Program Director: Bachelor of Design (Communication Design)

This exhibition catalogue highlights the achievements of the 2021 final year students, of the Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) program, at the University of South Australia. It provides a snapshot of their commitment and determination over the past three years—from their first day in dealing with a new unknown environment and learning abstract concepts, to dealing with a pandemic and lockdown—these students have demonstrated their resilience in achieving their best throughout their study. This year’s exhibition entitled Splendere, represents a bright light of ideas and fresh approaches. It celebrates the groups collective sparkle of creativity and the skills they have developed over the last three years.

The discipline of Communication Design is more than knowing computer tricks and navigating complex computer programs. It demands a holistic approach, from considering the needs of the user to finding new ways to visually communicate across boundaries and knowing how to work with others. Throughout their study, our students have worked both independently and collaboratively. They have been involved in a variety of projects, worked directly with industry and design mentors and have responded to each project with, originality, responsibility and professionalism.

The Communication Design program at UniSA, is committed to strengthening our professional affiliations within the design community and industry organisations. We value the working relationships we have with our generous design community to be involved with students, by sharing their knowledge and skills to build our students’ understanding and confidence in design, and to assist in their progress toward their design futures.

This catalogue demonstrates how students have embraced the principles that make a successful designer, by demonstrating the importance for diverse exploration, the value of creative idea generation, and the need for critical analysis and problem solving in response to a variety of perspectives and challenges and taking the initiative both as independent and collaborative designers. Splendere is a display of the exciting contribution these new designers will make to the field of design.

To our final year undergraduates from the Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) program. On behalf of the lecturers and all teaching staff, we wish you the very best for a vibrant start to your creative and professional practice, as you launch into shaping your future as designers.

Course Coordinator: Third Year Bachelor of Design (Communication Design)

The 2021 graduating cohort of the Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) demonstrate a wide range of creative and professional design skills through the work featured in this catalogue and their portfolios. From learning to understand and apply basic design principles at the beginning of their undergraduate studies, to highly developed visual sensitivities, technical competencies and importantly, abilities to communicate complex visual information and ideas, they demonstrate unique and original perspectives.

Articulating what it means to be a communication design professional is becoming increasingly important in global contexts where generic, DIY design templates for various collateral are widely promoted and easily accessible. The leading international organization representing global design communities—the International Council of Design (ICoD)—states that

Beyond its narrowly intended function, the outcome — the design— must consider the social, cultural, economic and environmental impact as integral parts of the solution. Designs have enormous impact on society and on our planet (International Council of Design, 2021).

The 2021 Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) graduands demonstrate their awareness of these professional responsibilities beyond the design outcome, through a wide range of projects for various client and social contexts. They display a flexible and responsive approach to their work, adapting to what have been, at times, complex and difficult circumstances throughout the last two years of their studies. 

It has been a pleasure and privilege to work with these emerging communication design professionals in the third year of their studio courses—along with colleagues Lynda Kay and Marchelle Matthew. I would, however, like to acknowledge that the 2021 graduands’ skills, depth of understanding and confidence have been shaped by many UniSA educators throughout their three years, culminating in the work presented at the graduate exhibition, in the catalogue and the portfolios at the end of their third year.

Congratulations to all graduating 2021 Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) students on their achievements to date. In considering that ‘the reputation of the design profession stands on the individual performance of all designers’ (ICoD, 2021), I look forward to observing the future contributions of their work on the design industry and their social, cultural and economic impacts more broadly.

International Council of Design, design-ing, https://www.theicod.org/en/professional-design/design-ing/design-ing, accessed 13/10/2021. 

International Council of Design, professionalism for designers, <https://www.theicod.org/en/professional-design/design-professionalism/professionalism-designers>, accessed 13/10/2021.