DESIGN

BACHELOR OF DESIGN & VISUAL

Develop the essential technical design skills and the knowledge required to collaborate with other
creative media students and professionals.

SCHOLARLY APPROACHES TO DESIGN - DIM111

Credit Points: 10

In this unit, you will learn about the ideas and concepts of design. You will discover the art of
presenting and defending a point of view in a convincing and effective way by referring to valid and
trustworthy sources of information. Thinking about and referencing the work of others helps you to
develop critical thinking skills. By using tools on the internet and working with others you will
expand what you alone can achieve. In your projects, you will delve into the history and language
of the design industry in order to develop an understanding of your place and purpose within it.

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN - DDX170

Credit Points: 10

In this unit you will learn about the principles of design through creating vector graphics in the form
of motifs, pictorial marks and logos using Adobe Illustrator and other tools. Project briefs and
activities in this unit introduce the principles of design; these are visual rules that can be applied in
the creation of any image to enhance their impact, attractiveness and ability to communicate. The
principles of design are useful and essential to your ongoing design practice
FUNDAMENTALS OF IMAGE MAKING - DDX171

Credit Points: 10

In this unit you will learn about illustration and the creative and technical production of digital
images using photoshop and other tools. Working by hand and digitally you will explore a range of
drawing techniques and tools including processes of iteration and refinement. You will investigate
visual storytelling through the development of a series of images. Storytelling through your creative
practice is essential to your ongoing design practice.

DESIGN FOR PRINT MEDIA - DDX174

Credit Points: 10

In this unit you will learn about designing page layouts for print through the combination of images
and type. Your work will include the design of posters, brochures and flyers. You will investigate
historical design styles; analysing, adapting and applying these styles in your work. You will
explore the typographic art of arranging letters and words to make copy easy to read, visually
appealing, and stylistically appropriate. Knowing how to use typography and layout effectively is
essential to your ongoing design practice.

CONTEMPORARY INDUSTRIAL PRACTICES - CIM151

Credit Points: 10

This unit aims to develop your understanding of the creative media industries by studying the
evolution of the industries over time. Change, evolution and disruption within creative media
industries occur regularly and change the way the industries operate by displacing an existing
market, industry, technology, person or process and creating something new which is more
valuable. Change, evolution and disruption are inevitable and both creative and destructive
processes.

In order to develop a career within the creative media industries, you will need to prepare for this
disruption and evolve your employability skills over time. The key to maintaining this career is
developing hard and soft skills, refining current skills sets and anticipating future changes in
required skill sets. You will need to understand how the audience informs and influences the
production and distribution of creative media products and how this in turn affects the skills
required to succeed within the creative media industries.

You will study these topics alongside your colleagues in other disciplines, to develop an
understanding of the intersections between various creative media industries.

USER CENTRED DESIGN - DDX173

Credit Points: 10

In this module you will learn to understand the user or target audience as part of your design
process, through an exploration of UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) design. By
applying the tools of UX design such as personas and user journeys and those of UI design such
as prototyping, iterating and testing you will explore the creation of websites or apps that provide
an ideal user experience.

DESIGN STUDIO 1 - DDX181

Credit Points: 20

This unit will simulate being in a real-world studio. Your designs will respond to larger project briefs
with multiple deliverables, and you will engage in teamwork. This means time management,
communication and scheduling will be crucial. You will learn to consider projects strategically in
terms of your client’s brand or identity, and how these can be communicated visually and through
associated text and structures. You are encouraged to explore and seek out new contemporary
methods and tools for design and communication.

In this studio setting your facilitator will act as your project manager, producer, mentor and
colleague.

This unit will be holistically assessed based on the criteria outlined in the unit guide. Teamwork,
collaborative skills, and engagement with specific feedback processes are emphasised in this unit,
as you further refine and reflect on a set of Transferable Skills.
Stage 2: Refine & Expand

Broaden your scope to work on complex multidisciplinary projects in accordance with industry
standard practices.

MEDIA STUDIES - CIM210

Credit Points: 10

In CIM210 you will be working on interdisciplinary projects that relate to some of the most
important concepts in contemporary media production. You will learn practical and analytical skills
in order to help you develop your creative powers and meet briefs that take you out of your comfort
zone. You will need to bring all of the skills you have learned so far: technical skills, research skills,
communication skills and a growth mindset, and be prepared to encounter new concepts and new
ways of working.

DESIGN STUDIO 2 - DGD212

Credit Points: 30

Like in Studio 1, this unit will simulate being in a real-world studio. Your designs will respond to
larger project briefs with multiple deliverables, and you will engage in teamwork. Your teams may
also include students from other disciplines or campuses. This means consideration of your
teammates' cultural and industry contexts as well as thoughtful and conscientious time
management, communication and scheduling will be crucial. Problem framing will be a key
consideration in order to provide clear goals that will allow effective teamwork. You will learn to
consider projects strategically in terms of your client’s brand or identity, and how these can be
communicated visually and through associated text and structures. You are encouraged to explore
and seek out new contemporary methods and tools for design and communication, and to
enhance your existing skills.

