The Swinburne Design Centre is a university-based consultancy where students who have completed their undergraduate design degree in Communication Design, Industrial Design or Multimedia Design work for one or two years to gain Honours or Masters Degrees. Design Centre has been in operation for over 30 years and is a multidisciplinary design studio that produces innovative design solutions by ensuring that design development is informed by applied design research.

The principal aim is to enhance and develop professional design competences through working on design and applied design research projects for real clients. The majority of these clients are businesses and organisations outside the university. Design Centre operates as a collaborative environment with teams of designers appointed to projects. The Director and Managers provide direction, support and all advice necessary to enable Design Centre to deliver project outcomes at a high professional standard, that are able to be successfully implemented by clients. A key part of the educational experience in Design Centre is learning to focus on design development to deliver significant benefits to the end-users – the clients’ customers. Student designers learn to prepare project proposals, to positively market the unique qualities of a design consultancy with a view to securing design contracts. They learn to manage project costs to budget, and to meet requirements for deliverables and time schedules.

There are more applicants than places available. An interview and folio presentation is carried out to enable only the most capable and focused candidates to be offered places. Places are not restricted to Swinburne graduates. Applications are welcomed from suitably qualified international students. Time spent in Design Centre consists of three full studio days each week for two, 20 week semesters. Students also complete a separate Research subject in parallel. Design Centre has between 25 and 30 students and executes 100 to 150 projects each year - some small and short term, others with multiple stages, over longer time frames. During the course of their time in Design Centre, students learn to work effectively on a number of projects with diverse outcomes and demands. Design Centre students develop strong portfolios featuring projects completed for real clients – a vital asset when seeking employment as a designer.

From the standpoint of the Design Centre Management team, the most important thing we aim to achieve is to launch our graduates into successful careers within the design industry.

Professor Roger Simpson
Director, Design Centre

Lucy Miceli
Manager, Communication Design

Denis Smitka
Manager, Industrial Design

Dylan Davis
Manager, Multimedia Design