The National Institute of Design is Australia's premier design institution. We lead the field with industry-focused undergraduate courses and high levels of applied research and postgraduate scholarship.

Swinburne offers undergraduate programs in the areas of Communication Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Multimedia Design and Product Design Engineering.

Our coursework Master programs in Communication Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design and Multimedia Design are available in three different modes to cater for the experience, needs and interests of students – coursework, the Design Centre (a working studio) and an Independent Design Project.

Swinburne’s design programs are recognised by a number of high-profile national and international professional bodies, such as the Design Institute of Australia, the Australian Graphic Design Association, the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda), the Society of Interior Designers of Australia and the Multimedia Industry Network (MMN).

65% of the teaching staff members at Swinburne’s Faculty of Design are practitioners working as designers, advertisers and media specialists. All curriculum content is regularly reviewed by an Industry Advisory Committee made up of industry experts. Much of the design work students do during their course is related directly to real industry projects.

In 2006, the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) ran a Student Awards program for the first time, calling for entries across five categories: Identity, Print, Digital, 3D and Craft. Almost 500 entries were received from students and recent graduates who were studying between January 2004 and June 2006. Swinburne entrants Brianna Ho and Darren Hock Guan Song were two of only five winners of the Distinction awards. They, together with seven other Swinburne students, were also among the list of 52 Finalist award winners.

The Premier's Student Design Award 2006 is the Premier's Design Awards program’s highest honour for design in the student category. The recipient of this award is selected from the winners of the four student prize categories.

Two recent Swinburne Product Design Engineering graduates, Steve Kelliher and Marika Mulqueen, had their entries short-listed for the Premier’s Student Product Design Prize category – Steve for his Microdyn Pathogen Lab and Marika for her Ovarian Cancer Screening Unit.

Steve Kelliher - Microdyn Pathogen Lab

Marika Mulqueen - Ovarian Cancer Screening Unit