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This course explores 3D design principles unique to creating animation and visual effects media. Students will create a series of digital artefacts for the screen. Tutorials cover development methods specific to digital content, with emphasis on fund...

This course offers an introduction to animated storytelling through the art of character animation. We survey a range of animated films in various genres and styles, from large scale studio features to experimental auteur films. In response students ...

This course introduces digital 2D and frame-by-frame techniques in modern animation practice. Historical and contemporary examples will be studied including classic feature films, independent shorts, music videos, and video games. Students will apply...

This trimester 1 course is the pre-production for students' Capstone Project in Trimester 2. Students are exposed to concepts and precedents relating to production, pitching and storytelling, and apply these to their own pitch and project development...

This course builds on Character Animation I and examines the art of character animation in depth. Students survey a range of animated film across genres and styles, with a focus on contemporary animation. Students will design, build, and rig characte...

This course expands upon the practice of digital 2D and frame-by-frame animation in digital workflow. Students will learn intermediate animation principles and techniques for digital 2D production and its effective synthesis with other forms of anima...

The capstone project represents the culmination of study in the Animation and Visual Effects major. Students are offered the freedom to further develop any of the skills, concepts and approaches learnt from other courses. The course will engage the i...

In this course students will develop their understanding and facility with the elements and principles of graphic design. Areas include typography, colour, layout, hierarchy, balance and space. Students will look at the history of type and graphic de...

This course will allow students to practice traditional and contemporary approaches to both observational and imaginative drawing. In addition to building on skills and techniques developed in earlier courses, students will be encouraged to nurture t...

In this course students will learn to illustrate and use illustration thoughtfully and effectively in a range of media. Historical and contemporary approaches will be studied from various perspectives: aesthetic, social, and commercial. Students will...

This course focuses on the structure and methods of effective storytelling, as expressed visually. Readings provide a broad survey of stories that employ visual narratives in innovative or instructive ways. Techniques are drawn from comics, books, gr...

This course introduces basic concepts of motion design and time-based media in communication and graphic environments. Topics covered include introductory motion principles, visual design for motion, storyboarding/sequential imagery, graphic animatio...

Students will hone and refine their critical eye for typography and delve into the anatomy, materiality, and complexities of type. There will be an intensive study of typographic hierarchies and expressive typography through practical exercises. Proj...

This course examines formal aspects of comics and graphic novels, their historical development, visual and culturally diverse vocabularies, and narrative applications. Readings provide examples of graphic storytelling and critique theoretical and pra...

Students will use a design process, set of instructions, or computer programme, to generate a solution that blends design artistry with artificially generated output. This blend of traditional and emerging techniques will produce surprising outcomes....

In this course students produce a final work to demonstrate the skills and knowledge gained in Communication Design. Students complete a large studio-based project or portfolio demonstrating design mastery. In seminar-style discussions, students deve...

This course will use a range of visualisation methods to represent design concepts and elements. Methods used include hand drawing, photography, motion graphics, animation and video.

This course will introduce students to basic principles of game design, animation and motion design. Fundamental game design concepts, such as mechanics and loops, will be explored and analysed to enable students to conceptualise and develop playable...

This course introduces students to the role of visual and written communication in contemporary design practice. Students will be exposed to academic referencing, paragraph structure and paraphrasing, graphic representation and fabrication techniques...

In this course students engage with emerging technologies to visualise and create 3D forms, bodies and spaces. Students address the distinctive features of creating form and making digitally fabricated artefacts.

This course introduces students to, and develops their fluency in, design vocabularies and composition specific to the configuration of design elements. Analogue and digital techniques are used to explore body, space, form and movement.

This course introduces students to narratives and storytelling in the context of visual design. Students will be exposed to a range of traditional and contemporary examples including Māori storytelling practice and examples from film, animation, digi...

This course focuses on creative exploration of materials and processes. Students will learn various manual and digital techniques and apply these to the exploration and production of expressive forms.

This course introduces students to the concepts and fundamentals of interactive visual perception through creative coding and AI for interactive interfaces. Students will develop their own visual, animated, multimedia and interactive design solutions...

This course explores the basics of graphic design and photography through hands-on projects. Students are introduced to professional design practice through the use of a brief, design processes, and critique. Using design software, as well as sketchi...

