Visual Communication Design is distinct in its study of visual language and the role it plays in communicating ideas, solving problems and influencing behaviours. Students learn how to manipulate type and imagery when designing for specific contexts, purposes and audiences. They choose and combine manual and digital methods, media and materials with design elements and principles. In doing so, students learn how aesthetic considerations contribute to the effective communication and resolution of design ideas, and how an understanding of visual language, its role and potential is the foundation of effective design practice.
Students explore how designers visually communicate concepts when designing messages, objects, environments and interactive experiences. They work both together and independently to find and address design problems, making improvements to services, systems, spaces and places experienced by stakeholders, both in person and online. Students employ a design process together with convergent and divergent thinking strategies to discover, define, develop and deliver design solutions. Drawings are used to visually represent relationships, ideas and appearances, while models and prototypes are produced for the purposes of testing and presentation. Students participate in critiques, both delivering and receiving constructive feedback and expanding their design terminology.
During this study, students consider various factors that impact design decisions, including conceptions of good design, aesthetic impact, and economic, technological, environmental, cultural and social influences. Students also consider how best to accommodate the varied needs of people and our planet, both now and in the future, using human-centred design principles, together with ethical, legal, sustainable and culturally appropriate design practices. Students learn about the relationships between design, place and time, acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander design knowledges, histories, traditions and practices.
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 design 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.
The structure of the study is made up of four units.
Unit 2: Design contexts and connections
Unit 3: Visual communication in design practice
Unit 4: Delivering design solutions
In this unit students are introduced to the practices and processes used by designers to identify, reframe and resolve human-centred design problems. They learn how design can improve life and living for people, communities and societies, and how understandings of good design have changed over time. Students learn the value of human-centred research methods, working collaboratively to discover design problems and understand the perspectives of stakeholders. They draw on these new insights to determine communication needs and prepare design criteria in the form of a brief.
This process of discovery introduces students to the phases of the VCD design process and to the modes of divergent and convergent thinking. Students integrate these ways of thinking and working into future design projects, together with their newly evolved conceptions of good design across specialist fields.
Practical projects in Unit 1 focus on the design of messages and objects, while introducing the role of visual language in communicating ideas and information. Students participate in critiques by sharing ideas in progress and both delivering and responding to feedback. Students learn to apply the Develop and Deliver phases of the VCD design process and use methods, media and materials typically employed in the specialist fields of communication and industrial design. Student projects invite exploration of brand strategy and product development, while promoting sustainable and circular design practices. They also consider how design decisions are shaped by economic, technological, cultural, environmental and social factors, and the potential for design to instigate change.
Area of Study 1: Reframing design problems
On completion of this unit the student should be able to use human-centred research methods to reframe a design problem and identify a communication need.
Area of Study 2: Solving communication design problems
On completion of this unit the student should be able to create visual language for a business or brand using the Develop and Deliver stages of the VCD design process.
Area of Study 3: Design’s influence and influences on design
On completion of this unit the student should be able to develop a sustainable object, considering design’s influence and factors that influence design.
Unit 2 builds on understandings of visual communication practices developed in Unit 1. Students draw on conceptions of good design, human-centred research methods and influential design factors as they revisit the VCD design process, applying the model in its entirety. Practical tasks across the unit focus on the design of environments and interactive experiences. Students adopt the practices of design specialists working in fields such as architecture, landscape architecture and interior design, while discovering the role of the interactive designer in the realm of user-experience (UX). Methods, media and materials are explored together with the design elements and principles, as students develop spaces and interfaces that respond to both contextual factors and user needs.
Student learning activities highlight the connections between design and its context, and the emotive potential of interactive design experiences in both physical and digital spaces. Students also look to historical movements and cultural design traditions as sources of inspiration, and in doing so consider how design from other times and places might influence designing for the future. Design critiques continue to feature as an integral component of design processes, with students refining skills in articulating and justifying design decisions, and both giving and receiving constructive feedback.
Connections between design, time and place are also central to the study of culturally appropriate design practices in Area of Study 2. Students learn about protocols for the creation and commercial use of Indigenous knowledge in design, with a particular focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander design traditions and practices. Students also consider how issues of ownership and intellectual property impact the work of designers across contexts and specialist fields.
Area of Study 1: Design, place and time
On completion of this unit the student should be able to present an environmental design solution that draws inspiration from its context and a chosen design style.
Area of Study 2: Cultural ownership and design
On completion of this unit the student should be able to apply culturally appropriate design practices and an understanding of the designer’s ethical and legal responsibilities when designing personal iconography.
Area of Study 3: Designing interactive experiences
On completion of this unit the student should be able to apply the VCD design process to design an interface for a digital product, environment or service.
All assessments at Units 1 and 2 are school-based. Procedures for assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.
Unit 1 Assessment: For this unit students are required to demonstrate three outcomes. As a set these outcomes encompass the areas of study in the unit.
Suitable tasks for assessment in this unit may be selected from the following:
Outcome 1: Reframing design problems and preparing a brief
a report or presentation exploring conceptions of good design
a presentation documenting human-centred research methods and findings relating to a design problem
a written brief identifying a communication need.
Outcome 2: Developing visual language
a folio of work demonstrating the Develop and Deliver stages of the VCD design process to create visual language for a business or brand
presentation of design concepts for a critique
Outcome 3: Designing a sustainable object
a folio of work demonstrating the Develop and Deliver stages of the VCD design process, and using circular design practices to develop a sustainable object
Unit 2 Assessment: For this unit students are required to demonstrate three outcomes. As a set these outcomes encompass the areas of study in the unit.
Suitable tasks for assessment in this unit are:
Outcome 1: Environmental design
a folio of work demonstrating the stages of the VCD design process to present an environmental design solution, drawing inspiration from its context and a chosen design style.
Outcome 2: Culturally appropriate design practices
investigation of culturally appropriate design practices including representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, presented in one of the following formats:
an extended written response
short-answer responses supported by visual references
an annotated visual report
a presentation using digital technologies such as an online presentation or interactive website
an oral presentation
AND
creation of personal iconography in a range of design exercises.
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