Our Product and Furniture Design course focuses on the design and development of creative, contemporary and innovative products and furniture, considering user-centred design, social context and commercial understanding. Throughout your degree, you will be encouraged to explore materials, techniques and processes in relation to scales of manufacture, from one-off bespoke design to design for standardised mass production.
You will learn a range of research and design methods alongside continual practical skills development. Live student projects take place throughout the course to enhance your employability, communication skills and professional practice.
What's covered in this course?
You will examine the process of designing and developing functional and desirable products and furniture, examining how social and cultural factors influence design decisions. You will develop knowledge and understanding of design in response to collaborative, professional, commercial and economic considerations.
Alongside research and design development skills, you will also increase your practical knowledge through extensive hands-on exploration. Engaging with making from the outset enables you to fully realise design concepts and create convincing models and prototypes. Underpinned with strong contemporary design thinking, you will explore the breadth of scales of manufacture across product and furniture design to be able to position yourself within a global industry.
By working on live projects, work placements and collaborative projects, you will explore how businesses operate at a commercial, technological, ethical and sustainable level. Second-year students recently worked with Philips, developing user-centred lighting applications and third-year students exhibited and sold work at Minima: one of Birmingham’s key contemporary design showrooms. You’ll also benefit from the insight of guest speakers from across the design spectrum from designer-makers to industrial designers and product and furniture developers
Professional placement year
This course offers a professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, between the second and third years of your degree and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.
The University will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. If you do not find a suitable placement, you will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year (£1,850 for UK students).
Why choose us?
95% of students are satisfied with this course (National Student Survey 2022).
Live projects and industrial collaborations provide you with invaluable real-world experiences and hone your communication and professional development skills.
You will develop practical skills through extensive workshop practice within our Ceramics, Plaster, Wood and Metal workshops.
From water jet cutting to 3D printing, you will develop skills in rapid prototyping and digitally driven techniques.
The course has been successful at New Designers for the last 4 years, winning major design awards and commendations.
Two-thirds of the impact of our research was judged to be very considerable (3) or outstanding (4) - REF2021