The study of Design and Graphics focuses on exploring the purposeful use of technologies and creative processes to produce design solutions. Students acquire knowledge and develop skills using technologies and other processes appropriately to design and create graphic solutions.
In this unit, students learn graphic design principles that focus on solving design problems and presenting ideas and solutions as graphical products. They explore a range of media to create practical solutions to design problems. The purpose of this unit is to build skills such as sketching and modelling. Students create a finished product for a specified purpose. They create solutions using a range of processes, applying industry conventions and standards where applicable.
Students learn to interpret a design brief through needs analysis and task identification. They research the client’s and target user(s)/audience needs, considering ethical considerations, financial constraints and affordances, meeting deadlines and deliver a product that is fit for purpose. This unit develops the knowledge and skills to generate concepts and solutions in response to design briefs in a range of real-world contexts.
Students learn to use graphics to inspire, inform or persuade a target audience using a range of graphical techniques. Drawing on current societal issues, students create a visual campaign in response to a design brief. They learn to create graphic images using colours, textures, contours and shapes to communicate emotions, attitudes and experiences.
A negotiated study unit has an important place in senior secondary courses. It is a valuable pedagogical approach that empowers students to make decisions about their own learning. A negotiated study unit is decided upon by a class, group(s) or individual student in consultation with the teacher and with the principal’s approval.