Digital + Material
Innovation + Engagement
Combine cutting-edge digital practices with internationally-renowned art and craft studio disciplines in the Bachelor of Design.
Design students will benefit from deep immersion in digital, manual and theoretical studies and a wide overview of creative practices. From coding, to making, to manufacture, students apply hands-on design to digital and physical materials. Students delve into web design, data visualisation, and interaction design, and experiment in studios to develop expertise in the latest digital form and fabrication processes.
This degree prepares students with transferable knowledge and skills required to make their mark on a rapidly changing world.
When undertaking the Bachelor of Visual Arts at the ANU, you will be immersed in a program of rigorous scholarship and intensive studio practice, tailored to your aspirations and informed by internationally renowned art practitioners within Australia’s top-ranking university. You will graduate with the essential creative skills and critical knowledge to address the grand challenges of a rapidly changing world.
You will develop deep disciplinary knowledge and learn specialist skills offered across the School of Art and Design studio disciplines, including animation and video, ceramics, furniture, glass, hybrid art practice, jewellery and object, painting, photomedia, printmedia and drawing, sculpture and spatial practice, and textiles. You will extend your study through access to courses in the Centre for Art History and Art Theory, combined with access to electives from across the ANU.
Career Options
ANU ranks among the world's very finest universities. Our nearly 100,000 alumni include political, business, government, and academic leaders around the world.
We have graduated remarkable people from every part of our continent, our region and all walks of life.
Employment Opportunities
Graduates of the Bachelor of Design may find careers in fields including object design, visual communication, data visualisation, user experience design, graphic design, web design, interface design, design thinking and strategic design.
Graduates of the Bachelor of Design may find careers in fields including object design, visual communication, data visualisation, user experience design, graphic design, web design, interface design, design thinking and strategic design.
Learning Outcomes
demonstrate skills and knowledge of the practices, languages, forms, materials and technologies in their relevant discipline;
research, develop and evaluate design concepts and processes by thinking creatively, critically and reflectively;
apply skills and knowledge to the creation, visualisation and production of design projects;
work independently and collaboratively on design projects and respond to project demands;
interpret, communicate and present ideas, problems and arguments in modes suited to a range of audiences; and
recognise and reflect on social, cultural technological, environmental and ethical issues of creative practice and design considering local and international perspectives.
apply technical skills and specialist knowledge to realise artworks, artefacts and related forms of creative expression;
demonstrate skills and knowledge of the practices, languages, forms, materials, technologies and techniques in the visual arts;
recognise and reflect on social, cultural and ethical issues, and apply historical and theoretical perspectives to practice in the visual arts;
develop, express and evaluate ideas, concepts and processes by thinking creatively, critically and reflectively;
interpret, communicate and present ideas, problems and arguments in modes suited to a range of audiences; and
work independently and collaboratively in response to project demands.
Admission Requirements
Adjustment Factors
Adjustment factors are additional points added to an applicant's Selection Rank (for example an applicant's ATAR). ANU offers adjustment factors based on performance and equity principles, such as for high achievement in nationally strategic senior secondary subjects and for recognition of difficult circumstances that students face in their studies.
Selection Rank adjustments are granted in accordance with the approved schedules, and no more than 15 (maximum 5 subject/performance-based adjustment factors and maximum 10 equity-based adjustment factors) can be awarded.
You may be considered for adjustment factors if you have:
- applied for an eligible ANU Bachelor degree program
- undertaken Australian Year 12 or the International Baccalaureate
- achieved an ATAR or equivalent at or above 70
- not previously attempted tertiary study.
Please visit the ANU Adjustment Factors website for further information.
Indicative fees
Bachelor of Design - Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)
Bachelor of Visual Arts - Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)
For more information see: http://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/costs-fees
- Annual indicative fee for international students
- $39,090.00
Scholarships
ANU offers a wide range of scholarships to students to assist with the cost of their studies.
Eligibility to apply for ANU scholarships varies depending on the specifics of the scholarship and can be categorised by the type of student you are. Specific scholarship application process information is included in the relevant scholarship listing.
