comes to CAD but one of the main problems is that most of the staff may have been designers at one point, but now they appear to be designers who were not good enough to stay in the industry and so became lecturers.
The course covers a wide range of subjects including materials, ... more
I'll start this of by saying that if you have any amount of intelligence or interest in design then this course is so easy it hurt's. When i was on this course i didn't go to one lecture for the last six months and i never went to anything on tuesday mornings for three years due to the cheapness of the alcohol at the student union on monday nights. Despite all this i still have a 2:2 in design and could have probably got a 1st simply by blagging it if i hadn't totally lost interest after the first year.
This doesn't mean that this course is of a low quality. Bournemouth has one of the best design departments in the country, especially when it comes to CAD but one of the main problems is that most of the staff may have been designers at one point, but now they appear to be designers who were not good enough to stay in the industry and so became lecturers.
The course covers a wide range of subjects including materials, CAD, corporate identity, ergonomics, design history and IT/technology. Be warned that the course also includes a fairly harsh amount of applied maths so if you didn't get a maths A level you are going to be in for a difficult ride.
One of the complaints that i had was that the course try's to cover a range of subjects that is just too wide and as a result doesn't really go into each one in enough depth. The other problem is that certain staff members enthusiasm for their subjects leads you to be taught things that you just don't need to know i.e. why do you need to spend a week learning how a computer knows where the ends of an on screen line are? You are nevr going to need to how how it works, you just need to know that it does.
One good point is that throughout the course the department gets guest lecturers in from the design industry on a regular basis. These lecturers are usually more than happy to answer any questions you might have and provide a valuable method of linking what you are learning to the real world. Just don't mention that bloke who designed the clockwork radio to any of the staff or you will never hear the end of it.
In conclusion i would say that while this is a fairly good course and the design department has good funding it doesn't really prepare you well enough to actually work in the design industry (but i might have missed those lectures). All it left me with was the conclusion that 90% of so called 'product designers' are just parasites who are getting paid a vast amount of money for blagging it.
Advantages: - you learn some important aspects that are vital for your degree. Disadvantages: - Totally unfair UK:International and Student:Tutor time
Central Saint Martins is known to be a good and thorough art school. The building was in a nice location, the workshops satisfactory consisting of :
Wood, Metal, Ceramics, Stitch and Print.
Within Foundation the classes split into
- Fine Art: Painting, sculpture, contextual studies, video & photography
- 3DD: Architecture, productdesign, jewellery, spatial design
- Design: Textiles, Fashion, Fashion Communication, Graphics, Illustration, Visual Communication.
My first opinion is that it was enjoyable and you get to experience most of every pathway. What was disappointing is that generally, everything seems rushed and you get a month to experience ALL of these pathways. Be warned that most of the course is rushed. When placed into your pathway (Which is a stressful process much like entering for your BA)
Firstly ...
Advantages: Stoke Disadvantages: majority of people
At the time of writing this I am about to go back into my third year on a Bsc ProductDesign Technology degree. Since I do the Bsc i'm based down at Stafford and its pretty much everything you would expect university NOT to be. Now if you like sitting in your room all day playing on computer games don't like girls and don't drink you will love it here but if that doesnt sound an appealing way to spend 3 years of your life then i'd run for the hills. Since the Stafford campus is mainly the faculty of computing engineering and technology you can imagine the sort of people that this campus attracts. Now dont get me wrong ive ment some very intresting poeple at university and had a great time but on a friday night i cant help but think i wish id have gone to Northumbria instead. Now i spent my first two weeks up at the Stoke campus becasue ...
Advantages: Great campus, great employabilty rate of course, beautiful city Disadvantages: not for those who are comerically or classical inclined
Let me start by saying that if you want to write songs, this is not the course for you. It is heavily based towards dealing with and understanding pure audio. First year gives you an idea of how much sound matters, from sound design to production. There is some composition involved, but not of a classical or commercial standard. You are pushed to break boundaries and experiment with sound, try things you never would have thought to do. Not all modules may be relative to you, or your chosen career path, but all will put you in good stead for the world of sound and the music of the avant garde.
Second year really takes it up a notch, heavily into audio theory and synthesis and sampling, one of the highlights of this year is a module devote to create a piece out of nothing but the signal generator and plug ins in pro tools. For the more ...
