The Diploma in Design Studies (DDs) is designed to provide the necessary background in visualdesign fundamentals,grounded in the contemporary application of both traditional and digital media,providing the students with a comprehensive tool kit to master a variety of techniques and skills regarded as major means of artistic expression in art and design.
This course provides a solid foundation in visual literacy and communication skills to students in the following subject areas: architecture, structural and civil engineering, mechanical engineering, product design, media and communications, information and communication technology, conservation, graphic arts,and contemporary and fine arts. All of the above serve the local context of rapid urban development, emphasising the urgency for visual literacy and critical skills in order to mitigate negative consequences of poor aesthetic judgement.The course promotes skills needed for specialised professions that make use of traditional and emerging new technologies within the ever changing creative industries
.In this sense, the programme provides a platform to refine students’ visual intelligence and innate processes of seeing and perception as they grasp notions of form and space through both traditional techniques and digital media. The versatility of the programme provides theoretical and applied knowledge through lectures and practice based sessions that cater for the needs of students who have little or no experience in the field of visual arts as well as challenging tasks for those individuals, who hold Level 3 or Level 4 qualifications in the arts. The primary objective of this course is to equip the students with the necessary skills to successfully complete the BSc and MSc in Built Environment Studies as well as Masters in visual arts.
This Course is a mandatory requirement for students interested in the B.Sc. (Built Environment Studies), which is the first step in the route to professional qualifications as architect or civil engineer in Malta.The Course Programme is delivered over one academic year and divided in two parts: a 30-credit Certificate programme can be successfully achieved in the first semester,whilst a further 30-credit programme in the second semester, would then qualify the successful candidates for a Diploma. Each semester’s programme comprises a main mandatory component, and a number of electives. Study-units are delivered via studio sessions, lectures, tutorials and presentations;and assessment is generally based on the portfolio of work undertaken during the semester, in the respective disciplines.
The basic objective is to develop visual literacy and visual communication skills, and to teach visual design fundamentals. Important secondary objectives will be (i) to develop cognitive skills, (thinking and learning skills); (ii) to develop human communication skills, (self-confidence, awareness, interpersonal relations, team-work), as well as to introduce some"knowledge-based" skills specific, or complementary, to the art and design practices the students wish to specialize in.