Albany Senior High School/Coursebook/1DVC

What is this course about?
Design and Visual Communication is a one year course of study into a broad range of areas related to graphical design and communication. There are four broad areas of study which are:


 * Communication, Design, Instrumental Drawing and Presentation.



What will I learn?
Students will learn design principles and vocabulary associated with all aspects of visual communication. Areas of study include two and three dimensional drawing using systems such as oblique, isometric and planometric with instrumental and freehand sketching. They will also be taught the more formal aspects of engineering drawing such as orthographic, auxiliary and sectional drawing. They will learn how to render, highlight, show depth and material type. Students will also be shown methods of creating a range of solid objects using different techniques and equipment.

NB Courses to run in 2014 will contain a cross departmental structure.

What sorts of things will I do?
Students will learn how to use a broad range of media which may include paper, markers, card, balsa, polystyrene, printer, photography, templates, stencils, card, pencils, pens, ink, pastels, crayon and airbrush. They will learn how to select and apply a range of illustrative and presentational techniques in order to show a range of effects and moods, to create focal points, to enhance pictorial drawings, to combine colours in an effective manner and to bring elegance to their design work. Students will develop abilities in solving design problems through investigation, conceptualising, critically analysing and justifying possible solutions to others. They will also learn how to work to scale creating three dimensional models which support design development.

Frequently asked questions:
Are there any prerequisites for this course?

There are no set prerequisites for Product Design courses at Albany Senior High School. It is however within the nature of the subject area that through the senior years, although students build their abilities using familiar methods of design and production, study will be at ever deeper more sophisticated levels.

There is an expectation that over this time students will move towards greater levels of independence where they are demonstrating enthusiasm, self motivation and perseverance in order to solve authentic design problems within Design and Visual Communication. It is therefore advisable that you always speak to the specialist teacher working in DVC before making final decisions on course choice.