Product Design

Product design asks how designed objects can work better, look better, and do less harm to the planet. Every product begins with a design decision, and those decisions shape how people live, how resources are used and what environmental consequences follow. Product designers must combine creativity with engineering logic, materials knowledge and an understanding of manufacturing processes, and they must do all of this while being accountable to a world where sustainability is no longer an optional consideration but a fundamental design requirement.

At the University of Sussex you will study this three-year full-time programme, which includes a foundation year that opens the route to students from a wide range of prior backgrounds, building the design, technical and critical skills needed before you progress to the full degree. The programme also includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad and embedded work placement opportunities, giving you a combination of professional experience and international exposure that is particularly valuable for a discipline in which industry practice and global supply chains are central concerns. The typical entry tariff is around 136 UCAS points.

You will develop skills in design thinking, CAD and 3D modelling, prototyping and fabrication, materials science, manufacturing processes, ergonomics, user research and sustainable design strategy. The programme asks you to engage with both the creative and the technical dimensions of product design, and to take sustainability seriously as a design constraint rather than an afterthought.

Graduates of product design programmes work as product designers, industrial designers, UX designers, materials specialists, sustainability consultants and design researchers. The consumer electronics, furniture, transport, medical devices, packaging and toy industries are all significant employers. Many graduates work in design consultancies or in-house design teams at major brands.

Postgraduate study in product design, design engineering, sustainable design or human factors is a well-supported next step for those who wish to develop specialist expertise or pursue research.