Diploma of UX and Web Design

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This subject provides students the ability to develop a digital portfolio focusing on the key areas required to develop employability outcomes within the digital design field. This subject identifies the requirements and approaches to freelance work, in conjunction with investigating trends and emerging technologies to inform entrepreneurial attitudes and solo operator work opportunities. This subject will culminate in students devising their own personal story, identifying their niche style, and packaging their work into a portfolio and/or showreel that they can continue building upon in years to come. This portfolio will be the central piece that is used to engage with work opportunities either to digital studios or as their own freelance designer.

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This subject introduces students to the fundamentals of JavaScript and the application of this knowledge in jQuery. The subject explores principles of JavaScript to broaden understanding of programming languages. Students then apply these fundamentals to navigate and manipulate the document object model (DOM) of a webpage. Students subsequently design and develop their own interactive components and interfaces, expanding beyond the capabilities that web design languages such as HTML and CSS afford on their own. This subject culminates in exploring design and code interactive web animations using jQuery, and additional JavaScript libraries, increasing ability and skillsets for modern web design and development.

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This subject introduces a wide array of emerging trends and interdisciplinary career opportunities that sit outside traditional creative industries. This subject explores the intersection of technology and design across a range of industries looking beyond the field of entertainment. Students broaden their understanding of potential career opportunities by challenging existing stereotypes where specialist technical skills are utilised. Students are encouraged to investigate case studies, identify emergent trends and examine strategies to develop, navigate and cultivate collaborations with professionals from other specialisations.

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This subject is designed to provide students with professional experience in an area related to their field of study or the career they are working towards. Within the framework of an industry brief in conjunction with an industry client, students will learn how to unpack a defined challenge into achievable outcomes and use this framework to guide the creative process and final deliverable. Students will develop presentation techniques and objectively respond to constructive criticism and feedback. This experience will enhance work-ready skills and allow students to see first-hand how their learning translates into practice.

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In this subject students will study the history and evolution of art and design acknowledging the major influences and commentators of the industry. The introduction of essential fundamental design principles and elements build to a comprehensive understanding, enabling students to start seeing and thinking like a designer. Students will be challenged to develop visual solutions to design problems and acquire the knowledge, skills and perspective necessary to identify and articulate techniques and concepts exhibited in design work. This is followed by an in-depth look at the design process from receiving the brief up to the client presentation and reflection on success of project.

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This subject explores the history and origins of typographic communication, from Cuneiform through to contemporary digital type. It introduces the fundamental principles and terminology relating to typography, including letterform structure, classifications of faces and styles, typesetting. Students will work with specialist software to create and manipulate type, and will start to formulate their own set of strategies for effective use of typography as an element of graphic design.

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This subject introduces a core set of industry-standard specialist design software tools. The emphasis of this subject is on building a comprehensive familiarity with these tools and features so that their application becomes second nature and can be treated as part of the overall creative tool kit. Students will work through a range of small exercises to cement their learning and to build their working knowledge by experimenting with the different tools and techniques. Students will then combine these tools and techniques to explore print and screen-based projects and in doing so, become aware of how to create flexible visual outcomes not wedded to single-use mediums

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This subject explores the groundwork theory and practice of user experience (UX), user interface (UI) and front-end web development and design. The subject initially covers fundamental concepts in UX and UI design. It then transitions to the fundamentals of front-end development and design by teaching students how to code webpages using HTML and CSS. Students will code their own visual designs using a knowledge base of the fundamentals within these two mark-up languages. In addition to this, students will learn the basic principles of responsive design, and how web pages need to be designed for a variety of screen based media including phones, tablets, laptops and televisions. This subject gives students a foundation of web based digital skills that are required in a variety of design related career opportunities.

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Design Studio 2 offers an introduction to the building blocks of creating and developing brands and is designed to give students a broad understanding of the stages and methodologies adopted in the brand development process. The subject draws on the theory and practice that sits behind brand creation. It covers the broad spectrum of brand development, values, trends and branding techniques, as well as fundamentals such as brand positioning and brand architecture. The subject also explores the relationship between branding and audiences, cross-cultural influences and shifts in consumer behaviour. Students must first understand and apply the fundamentals of branding and then go on to use that knowledge as the basis for developing and progressing a brand. This theoretical and practical subject will equip students with the knowledge and insight with which to build their own branding expertise.

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Design Context is a foundational subject that introduces students to the designed world and their place within it. Students are encouraged to explore the interconnected nature of design and its capacity to inspire change, drive progress and navigate complex challenges. Through observation, research and iterative approach students will develop a series of creative responses that demonstrate an awareness of the value of design and its ability to create meaningful interactions for people, communities and their environments.

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This subject introduces students to the theory and practice of Information Design. Students will visualise both quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of sources via linear and non-linear typography, signs, icons, pictograms and mapping techniques. They will explore theories and practical approaches that examine instructional systems, methods to convey instructions and complex information systems. Working individually and as part of a small team, students are required to research a number of given topics. They will analyse and process this information within the context of the LATCH organisational system, demonstrating their knowledge via the design of a series of visual graphics that dramatise both the research they have conducted and the skills they have gained.

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This subject introduces students to the fundamentals of user experience design by introducing research methods to identify and explore user needs in contemporary digital applications. Students will first define the user experience problem and hypothesise on solutions to address this, before analysing and addressing audience and content requirements. Students will work through concept development, prototyping, validation and testing phases to create and refine user-centred design solutions for interactive media.