B.Design (Hons.) Global Design Programme

The B.Design Global Design Programme at UID has been crafted through deep research, and collaboration with top International Design Schools, using innovative approaches for reimagining Design education in India. It provides a unique opportunity for a student to understand global perspectives to tackle design challenges. Through an international style of learning in a global classroom with world-renowned faculty in a multi-city/country learning model in vibrant design capitals of the world to give students a career edge. Our vision is to provide students with an unparalleled experience, nurturing them to be design leaders and creative catalysts who deliver positive social, environmental, economic, and cultural change.

The Programme is nested in the Unitedworld Institute of Design [UID] but functions without geographical boundaries with integrated learning in four leading international centers of design and innovation in Asia, Europe, the UK, and Australia. Collectively offering students a unique educational mix characterized by multidisciplinary intakes, shared values, complementary approaches, and distinct expertise. We foster innovation that provides practical solutions to real-world issues, and our project themes in each location reflect local design culture, commercial interests, and social challenges.

B.Design (Hons.)Global Design Programme

The vision of UID’s Global Design Programme is to provide an international education environment that is unique & unparalleled in this part of the world, bringing together major centers of design, culture, and industry: the UK, Europe, and Australia. The 4 years B.Design (Hons.) Global Design Programme has been evolved, developed & designed by incorporating global best practices in interdisciplinary Design education and anticipates incorporating the course curriculum strengths and paradigms of partner institutions / Universities, all recognized as international leaders in creativity and innovation, offering complementary expertise in art, design, innovation, and technology via the integrated Semesters of the Programme. It would encourage students to work collaboratively, with dedicated studio spaces, students would acquire and hone skills and learn design theories, methods, and processes that would help develop and refine their ideas which would address the problem identified in a holistic manner

Why study B.Design (Hons.) Global Design Programme at UID?

The Global Design Programme (GDP) is created to nurture and train creative catalysts and future leaders of design and innovation. It is for students who have the passion, intelligence, and creativity to drive the redefinition of the trajectory of global design. Students who want to experience and learn design on different continents, with an immersive educational experience in world-class educational institutions based in four culturally diverse countries; viz. India, Australia, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

This course prepares students to explore the future-scape of design by negotiating across disciplines in an interdisciplinary ecosystem. It allows them to be curious and evolve the ability to question and respond to design challenges both individually and through collaborative global perspectives. It aims to impart competencies that aid opportunity mapping, strategies to transform design, and innovative practices to develop entrepreneurial ventures, new businesses, and start-ups for the creative industry.

Programme Pedagogy and Structure

The UID-based curriculum is a sequential mix of different design experiences emphasizing design thinking, problem-solving, making, and prototyping. The curriculum would also emphasize hand skills, digital skills, specialization-specific skills, user research, knowledge of making, materials, processes, sensitivity to aesthetics, and knowledge of humans and their behavior, society, culture, and environment. The teaching philosophy is practice-based and self-directed learning, with the Programme participants defining their path and processes. The course will take students through various facets of design disciplines and to able to solve complex design challenges.

Year 01	(July – May ) at UID Gandhinagar, India
Year 02	(August – Mid-November ) at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia (January – May) at UID Gandhinagar, India
Year 03	(September – Mid-December ) at NABA, Milan, Italy (January – May) at UID Gandhinagar, India
Year 04	((September – Mid-December) at Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom (January – May) at UID Gandhinagar, India

GDP Programme Structure

Year 1

PART-1

KU CORE COURSES

Leadership Development Lab
Professional Communication

PROGRAMME COMMON COURSES

History of Design and Art
Digital Lab
Material Exploration
Drawing Lab (Observation Based)
Fundamentals of Design – I

PART-2

KU CORE COURSES

Thinking Skills

PROGRAMME COMMON COURSES

Discover Design in India

PROGRAMME CORE COURSES

Global Culture and Trends
Design Drawing Lab
Observing Culture and Environment
Material Techniques
Fundamentals of Design – II
Integrated Design Project

