For us design is not just a way to make things; it is a way to understand and engage with the world. It’s about making sense of the world and ultimately creating a change. It is about playful experimentation, challenging the current. Within this pathway we explore our physical experience and emotional connection – with our objects and spaces.

Design could be about changing an experience, a form, a structure, a way of doing things. It could be about changing something personal to you, or a small number of people, or it might be for anyone.

With 3D Design being such a broad area, the pathway is kept quite open, focusing on design attitudes and thinking. The course aims to equip you with the skills and confidence to construct a career in a wide range of professions. Stage Two is dynamic, with various different briefs and projects to help keep you on your toes. Some will be quick, whilst some you will extend independently, to allow you to both generate ideas quickly, and take the opportunity to develop and refine them. You will be working in your notebooks, and beyond, developing a portfolio to address the subject 'what is my work and what is the point of it?' You will have access to workshops and facilities to enable you to work with a variety of materials, researching and testing ideas, and creating objects; gaining confidence in your own ability to change things. You might work with all the senses, encompassing practical skills in a critical and creative environment.

FAQs

What is 3D Design?

3D designers work with objects and space.

object
1: a material thing that can be seen and touched
2: something that when viewed stirs a particular emotion

spatial
1: of or relating to space
2: existing or occurring in space; having extension in space

3D designers think and work in three-dimensions to challenge a range of functional, experiential, theoretical, material and aesthetic concerns relating to the human experience.

Design suggests that the everyday, as we know it, could be different; that things could change. This is its power, the power to disturb and challenge by taking an investigative approach to things, environments and experiences.

3D designers are interested in innovation and could be involved in the reimagining, development and production of objects and artefacts, user-experiences, products, spaces, buildings and environments. From the everyday to the cherished, the small to the monumental, object and spatial designers have the desire for change.

What sort of person is interested in 3D Design?

You might be interested in:

  • our experiences; what makes them and how they could be altered
  • materials; their inherent qualities and potential for development
  • form, shape, scale and surface as a means of communicating ideas
  • function; how we use, understand and interact with objects or spaces
  • understanding how things work and how they are made
  • identifying and solving problems
  • exploring how to do things better
  • the narrative potential of objects and spaces
  • developing new skills and working with new tools

Where is it seen?

Everywhere. Everything around us has been designed by someone at some point - from the objects we use everyday, the spaces we pass through, the environments we experience. All have been designed.

What career could studying 3D Design lead to?

Depending on the area you choose to specialise in there are many different career paths you can follow. You might be freelance, working for yourself, or you might work as part of a team with certain responsibilities and a regular salary. Many of the skills a designer develops are transferable and can be applied to many other industries too. You may be a designer, or a maker, or both. You might undertake an apprenticeship or progress to further study at degree level and higher.

3D designers and makers might specialise within: product, furniture, props, ceramics, jewellery, special effects prosthetics, or model making. Spatial design careers can include: architecture, interior design, set design, or landscape architecture. Skills learnt can be applied to: curating, conservation, teaching, consultancy, workshop management or planning.