For further information see the Scholarships website.
Program Requirements
The Bachelor of Design flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:
A maximum of 42 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses
The 96 units must include:
18 units from completion of the following compulsory courses:
DESN1002 Visual Communication: Design and Production
DESN1003 Contemporary Design in Context
DESN1004 The Past as Prototype: History, Ethics and Concepts for Design in the Twenty-First Century
12 units from completion of DESN3010 Design Practice: Engagement, Internship and Entrepreneurship, which must be completed twice with a different topic each time
A minimum of 12 units from completion of foundation courses from the following list:
ARTV1020 Figure & Life
ARTV1021 Image and Object
ARTV1033 Hold Everything: Studio Foundation
DESA1021 Precise Drawing and Model Making
6 units from completion of theory courses from the following list:
ANTH2005 Traditional Australian Indigenous Cultures, Societies and Environment
ARTH1006 Art and Design Histories: Form and Space
ARTH1007 Art and Design Histories: Making and Meaning
ARTH2043 After the Bauhaus: Design from the Interwar Period to the Age of Climate Crisis
ARTH2162 Art in the Digital Age
ARTH2167 Issues in Contemporary Craft and Design
ENVS1001 Environment and Society: Geography of Sustainability
ENVS1008 Sustainable Development
GEND1001 Sex, Gender and Identity: An Introduction to Gender Studies
GEND1002 Reading Popular Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Studies
GEND2023 Gender, Sex and Sexuality: An Introduction to Feminist Theory
HUMN1001 Digital Culture: Being Human in the Information Age
HUMN2001 Digital Humanities: Theories and Projects
INDG1001 Indigenous Peoples, Populations and Communities
PHIL1004 Fundamental Ideas in Philosophy: An Introduction
PHIL1005 Logic and Critical Thinking
PHIL1007 What is Humanity?
PHIL1008 Introduction to Ethics
PSYC1003 Psychology 1: Understanding Mind, Brain and Behaviour
PSYC1004 Psychology 2: Understanding People in Context
SOCY1002 Self and Society
SOCY1004 Analysing the Social World: An Introduction to Social Psychology
A minimum of 12 units from completion of design courses from the following list:
DESN2002 Foundations of Creative Code
DESN2003 Creative Data Visualisation: Representing Data in Visual and Material Form
DESN2004 Dynamic Design and Generative Systems
DESN2006 Front-End Web: Crafting Online Experience
DESN2001 Digital Form and Fabrication
DESN2005 Form and Fabrication in Context
DESN2007 Design Fiction: Speculative and Critical Design
DESN2008 Design Thinking: Human-Centred Design Methodologies
DESN2009 Typography in Context: digital typographic design
DESN2010 Making Creative and Critical Technologies: physical computing for art and design
DESN2012 The Ethics of Making: Design for Reuse and Repair
A minimum of 18 units from completion of studio courses from the following list:
ARTV1101 Ceramics: Introduction to Clay Forming and Technology
ARTV1102 Ceramics: Throwing & Surface Decoration
ARTV1201 Furniture: Shape/Structure
ARTV1202 Furniture: Elevate/Surface
ARTV1301 Glass Hot Forming Introduction: Fundamentals for Contemporary Practice
ARTV1302 Glass Kiln Forming Introduction: Fundamentals for Contemporary Practice
ARTV1403 Jewellery & Object: Introduction to Precise Miniature Construction
ARTV1404 Jewellery & Object: Maker, Wearer, Viewer, User
ARTV1501 Painting: Introducing Painting
ARTV1502 Painting: Composition & Space
ARTV1601 Hyperanalogue: the alchemy of darkroom photography
ARTV1610 PhotoVideo: Interrogating the Camera
ARTV1611 Expanded Studio Practice: Constructing Worlds
