Year 11 Visual Communication & Design
(Units 1 & 2)

COURSE OUTLINE

Visual Communication Design is a study of visual language used to communicate ideas, messages and influence behaviours; it is a subject about solving problems through design. The fields of design practice addressed in this study are around Messages, Objects, Environments and Interactive Experiences.  You will explore the contexts designers work in as well as the way that they collaborate.

VCE Visual Communication Design enables students to: 

• Work independently and in collaboration to find, reframe and address human-centred design problems and opportunities 

• Apply a design process to discover, define, develop and deliver solutions 

• Develop divergent and convergent thinking strategies 

• Understand conceptions of good design 

• Develop and apply skills in drawing and making, using a range of media, materials, methods and techniques

• Manipulate the design elements and principles to communicate ideas and information

• Apply ethical, legal, sustainable, and culturally appropriate design practices

• Understand design's influence, and the influences of design in past, present and future contexts, including economic, technological, cultural, environmental and social factors

• Deliver and receive critical feedback using appropriate design terminology 

Unit 1:
Area of study 1 - Reframing Design Problems 

• Reframing design problems

• The application of human-centred design and ethical research 

• Divergent and convergent thinking strategies

• Concepts of good design, including its history, Good Design Australia and the Victorian Premier's Design Awards

• An introduction to Dieter Rams' 10 Principles of Good Design.

Area of study 2 - Solving Communication Design Problems

• Designing for a brand or a business using human-centred approaches

• The use of visual language 

• Brand identity 

• Experimentation with design elements and principles, media and materials

• Copyright and legal obligations

• Critiques and feedback

Area of study 3 - Designs Influence and Influence on design 

• Influences of design and influences on design

• Factors that influence design including social, cultural, environmental, technological and economic 

• Circular design practices

• Drawing for industrial design objects, including technical drawing

• Rendering techniques 

Unit 2:
Area of study 1 - Design Place and Time

• Examination of the relationship between design, place and time

• The design of environments including those where we live, play and work

• Contemporary and historical design movements

• Technical drawings associated with environmental design

• Divergent and convergent design thinking 

• Use of design elements and principles, methods, media and materials 

Area of study 2 - Cultural Ownership and Design

• Australian Indigenous design

• Case study exploring Indigenous design 

• Culturally appropriate design practices, including protocols for the creation and commercial use of Indigenous knowledge

• Analysis of how Indigenous artists and designers represent their stories and communicate messages through symbols and icons 

Area of study 3 - Designing Interactive Experiences

• Interactions with digital technologies 

• Design of products and services with a focus on the way users interact with them

• Human-centred design processes, including inclusive practices and good design

• Divergent thinking strategies

• Use of wireframing to explore and develop content 

• Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception