Can you please tell me a little about the Communication Design program, what it offers and how it’s delivered?
Communication Design is the longest established design program taught in the Faculty of Design. At Swinburne we expect Communication Design graduates to be industry ready; meaning that they must be well informed and creative thinkers capable of working to the best and most appropriate aesthetic standards. Over the last ten years Communication Design has become more computer centred while our student attributes have become more diverse – crossing between print and electronic media but also taking on a concept of the designer that is professional, more research oriented and more proactive in the way that design is now seen as a good business strategy.

Most experiences in Communication Design are studio based and revolve around the concept of ‘learning by doing’. This will involve a variety of teaching and learning experiences – lectures and guest speakers, research tasks, working in groups, presentations, lots of discussion, showing and critiquing each other’s work. Most assessment will take place at the end of each semester with detailed formative feedback, both written and/or verbal occurring throughout the semester. That way you have a chance to respond to and thoughtfully develop your work in order to improve – which is what education is all about.

What makes the Communication Design program stand out from similar programs at other universities?
Swinburne Communication Design is one of the longest established programs of this type in Australia. Over this time it has developed an enviable reputation through the development of strengths in some unique areas.

Commencing in Design Lab in first year, Swinburne Communication Design offers the opportunity of collaboration through design across the different design disciplines. This program encourages wider perspectives in design and prepares you for the collaborative outcomes that are becoming increasingly common in design practice.

Swinburne Communication Design is the only course in Victoria to offer an Industry Placement program in its third year – students are placed in a relevant industry setting – maybe a design studio or agency, advertising agency, government or industry specialized service provider. Work experience offers experience and insider knowledge and contact to the working world of design practice.

Swinburne Communication Design also emphasises research as an integral part of the design process. Research is important into our clients and their users/consumers but we also use research into how we learn and how we operate as designers to produce better design. We are developing design as a more proactive professional activity.

Swinburne students graduate with competitive folios that reflect a diversity of production, activities and experiences that prepare them to cope with all of the competitive and challenging demands industry has to make in the contemporary environment.

Swinburne Communication Design offers course flexibility through offering program choices which allow you to tailor the course to fit your needs and specializations. This is mainly done through our elective options in the second and third year of the program.

Can you tell me what career opportunities await graduates of the Communication Design program?
Swinburne Communication Design graduates would expect to find work in many destinations. Most common is work usually as a designer or art director in a design studio. These might vary from small operations with maybe only one or two principals to large international agencies where work would be team based and the experience could be vastly different depending on the specialties of the team or the client base. Graduates might also find themselves in Advertising Agencies where they would most often collaborate with copywriters who together produce campaigns in different media for major clients. There are many other design related positions available within usually large government and industry organizations where often specialized design outcomes are carried out – in areas such as media producers, publishers or service providers. Many of our students also become involved in the multimedia and Film and TV industries.

Whatever the placement, Swinburne Communication Designers graduate with attributes that prepare them for the real world and equip them for active and creative involvement in solving complex communication problems.

Can you give me examples of some outstanding graduates/staff from the program?
Below are some graduates worth searching for!
Urchin
www.urchin.com.au
3deep
www.3deep.com.au
David Trewern Design
www.davidtrewerndesign.com

Tony Ward lectures in graphic and communication design, visual language and design practice in the Communication Design program, in the Faculty of Design . He received his Diploma in Advertising Design from Swinburne Technical College in 1963. He has had extensive experience as a freelance illustrator/designer, art/creative director and design educator in Australia and overseas. This includes seven years as a senior writer and creative director with Ogilvy & Mather ( Thailand). He continues to work as a consulting and exhibiting image-maker in conventional and digital media. The exhibition We're a Weird Mob - 11 June - 11 September 2005 Postmaster Gallery Melbourne will include work as a member of All Australian Graffiti -1975 and until the present.

What do you look for in a potential student?
Communication Design applicants have traditionally been able to enter the program due to their positive attitude and a rounded and accomplished folio of work that demonstrated an aptitude at art and/or design.

While we still value these attributes, we no longer think these might be the only accomplishments and interests you might demonstrate for admission into the program. At Swinburne we are increasingly seeing Communication Design as an activity primarily about the development of strategies that most effectively communicate to their intended audience. This is more than likely to commence with research that relates to understanding the client, their problem and their audience so that we might define and produce an effective design outcome – one not just creative and attractive to the user - but one that effectively communicates an appropriate message.

Communication Design recommends that their applicants study English plus one of the Art, Studio Arts or Visual Communication subjects for VCE, but we also give weighting to the following subjects: English Literature, English Language, any Maths and History. Students might also enter the course via Design Diploma, Year 13 graduates or as mature age students who may have built an interest in design and a folio through years of work experience.

Are there pathways one can take to better their chances into the Communication Design program?
Many applicants come straight into the program after finishing a successful year 12. However, students can also enter the course via Design Diploma studies at TAFE, Year 13 graduates (at specialized Secondary Schools) or as mature age students who may have built an interest in design and a folio through years of work experience. Depending on folio quality and/or successful completion of selected Diploma courses, students may be judged able to enter the program at an advanced level.

How are students selected and what advice would you give to someone applying?
Most Communication Design students apply for admission through VTAC. At present you will need to obtain an Enter Score of at least 65 and send in a Preselection Kit by an advertised date. A short-list of applicants will then be asked to come to Prahran for an interview and folio viewing resulting in a shortlist of enrolment offers.

After 2007 we are proposing to select on Enter Score only.

How is the course regarded and supported by the local/International industry?
A Swinburne Bachelor of Design Degree is one of the most valued design degrees in Australia. Its value lies in the education offered at the National Institute of Design and the National Institute of Design Research, where its industry connections are reinforced through its Industry Placement Program. The school is supported by a large number of Industry professionals who also lecture in the Design programs.

What's the best advice you would give someone contemplating a career in Communication Design?
Although Communication Design programs are difficult to get into, you should be the one who decides which course you want to go to. Go to all of the relevant university open days and talk to both staff and students about their programs. Study their websites, they contain a lot of information and describe their programs in detail. At the end of each year most courses have a Graduate Exhibition which runs for only a few days, but this is your best opportunity to see graduate and other student work. Talk to students enrolled in each of the programs.

At Swinburne, our emphasis on research as an integral part of the design process gives you the best guarantee that you are getting an education that will lead to an interesting career as well as giving you the opportunity to join a whole new generation of designers capable of handling the most complex communication problems with intelligence and creativity.