ARTV1612 Video Art: Editing & Montage
ARTV1613 Foundations of Animation
ARTV1614 Post-Digital Photography: bending the image
ARTV1703 Drawing into Print: Etching and Relief
ARTV1704 Drawing into Print: Screen Printing and Stencils
ARTV1803 Supports: conceptual and material
ARTV1804 Place, time, and wood
ARTV1901 Textiles: Plants & Place
ARTV1902 Textiles: Pattern & Print
ARTV2027 Professional Practice: Economies and Ecologies in the Australian Cultural Sector
ARTV2038 Workshop Atelier
ARTV2057 Hands On: Material Language
ARTV2059 Immersive Media
ARTV2060 Contexts of Making: Globalisation and Change
ARTV2061 Contexts of Making: Materiality and Value
ARTV2117 Ceramics: Glaze & Colour Development
ARTV2119 Ceramics: Experimental Methods and Meanings
ARTV2120 Ceramics: Designing for the Table and Home
ARTV2124 Ceramics: Surface, Form and Connectivity
ARTV2125 Ceramics: Moulding, Casting & Digital Technologies
ARTV2206 Furniture: Bend/Curve
ARTV2207 Furniture: Support/Body
ARTV2208 Furniture: Contain/Display
ARTV2209 Furniture: Collect/Treasure
ARTV2313 Glass Kiln Casting for Contemporary Practice
ARTV2314 Glass Blowing for Contemporary Practice: Materiality and Form
ARTV2315 Glass Kiln Forming for Contemporary Practice
ARTV2316 Glass Blowing for Contemporary Practice: Utility and Narrative
ARTV2401 Jewellery & Object: Making with machines
ARTV2402 Jewellery & Object: Utility as Context
ARTV2410 Jewellery & Object: Experimenting with process
ARTV2421 Jewellery & Object: Hollow Construction
ARTV2506 Painting: Approaches to Abstraction
ARTV2507 Painting: Painting in the Photo Digital Age
ARTV2508 Painting: Taking Your Own Direction
ARTV2509 Painting: Approaches to Composition and Colour
ARTV2605 The Photographic Document: Materiality and Form
ARTV2607 Photomedia: Large Format Photography
ARTV2608 Photomedia: Experimental Processes
ARTV2609 Animation and Video: Visual Storytelling
ARTV2610 Animation and Video: Character development
ARTV2613 Animation and Video: Landscape and Environment
ARTV2614 Animation and Video: Non-linear Forms
ARTV2706 Printmedia and Drawing: Drawing Beyond the Line
ARTV2707 Printmedia and Drawing: Extended Etching and Relief Printing
ARTV2708 Printmedia and Drawing: Construct Meaning with Drawing
ARTV2715 Printmedia and Drawing: Typography
ARTV2717 Printmedia and Drawing: The Book as Art
ARTV2723 Printmedia and Drawing: Extended Screen Printing
ARTV2727 Printmedia and Drawing: Lithography
ARTV2801 Socially Engaged Art Practice: Authorship, Dialogue and Community
ARTV2802 Politics of Memory: Video Installation, Sculpture, Documentary and Monuments
ARTV2810 Politics of Bodies: Sculpture, Figure Modelling, Performance and Choreography
ARTV2820 Politics of Spaces: Installation, Sculpture and Spatial Practice
ARTV2821 Posthuman Sculpture Practice with Active Materials: Bronze Casting, 3D Modelling and Bio Art
ARTV2830 Automation and Autonomy: Process, Accident, Sculpture
ARTV2906 Textiles: Approaches to Drawing for Craft and Design
ARTV2907 Subverting Stitch
ARTV2908 Woven Worlds
ARTV2909 Social Fabric: Crafting Communities
ARTV2911 Spatial/Temporal Methods
ARTV2921 Environment Studio: field based research and studio practice in visual arts
ARTV3507 Painting: Open to Influence Studio Research
ARTV3508 Painting: Materiality and Meaning
ARTV3510 Painting: Critical Analysis and Reflection in the Studio
The Bachelor of Visual Arts flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:
A maximum of 48 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses
The 96 units must include:
24 units from completion of the following compulsory courses:
ARTH1006 Art and Design Histories: Form and Space