Year 2

PART-1

KU CORE COURSES

Professional Ethics

PROGRAMME CORE COURSES

Human Behaviour and Design Psychology
Experiential Learning Seminar -I ( Global Experiential Learning- I (Australia))

PART-2

KU CORE COURSES

International Language- I (Any one)
1. German- I
2. Italian-I
3. French-I

KU OPEN ELECTIVE- I

Principles and Practices of Management

ELECTIVE COURSES

Programme Elective- I (Any one)
1. Design for Print
2. Materials Technology and Processes
3. Fashion Construction Lab
Programme Elective- II (Any one)
1. Documentation and Representation
2. Design Illustration
3. New Media Narratives

PROGRAMME CORE COURSES

Ergonomics and Human Factor
Visual Communication Studio
Human Centric Design
Social Innovation Design Lab

Year 3

PART-1

PROGRAMME CORE COURSES

Future – Trends Technology and Disruptions
Portfolio Design
Experiential Learning Seminar -II ( Global Experiential Learning- II (ITALY) )

PART-2

KU OPEN ELECTIVE- II (Any one)

Psychology
Fundamentals of Applied AI

PROGRAMME COMMON COURSE

Entrepreneurship
Research Methodology

ELECTIVE COURSES

Programme Elective- III (Any one)
1. Creative Coding
2. Tinkering Studio
Programme Elective- IV (Any one)
1. Biomimicry in Design
2. Sustainable Communities

PROGRAMME CORE COURSES

Emerging Technologies
Design for User Experience and Interaction
Interdisciplinary Design Lab

Year 4

PART-1

PROGRAMME COMMON COURSE

Design Management

PROGRAMME CORE COURSE

Internship
Experiential Learning Seminar -III ( Global Experiential Learning- III (UK) )

PART-2

PROGRAMME COMMON COURSE

Design Research

PROGRAMME CORE COURSE

Graduation Project

Click here to view details about Course Structure along with Course Description

GDP Year-wise Learning Outcomes

The course will take students through various facets of interdisciplinary design with a focus on pathway-based disciplines such as Visual Communication, Fashion Design, Product Design, and Interior Design with the flexibility to choose from different domains and design disciplines. In addition to a ‘home-base’ center at UID, Gandhinagar, each student undergoes a global design learning experience at each of the other partner institutions in Europe, Australia & UK.

The first year is dedicated to building a strong foundation and introducing the students to the fundamentals of design using an interdisciplinary and practice-based approach. It gradually moves on to relatively complex approaches to develop their critical thinking skills and their understanding of design and the elements around them.

As the course progresses the students undergo a global learning experience in their second year, first half focuses on innovation and design. They are taken through increasing degrees of complexities of design practice and understanding. They understand and connect to larger issues of society and culture, semiotics and aesthetics, environment and ethnography, innovation, and socially responsive design. In the second half of the Second year, the students choose a discipline or pathway of their choice with elective options that are interdisciplinary. The students further develop their skills in their chosen pathways with a choice of electives culminating in the interdisciplinary design lab.

In the third year the students continue discipline or the pathway of their choice with elective options that are interdisciplinary. The students undertake a global experience where they learn advanced pathway-based skills to inculcate best practices and experience an international classroom. The students further develop their skills in their chosen pathways with a choice of electives culminating in the interdisciplinary design lab.

During the fourth year students undertake a highly advanced research-based experience abroad at a leading university internationally. Then they undertake their major project and have the final showcase of the overall disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning process through the B.Design (Hons.) Global Design Programme.

Career Prospects

Our B.Design (Hons.) Global Design Programme students can seamlessly transcend international boundaries owing to the distinct advantage of interacting with international faculty, living in diverse professional environments; imbibing studio-based collaborative and experiential learning in a multicultural classroom; this programme offers the best platform for young designers to build a rapport with top-notch international designers and explore several design avenues both in India and abroad. This course provides students with a vital global edge in advancing their career goals over their peers in the design industry by adopting the best practices in design education that the world has to offer.