In this introductory course students will learn the principles of wearable design by researching material properties and developing design models that lead to the production of forms that relate to a human body. Emphasis is placed on pattern design m...

By observing and analysing historical approaches and responses in and between cultures and design, students will explore design from a place-based perspective.

This course is deeply rooted in Māori culture. Whakapapa Design emphasises ethical behaviour and the consequences of our actions as designers. Whakapapa Design highlights interconnections between people, place, and all living entities and offers a pa...

Students will learn how designs can affect our thinking, our emotions and our actions. The course will introduce students to basic psychology principles. Through the practice of designing students will learn how to use psychology principles and metho...

An introduction to the key concepts, theories and methodologies relevant to sustainable design and their application to a cross-disciplinary design practice. Students will develop awareness of sustainability from an ecological perspective and, within...

DSDN 242 builds on DSDN 172 Whakapapa Design I. This course introduces students to Mauri Ora as a design methodology. Students learn essential practice based tikanga within kaitiakitanga (guardianship) roles. This course is taught through pakiwaitara...

Photography is explored as both a creative process and a design research tool. Students engage in both photographic practice and theoretical exploration, articulating their response to the photographic medium and developing their theoretical tool kit...

Students will investigate real-world issues through interaction design methodologies to identify problems, needs and desires that can be addressed through physical and digital interactions. Students will learn to design scenarios and prototype intera...

In this course students will use a variety of techniques to craft concepts and visual images that convey speculative or fictional worlds. Contemporary and historical approaches to concept art will be critically analysed. World building across media (...

Students taking this course will develop skills in applying diverse modes of writing for use in creative practice. Projects will include self-reflective and exploratory writing, critical analysis, and the development of multimodal design outcomes tha...

This course prepares students for the Capstone projects and across disciplines. This course engages Whakawhanaungatanga (generates meaningful connections) between design disciplines, research methods and diverse knowledges. This course asks students ...

This course introduces students to a diverse range of research practices that foster criticality, creativity and a deepening of our connection to whanaungatanga associated with a range of contemporary issues and emerging technologies. An emphasis wil...

In this intermediate course students will trial various digital and physical pattern design and manufacturing techniques to explore the expressive power of appearance in both fictional and real-world contexts. Historical and cultural theories related...

Using generative approaches to textile design informed by broad cultural contexts and/or emerging technologies, students taking this course will explore the systemised creation of textiles. Students will be exposed to a range of software, manufacturi...

In this course students will investigate the narrative and expressive power of wearable items for stage (theatre, performance), screen (film, tv), and digital industries (animation, video games), through hands-on production as well as cultural study ...

Students will explore the field of wearable technology through research and practical experimentation. They will learn how to use various technologies to create successful reactive and interactive wearable projects. Areas of exploration include the a...

In this course, students learn to integrate skills, concepts, and approaches covered in the Fashion Design Technology major to produce a final work. Students will develop their unique focus through a research-informed project that critically engages ...

Students are introduced to indie games, arcade games and early home console experiences as a pathway to understanding the fundamental requirements of game design. This course builds upon game mechanics and core loops, utilising these concepts to crea...

This course will allow students to explore and develop art and animation assets for game design with a focus on optimisation and working within the limitations that real time hardware can often impose. Students will learn the history of developing re...

This course uses game jams and hackathons as a learning environment where students work with commercial developers to learn how to develop new and innovative game prototypes. Design students will be collaborating with students from the Graphics and G...

This course focuses on the craft of writing fiction and narrative design for interactive media, including video games, interactive fiction, board games, and VR. No previous experience with Game Design and/or Script/Writing is required. Students play ...

In this course students will build on the knowledge gained in Game Design I to design within the expanded parameters of a 3D environment. Using games as a medium of exploration, including examples from the early transitional period of 2D to 3D gaming...

In this course students will develop and build large scale video game concepts in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams. Design students will be collaborating with students from the Graphics and Games major. Students will apply their respective skil...

This course will explore a variety of approaches to material simulation and coded design processes. Topics covered will include advanced rendering, rapid digital iteration, and the translating of digital form to physical artefact. Students will look ...

Industrial designers communicate primarily through the physical aesthetic qualities of the products they create. In this founding industrial design course students will explore and expand their three dimensional visual vocabulary to empower them to p...

This course investigates how industrially designed products respond to the people and environment in which they exist. This four dimensional quality of products offers significant opportunity for design experimentation and expression. Through the use...

This course stimulates students to explore and experiment with a range of design-focused mediums, materials and techniques. In addition to material and technical proficiency students will gain competence in creating contextual design interventions an...

This course examines the dynamic complexity of the human body and its form, mapping personal variation, movement and anatomy as the inspiration for products. 3D scanning and colour 3D printing will be used to collect data and create a tailored produc...

This course challenges students to explore and engage with specific online publications that inspire them to design a product suitable for publication to an international audience. To reach this standard students will select appropriate media includi...

This course explores industrial design from a historic, contemporary and future (speculative) perspective with a specific focus on the implications of technological evolution. Emerging issues such as artificial intelligence, biological printing and c...

This course asks students to plan and create design-driven innovations for the near future through bold experimentation with a variety of non-traditional mediums including smart materials, intelligent processes and emerging technologies. Students wil...

This course considers the relationship between digital creation - CAD (Computer Aided Design) and digital making/fabrication - CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) and explores the design opportunities these technologies offer. Students will investigat...

This course introduces branding as a business concept to students. It explores the role that a product and associated services play in promoting and developing a company’s brand as well as the way a brand impacts on the perception and value of a prod...

In this course students will learn about the process of user experience (UX) design, and common research and design techniques, such as: observation, interviews, prototyping and user testing. Students will also become skilled at using industry-standa...

In this course students will become adept at user experience (UX) design techniques, such as: case study analysis, user interface design, rapid visualisation and prototyping. Students will also become skilled at using the industry standard tools and ...

This course addresses the demand for well-designed visual presentation of data in the information age. The course is interdisciplinary, combining skills from graphic design, interaction design, and data science. Students practice information design s...

Students will develop further skills to critically read psychology literature, find design opportunities and write design briefs based on psychology principles. Students will develop sophisticated designs based on those briefs and test them with adva...

This course introduces students to the wide range of opportunities for design to inform healthcare products and services. The course includes introduction to methods for working with clinicians and patients and how to design physical devices and digi...

This course facilitates the development of a major interaction design project that builds and expands on skills learned in the programme and individual interests of the students. Starting from seminar-style discussions, students will develop their ow...

In this course students will conceive, shoot, edit, and remix video-based projects. Students will learn video editing techniques, shooting video using DSLR cameras, elementary lighting, codecs, compositing, cinematography, and working with audio alon...

Students are introduced to the histories and technical development of Virtual Reality both as a field of inquiry and as a creative platform for novel and engaging multimedia experiences. Topics include examples of VR from a variety of fields such as ...

Introduction to electronics, circuit design, and programming as design tools for creative electronic solutions. This course is for students wishing to explore physical computing and interaction design (including IoT). Thinking beyond the mouse/keyboa...

This course focuses on working with simple algorithms to generate visuals, as well as compositing different media, such as photography. Inspired by real world phenomena, this course uses parameterised design and generative modelling to produce creati...

Students will investigate processes and strategies involved in the production of time-based media, including audio recording, editing and manipulation techniques. Revolving around the topic of audio-visual space, course projects will allow students t...

This course focuses on the interpretation and presentation of data. Datasets are combined with programming and scripting tools to provide context to our digitized information systems and databases. Students will work with data sources from science, t...

Accessibility is about designing physical and digital products and services inclusively. Accessible design upholds people's human rights and removes barriers to participation in society. In this course you will learn foundational skills and theoretic...

Co-design is a fundamental practice used in design. Enabling collective and equitable engagement with communities it a core competency to designing in the 21st century. Students will be introduced to industry standards and best practices for working ...

This course introduces students to the complex relations between design, people and the environment, and explores the notion of design justice, as a provocation for creating positive impact through design practice and of design practice. The course e...

In this course students explore through their creative practice the rich stories/pūrākau and whakapapa of local communities and environments to establish meaningful connections (whakawhanaungatanga) and insights into both the diverse and unique needs...

In this course students consider the transitional changes required to achieve shifts in social infrastructure, existing paradigms and organisational networks and pipelines. Students create and articulate sustainable pipelines and systems that acknowl...

Within Agents of Change students create solutions that can impact positive social, cultural, political, economic and/or environmental change. Students use design tools, research methodologies and emergent co-design practices to design prototypes, and...