ARTH1007 Art and Design Histories: Making and Meaning
ARTV3035 Creative Research Practice: Extending and Consolidating an Independent Project
6 units from completion of a foundation course from the following list:
ARTV1020 Figure & Life
ARTV1021 Image and Object
ARTV1033 Hold Everything: Studio Foundation
DESA1021 Precise Drawing and Model Making
DESN1002 Visual Communication: Design and Production
DESN1003 Contemporary Design in Context
12 units from completion of art history and theory courses from the following list:
ARTH2043 After the Bauhaus: Design from the Interwar Period to the Age of Climate Crisis
ARTH2044 Art and Its Context: Materials, Techniques, Display
ARTH2045 Curatorship History and Evolution
ARTH2050 Photography and Art
ARTH2052 Art of the Modern Print
ARTH2056 Art and Architecture of Southeast Asia: Tradition and Transformation
ARTH2059 Art of Asia: Histories and Traditions
ARTH2061 The Postmodern and the Contemporary: World art, 1970 to the present
ARTH2080 Art and Visual Culture of the Long Eighteenth Century, 1660-1815
ARTH2081 Art of the European Courts, 1500-1815
ARTH2082 Art, War and Conflict
ARTH2097 Victorian and Edwardian Art: Australia and Europe 1837-1914
ARTH2098 Australian First Nations Art and Culture
ARTH2104 Asian Art In-Country
ARTH2161 Contemporary Australian Art
ARTH2162 Art in the Digital Age
ARTH2166 Individual Research Unit
ARTH2167 Issues in Contemporary Craft and Design
ARTH2168 Renaissance and Baroque Art
ARTH2169 Introducing Asian Modernisms
ARTH2170 Contemporary Asian Art
ARTH2171 Australian Art: The Modern Period
ARTH2173 Art and the Moving Image
ARTH2174 Art, Medicine, Gender from the Renaissance until Today
ARTH2175 Across the Pacific: Australian Interactions with American Art and Art-Worlds
ARTH3004 City Sites: studies in art, design and urbanity
12 units from completion of introductory studio courses from the following list:
ARTV1101 Ceramics: Introduction to Clay Forming and Technology
ARTV1102 Ceramics: Throwing & Surface Decoration
ARTV1201 Furniture: Shape/Structure
ARTV1202 Furniture: Elevate/Surface
ARTV1301 Glass Hot Forming Introduction: Fundamentals for Contemporary Practice
ARTV1302 Glass Kiln Forming Introduction: Fundamentals for Contemporary Practice
ARTV1403 Jewellery & Object: Introduction to Precise Miniature Construction
ARTV1404 Jewellery & Object: Maker, Wearer, Viewer, User
ARTV1501 Painting: Introducing Painting
ARTV1502 Painting: Composition & Space
ARTV1601 Hyperanalogue: the alchemy of darkroom photography
ARTV1610 PhotoVideo: Interrogating the Camera
ARTV1611 Expanded Studio Practice: Constructing Worlds
ARTV1612 Video Art: Editing & Montage
ARTV1613 Foundations of Animation
ARTV1614 Post-Digital Photography: bending the image
ARTV1703 Drawing into Print: Etching and Relief
ARTV1704 Drawing into Print: Screen Printing and Stencils
ARTV1803 Supports: conceptual and material
ARTV1804 Place, time, and wood
ARTV1901 Textiles: Plants & Place
ARTV1902 Textiles: Pattern & Print
18 units from completion of intermediate/advanced studio courses from the following list:
ARTV2027 Professional Practice: Economies and Ecologies in the Australian Cultural Sector
ARTV2038 Workshop Atelier
ARTV2057 Hands On: Material Language
ARTV2059 Immersive Media
ARTV2060 Contexts of Making: Globalisation and Change
ARTV2061 Contexts of Making: Materiality and Value
ARTV2117 Ceramics: Glaze & Colour Development
ARTV2119 Ceramics: Experimental Methods and Meanings
ARTV2120 Ceramics: Designing for the Table and Home
ARTV2124 Ceramics: Surface, Form and Connectivity
ARTV2125 Ceramics: Moulding, Casting & Digital Technologies
ARTV2206 Furniture: Bend/Curve
