Make your imaginations come to life through design!
Everything in the world was designed by someone, maybe the next great designer is YOU!
Get experience in Architecture, Engineering, Animation and Design using an extensive set of 2D and 3D software tools used by industry professionals around the world. Examples of the software platforms utilized include Autodesk Design Academy and Animation Academy software. Create houses and other architectural structures, learn to model and animate, as well as create realistic prototypes of real world parts and assemblies. The possibilities are endless!
Here is a link to a YouTube video on Design Studies at SWC.
Design Studies is for You if...
You are someone who likes to create and design. You are interested in how objects interact with one another to form a greater whole. You take pride in finding solutions to problems. You may or may not be artistic but you are full of ideas of how your world could be improved through new ideas and designs. Move over Steve Jobs, there is a new designer in town that is going to turn the design world upside down! That, my friend, is YOU!
Check out these design studies videos!
What's Design all About?
Design surrounds us. Everyone designs every day. Signs, displays, packages, road systems, computer games, furniture, automobiles, clothing, houses and high rises are all examples of professional design. CTS Design Studies helps you become aware of design in your environment. You solve visual, structural and organizational problems, and apply your skills and knowledge to create innovative approaches, products and systems.
The CTS Design Studies strand provides an opportunity for you to explore:
- creativity and aesthetics
- processes
- resources
- communication
- project management
- the business and profession of design
Where Can This Take Me?
The ability to solve many different kinds of design challenges creates a broad range of employment options. Potential careers include
- architects
- draftsmen
- engineers
- exhibition/display designers
- fashion designers
- furniture designers
- graphic designers
- industrial (product) designers
- interior designers
- landscape designers
- set designers
Post-Secondary Education Opportunities
Development of marketable skills in design requires post-secondary training. All universities in Alberta and most colleges and technical institutes offer programs in various areas of design.
See your counsellor for more information.
What Else Do I Need to Know?
The notion of design can be found in:
- Art
- Drama
- Science
- CTS Computer Graphics/Applications
- CTS Communication Technology
- CTS Management and Marketing
- CTS Fashion Studies
Digital Photography
Digital Photography is linked to Communication Technology.
Courses
Design Studies Intro - 3 credits
Students develop an understanding of design problems through research and select, generate and evaluate possible solutions. Students develop basic knowledge and skills in computer-aided design (CAD).
The course involves basic design sketching for architectural floor planning. Students create their own real world simulated products using solid part modeling software from Autodesk. In addition to Industrial product design students will spend time building houses in Revit Architecture by Autodesk.
3D printing is introduced with student designs printed in class using Autodesk Inventor software. Students also create a 3D model of a bungalow house from their earlier floor plan using Autodesk Revit architectural software.
Design Studies Inter - 3 credits
Prerequisite: Design Studies Intro
Students are given a design brief and the opportunity to enter in the Calgary Home Builders design competition. Students plot their work on a large format printer and create poster-boards from their architectural plans to enter in the city wide competition. Study architectural design dealing with residential construction techniques and their representation on drawings using Autodesk Revit architectural software. Students have a choice to further explore industrial design concepts creating solid part models through the use of Autodesk Inventor software. Students create parts, assemblies and digital prototypes simulating real world products. OR take a module introducing 3d Animation concepts using 3ds Max software by Autodesk.
Design Studies Adv - 3 credits
Prerequisite: Design Studies Inter
Students create their own design brief for an architecture project of their choice, producing a set of working drawings for an architectural structure using Autodesk Revit Software. Students will be given the opportunity to produce working drawings and media to add to their design portfolio. Students may continue working with solid part assemblies in Autodesk Inventor and animation using Autodesk 3ds Max. Students concentrate on various drawing and computer drawing types to illustrate design concepts and solutions. From a design brief students will deal with such aspects as shaping, massing, proportion, scale, contrast, colour, texture and finish within the context of complex three-dimensional design projects. A variety of software programs from the Design Academy Suite will be used including 3ds Max for animation and architecture visualization projects, Inventor for solid part assembly modeling and Revit for architecture design problems.