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES - CIM211

Media and culture are not simply entertainment, but something that affects the “real world”, our
everyday lives, and our worldviews. As such, we will not ask whether media accurately reflect the
real world but instead ask how media shape, reinforce, and challenge power structures that
influence our understanding of the world and ourselves. This unit takes a ‘critical theory’ approach
to analyze media and culture. In this unit, you will explore media texts, contexts and meaning,
society and subjectivity, pop culture aesthetics, and critical cultural discourses that inform creative
media practices.

Drawing on a range of creative content and analytical frameworks, you will be encouraged to
develop ways of thinking about media and culture that demonstrate a broad awareness of
aesthetic principles and stylistic trends; subjectivity, agency, ethics, and relations of power;
contexts, disciplines and discursive formations. In support of this exploration, you will produce a
range of media artifacts that explore and contextualize the relationship of media to culture through
individual analysis, collaborative and interdisciplinary creative practice, and critical reflection.

DESIGN STUDIO 3 - DDX213

Credit Points: 30

Like in Studio 2, this unit will simulate being in a real-world studio. You will build on skills gained
earlier in the course with various modes of design but with a stronger strategic focus and with a set
of skills and mindset that seeks out and allows you to collaborate effectively.

You will actively explore the benefits of bringing creatives from other disciplines into your teams in
terms of the value this brings to your campaigns. Your teams may include students from other
disciplines or campuses and external clients. You will consider how your transferable skills
enhance your own identity as an emerging professional. This means consideration of your
teammates and clients’ cultural and industry contexts as well as thoughtful and conscientious time
management, communication and scheduling.

Crafting compelling driving questions will allow you to attract interested, engaged and motivated
creative teams. You will reflect on your scholarly practice looking for connections to your design
practice.
You will learn to consider projects strategically in terms of your client’s identity, and also your own
identity as a professional, by considering what you can personally provide to allow for successful
and satisfying projects.

Stage 3: Showcase

Execute a project of your own design which is of high quality and externally published, with the
knowledge to commercialise if you choose. You'll also apply your skills through industry work
placement.

MAJOR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT - CIM312

Credit Points: 20

This is the first unit in a two-part process of developing a collaborative project, designed to meet
professional publication standards. In a group, you'll design and execute a full-scale creative
project which will be designed to a specific target audience and market of your team's choosing.

Working closely with SAE Project Supervisors, your project will be guided through formal pre-
production and production processes to deliver a creative media project. If you are undertaking a
specialisation in your course, you will be required to align it with this capstone project as part of the
approval process.

This unit is designed to support the pre-production process, long term success of the project and
the fair and equitable contribution of group members. You'll present to the panel your forward plan
for the project, which demonstrates rigourous pre-production processes to mitigate risk to ensure
the project can be delivered on time and to specification.

Once you successfully complete this unit the emphasis of the capstone project development will
move away from pre-production into full production mode.

DESIGN STUDIO 4 - DDX314

Credit Points: 20
Your final studio unit is an opportunity for you to finesse your skills in areas that appeal to you, with
your capstone project development in mind. You will be responding to industry-related briefs in a
way that displays your personal and professional skills.

As an effective collaborator, you will be expected to engage in projects that extend and refine your
practice and provide high quality examples of creative work for your portfolio. You will confidently
apply what you have learned about time management, communication and other transferable skills
keeping in mind the ways that your transferable skills enhance your own identity as an emerging
professional.

You will think about and apply what you have learned in your scholarly practice to your work in
terms of themes and concepts, and seek out a community of practice that explores similar ideas,
and that may form a network for your professional practice.

You may create a point of difference in your work through the creative application of contemporary
methods and tools for design and communication that augment your abilities, and enhance your
existing skills.

MAJOR PROJECT PRODUCTION - CIM330

Credit Points: 20

Using the project plan and pre-production work that you completed in the Major Project
Development Unit, you'll adopt a quality framework that will lead to the publication of a final
creative piece.

This quality process will be accountable to multiple, external stakeholders and will test your ability
to problem solve, evaluate and synthesise information to the standard that we expect from all SAE
graduates. Throughout this journey, you will interact with your classmates and other key
stakeholders using the processes and systems and that you would have developed throughout
your course.

The publication and subsequent success of the final deliverable will represent the broadening and
deepening of your professional practice which has occurred during your journey.
CREATIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING - CIM320

Credit Points: 10

Gain an introduction to the principles of entrepreneurship to create and operate your own creative
media small business venture. Through analysing the global media landscape, You'll be able to
identify and explore start-up opportunities within the creative industries.

This unit is designed to be done in parallel with your capstone project. You'll apply the skills and
knowledge from this unit to formulate a rigorous business case to help you commercialise your
capstone project and use it as a basis for a creative media start-up.

WORK INTEGRATED LEARNING - CIM310

Credit Points: 10

Future jobs will require workers to learn on the job; focus on relationships with people; have strong
communication skills; use a range of transferable skills. Research consistently points to the
benefits of students being prepared with documents that are required for job applications, such as
a Resume, Cover Letter, and E-portfolio.

In addition, the value of a Work Placement which provides you with professional experience and
an opportunity to use skills and knowledge gained from study to complement this.

The Work Placement for SAE Bachelor students requires a minimum of 80 hours at one or more
host organisation. Both the student and the host are required to complete an SAE Agreement
which formalises the placement.

ELECTIVE

Credit Points: 10

SAE Creative Media Institute