Product Design
Are you an inquisitive, creative, enthusiastic problem solver? Are you interested in how things work and why things look the way that they do? Do you want to create a better world through design?
Portfolio Workshop
Book your place at the Product Design Portfolio Workshop on Wednesday 30 October 2024. This workshop will benefit any students planning to apply for BA Product Design. Bookings for the workshop taking place on Wednesday 8 January 2025 will open on 1 November.
What is Product Design?
Product Design at NCAD is about shaping the world around us. It is about designing beautiful and functional products that help make the world a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable place. Product Designers from NCAD are celebrated by many of the world's leading design accolades, and our graduates have shaped the direction of healthcare, gaming peripherals, automotive design and many other iconic fields. If you are bold and ambitious, come meet us.
What's the learning experience like?
Our program is built around a core belief in design as a potential force for good; the design we teach is human-centred, functional, inclusive, sustainable and, most importantly, fun! We’ll equip you with hands-on skills like design sketching, model-making and prototyping, as well as materials and manufacturing processes, 3D CAD, and how to present your work professionally. You’ll have full access to advanced woodwork and metalwork facilities, a digital editing suite, 3D scanning, SLS and SLA 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC machines that will allow you to build, test, and showcase your designs. You’ll collaborate with leading design consultancies, take part in global student competitions and visit European design fairs. Throughout the programme, you’ll be supported to research, experiment and create, and in doing so, forge your own unique path as a Product Designer.
Check out our Instagram for portfolio ideas and student work.
| What subjects will I learn? | |
| Year 1 | |
|
Contemporary Art and Design Practice Design Elective Project Introduction to Product Design Foundation skills in Product Design |
Foundation Skills in product form development Design Sketching, Aesthetics, and Physics Critical Cultures 1 |
| Year 2 | |
|
Product design & form Service Design Fundamentals Human Centred Product Design Research Methods for Human Centred Design Ergonomics & Human Factors Materials & Manufacture Technology CAD systems |
Professional Portfolio Preparation Design for Sustainable Manufacture Prototyping Electronics for Design Collaboration : Cross Disciplinary Project International Design Field trip Critical Cultures 2 |
| Year 3: Studio + | |
|
UCD Design Engineering & NCAD Design for Manufacturing & Assembly* Industry Work Placement* Erasmus Interaction College exchange* Bureau + Industry collaboration Projects* *Students choose one of these options per Semester. |
Business Skills for Design User Interface Design in Figma Design for Manufacture & Assembly Professional Design Practice |
| Final Year | |
|
Design studio Project 1 Professional Design Practice |
Design studio Project 2 Critical Cultures - Thesis |
Product Design graduates have a wide range of local and global opportunities open to them. As a graduate of Product Design at NCAD, you may choose to specialise in a particular area, such as consumer electronics, furniture, or medical devices, but many of the skills acquired are transferable between projects and products. Many graduates find employment with manufacturers or design consultancies. Some graduates have strong entrepreneurial skills, enabling them to strike out on their own, designing and making their own products or providing design services for others. Increasingly, graduates progress to further study at postgraduate level to refine their creative abilities and approach.
As a Product Design graduate, you can apply to a range of innovative masters programmes at NCAD, including Msc Medical Device Design, MA Interaction Design and MA Service Design.
Please see the Study at NCAD section for full application details.
| Duration | 3/4 Years BA |
| Places | 25 |
| Applications |
CAO Course Code: AD212 Product Design |
| Entry Requirements |
Leaving Cert: 6 Subjects (2 X H5 and 4 X O6/H7) Subjects must include English, Irish and one of the following: a third language or Art or Design & Communication Graphics (DCG) Leaving Cert. Maths or Technical Subject at O6/H7 FETAC: 5 Distinctions Full Award + Leaving Cert Maths Requirement |
| Portfolio Requirement |
Click here for more info on Presenting a Portoflio for Product Design |
| Degree Awarded | BA Product Design / BA Design ( International) |
Product Design Portfolio Workshops
Do you need help with your portfolio? Book your place at the Product Design Portfolio Workshop on Wednesday 8 January 2025. This workshop will benefit any students planning to apply for BA Product Design.
Take a look at our Workshop on Product Design and Interaction Design from January 2022
Open Day
The NCAD College Open Day is in autumn each year. You can attend taster lectures, talks, demonstrations and view First Year Entrance Portfolios. All are welcome. Product Design staff and students will be on hand to answer your questions.
Who should attend our events?
Anyone interested in applying for the BA Product Design
Art & Design / Technology / Engineering / DCG teachers and tutors helping students prepare an entrance portfolio for NCAD.
Further details of events will be posted on our social media accounts below.
