Bachelor of Arts Honours in Design Leadership

Purpose

The Bachelor of Arts Honours in Design Leadership serves to consolidate and deepen learners' expertise in design leadership and develop research capacity in the methodology and techniques of design leadership. This qualification follows an inter-disciplinary approach that is relevant to different design disciplines, including strategic design, experience design, digital design, graphic design, communication design, multimedia design, and game design. The qualification is designed with a balance of discourse, theoretical, and creative components that facilitate the deepening of design knowledge and academic growth. The qualification encompasses the use of human-centred design approaches such as interactions and experiential design, the convergence of design and new technologies, as well as the overlap between design, brand, and business to explore the creation of innovative design solutions to complex problems that are of economic, environmental, and social value. The research component provides learners with the research skills to generate evidence-based foundations for design solutions within their own field and area of interest. This qualification aims to develop learners' ability to manage themselves and teams, plan and develop complex design solutions as creative directors, senior designers, or design entrepreneurs. Upon the completion of the qualification, learners will be able to:

• Evaluate and apply theories, research methodologies, methods, and techniques relevant to the field, discipline, or practice; and an understanding of how to apply such knowledge in a particular context.
• Interrogate multiple sources of knowledge in an area of specialization and to evaluate knowledge and processes of knowledge production.
• Analyze the complexities and uncertainties of selecting, applying or transferring appropriate standard procedures, processes, or techniques to unfamiliar problems in a design leadership practice.
• Identify, analyze, and address complex or abstract problems drawing systematically on the body of knowledge and methods appropriate to a field, discipline, or practice.
• Conduct research that can inform the design process and outcomes as well as explore problems and complex issues pertaining to the broad discipline of design.
• Identify and address ethical issues based on critical reflection on the suitability of different ethical value systems to specific contexts.

Rationale

Design is the link between creativity and innovation, it is the planning and development process where abstract ideas are transformed into desirable services and objects. Design is not limited to aesthetics but is linked to functions, human experience, sustainability, reliability, services, strategies, quality, and productivity. The paradigm shift in the role of design, and the designer specifically, has rendered the need for designers with advanced knowledge and skills in the areas of foresight, problem-finding abilities, and evidence-based approaches. The widened scope of design necessitates the development of suitable qualifications that will equip the current design graduate with the knowledge and skills to work and lead in the overlap between brand, business, technology, and creative processes. Knowledge in the field of leadership and management is expanding continually. New challenges are emerging that need research for resolution and insights. This means that researchers in the field of education leadership and management need to be developed. The academic Postgraduate qualifications develop research capacity through their qualification purpose and design. This qualification focuses on developing knowledge and skills in conducting education research that will lead onto further research development in the Masters and Doctoral qualifications. It includes theoretical engagements in education leadership and management, located within historical and current literature, to provide learners with a well-rounded knowledge base to identify potential areas of educational research and to conduct such research agendas with a small scale doable and feasible time frame and scope. The competence derived from such research activities will enable the learner to progress into a Master's qualification to further develop their research knowledge and skills that will allow them to contribute to further development in educational leadership and management. This qualification is therefore best suited for the learning and development needs of learners seeking to specialize in design leadership or prepare for research-based postgraduate studies. The career opportunities available are across many domains within all sectors, including among others:

• Senior graphic designers
• Creative directors
• Art directors
• Senior digital designers
• Design entrepreneurs
• Design strategists
• Design consultants
• Design managers