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Semester 2

Drawing and Design Thinking (DESI08125)

Subject

Design

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

1

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

**Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOW A SEMESTER 2 COURSE - YOU CANNOT ENROL ONTO THIS COURSE FOR SEMESTER 1 This course has project introductions and lectures 1-2pm on Tuesdays though this can also be watched at other times. There are online seminar workshop times that are required to be attended at the times indicated. Through a series of practical projects and lectures the course explores a range of drawing and design themes. The course focuses on improving your drawing and exploring the value of drawing in the contemporary design process; reflecting on the histories of design and art to inform this practice. A range of practical projects develop your skills in design thinking, creative problem solving, making and testing prototypes as well as story telling and disseminating your work. The course does not require prior drawing experience but does expect a self motivation to explore and experiment with drawing methods and apply these to your design processes and creative thinking.

Course Description

Projects in weeks 1 and 2 are focused on building up confidence in drawing. On this course drawing is explored as: 1) a device to develop concepts and communicate the design process; 2) a way to research, observe and tell stories; 3) an expressive tool to illustrate ideas and emotions. In weeks 3 to 7 specific objects and Edinburgh environments are analysed and reflected on and a collaborative speculative design process is used to create new design fictions to interrogate social, economic and environmental issues. You are asked to explore a range of methods to research and develop the parameters of your design question or problem. You create and test prototypes of your designs and considering the function, form and users of your design. Critical design objects and stories are developed that speculate on future products, systems and services. The visual and text based documentation of research is evidenced on the course through blogging, sketchbooks and prototypes. Final outcomes of the projects which can include video and models create an expanding portfolio through the semester. This portfolio, alongside the verbal and text based support of it, becomes the evidence for assessment of the learning outcomes of this course. The final 4 weeks ask you to develop a self directed project inspired by the experiences and interests developed through the previous projects. This encourages the self motivation and inspirational thinking at the centre of design disciplines.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on a Design exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one Art or Design course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the September Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the extremely limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course