ARTV2207 Furniture: Support/Body
ARTV2208 Furniture: Contain/Display
ARTV2209 Furniture: Collect/Treasure
ARTV2313 Glass Kiln Casting for Contemporary Practice
ARTV2314 Glass Blowing for Contemporary Practice: Materiality and Form
ARTV2315 Glass Kiln Forming for Contemporary Practice
ARTV2316 Glass Blowing for Contemporary Practice: Utility and Narrative
ARTV2401 Jewellery & Object: Making with machines
ARTV2402 Jewellery & Object: Utility as Context
ARTV2410 Jewellery & Object: Experimenting with process
ARTV2421 Jewellery & Object: Hollow Construction
ARTV2506 Painting: Approaches to Abstraction
ARTV2507 Painting: Painting in the Photo Digital Age
ARTV2508 Painting: Taking Your Own Direction
ARTV2509 Painting: Approaches to Composition and Colour
ARTV2605 The Photographic Document: Materiality and Form
ARTV2607 Photomedia: Large Format Photography
ARTV2608 Photomedia: Experimental Processes
ARTV2609 Animation and Video: Visual Storytelling
ARTV2610 Animation and Video: Character development
ARTV2613 Animation and Video: Landscape and Environment
ARTV2614 Animation and Video: Non-linear Forms
ARTV2706 Printmedia and Drawing: Drawing Beyond the Line
ARTV2707 Printmedia and Drawing: Extended Etching and Relief Printing
ARTV2708 Printmedia and Drawing: Construct Meaning with Drawing
ARTV2715 Printmedia and Drawing: Typography
ARTV2717 Printmedia and Drawing: The Book as Art
ARTV2723 Printmedia and Drawing: Extended Screen Printing
ARTV2727 Printmedia and Drawing: Lithography
ARTV2801 Socially Engaged Art Practice: Authorship, Dialogue and Community
ARTV2802 Politics of Memory: Video Installation, Sculpture, Documentary and Monuments
ARTV2810 Politics of Bodies: Sculpture, Figure Modelling, Performance and Choreography
ARTV2820 Politics of Spaces: Installation, Sculpture and Spatial Practice
ARTV2821 Posthuman Sculpture Practice with Active Materials: Bronze Casting, 3D Modelling and Bio Art
ARTV2830 Automation and Autonomy: Process, Accident, Sculpture
ARTV2906 Textiles: Approaches to Drawing for Craft and Design
ARTV2907 Subverting Stitch
ARTV2908 Woven Worlds
ARTV2909 Social Fabric: Crafting Communities
ARTV2911 Spatial/Temporal Methods
ARTV2921 Environment Studio: field based research and studio practice in visual arts
ARTV3031 Making Research for a Studio Practice in the Visual Arts
ARTV3032 Demonstrating research methods for a studio practice in the visual arts
ARTV3507 Painting: Open to Influence Studio Research
ARTV3508 Painting: Materiality and Meaning
ARTV3510 Painting: Critical Analysis and Reflection in the Studio
12 units from completion of courses listed in either the ‘introductory studio courses’ list or the ‘intermediate/advanced studio courses’ list above.
6 units from completion of an advanced studio course from the following list:
ARTV3028 Developing a Contemporary Craft Practice
ARTV3033 Creative Research Practice: Developing an Independent Work Proposal
6 units from completion of an engagement course from the following list:
ARTV2027 Professional Practice: Economies and Ecologies in the Australian Cultural Sector
ARTV2921 Environment Studio: field based research and studio practice in visual arts
ARTV3031 Making Research for a Studio Practice in the Visual Arts
ARTV3032 Demonstrating research methods for a studio practice in the visual arts
Majors
Bachelor of Visual Arts Majors
Minors
Bachelor of Visual Arts Minors
Bachelor of Design Minors
Single degree
This following information is to be read in conjunction with the program rules that are outlined on the “Study” tab. Please always make sure that you refer to the program rules for the year that you commenced your program.
Bachelor of Visual Arts consists of 144 units. Most courses are worth 6 units each, with 48 units (8 courses) per year being the standard full-time load.
A course (usually 6 units) can only be counted towards one list such as in a major or minor or designated list. For example, you are not permitted to count ARTH1006 towards the Art History and Theory major and the BVARTS designated list.
For the Bachelor of Visual Arts you will need to complete:
- One compulsory course (6 units)
- Two introductory courses from the designated list (12 units)
- One introductory art and design history course from the designated list (6 units)
- Three art history and theory courses from the designated list (18 units)
- One engagement course from the designated list (6 units)
- One workshop major from the designated list (48 units)
- Eight electives from across the ANU (48 units)
Please note that you are only permitted to count ten 1000-level courses (60 units) towards your program.
You are advised to complete a Program Plan for the Bachelor of Visual Arts. This will help you seek advice on your course choices, ensure you meet the program requirements and give you a plan that you can refer to for the duration of your program.
Double degree
This following information is to be read in conjunction with the program rules that are outlined on the “Study” tab. Please always make sure that you refer to the program rules for the year that you commenced your program.
Bachelor of Visual Arts Double Degree program consists of 96 units. Most courses are worth 6 units each, with 48 units (8 courses) per year being the standard full-time load. During each semester you are likely to take two courses from your Bachelor of Visual Arts degree and another two courses from the other half of your double degree – making up a total of four courses per semester.
A course (usually 6 units) can only be counted towards one list such as in a major or minor or designated list. For example, you are not permitted to count ARTH1006 towards the Art History and Theory major and the BVARTS designated list.
You will need to complete:
- One compulsory course (6 units)
- Two introductory courses from the designated list (12 units)
- One introductory art and design history course from the designated list (6 units)
- Three art history and theory courses from the designated list (18 units)
- One engagement course from the designated list (6 units)
- One workshop major from the designated list (48 units)
Please note that you are only permitted to count eight 1000-level courses (48 units) towards your degree.
You are advised to complete a Program Plan for the Bachelor of Visual Arts. This will help you seek advice on your course choices, ensure you meet the program requirements and give you a plan that you can refer to for the duration of your program.
Enrolment Status
While it is possible for domestic students to enrol in fewer than four courses per semester, which is called studying part-time, it will take you longer to finish your program and get your degree. If you are an international student you must always be full-time.
First year students are not permitted to study more than four courses (24 units) per semester.
If you are beginning your program in Semester 1, you should enrol for all your courses for both Semester 1 and Semester 2 (8 courses for full time), so that you can plan your study year.
Important things to keep in mind when choosing your 1000-level courses
When you enrol for the first time you will study ‘1000-level’ courses. These courses have ‘1’ as the first number in their course code, such as ARTS1234. Whilst it is important to take 1000-level courses in your first year (so that you can meet the pre-requisites for later year courses) they also can be taken later in your program.
You can only count a maximum of ten 1000-level courses (60 units) towards your single degree or eight 1000-level courses (48 units) towards your Bachelor of Visual Arts half of the double degree.
In your first year you need to enrol in:
- 1000-level Introductory courses
- 1000-level art and design history courses
- 1000-level workshop major courses
- Elective courses for students undertaking the single degree.
Electives
For students in the single degree, your electives (48 units from completion of elective courses offered by ANU) can be additional courses from your discipline (including the option of a major or minor) or courses from another ANU College. If you have an interest in another discipline such as management, psychology or mathematics, then you should explore first year courses in these areas. In particular look at the majors and minors in these areas. These will give you an idea of the first year courses you can study.
If you are interested in undertaking a language and have
prior knowledge/experience with that language you may need to undertake a
placement test – you should check with the relevant language area for further
details by searching for “language placement test” on ANUs website.
Study Options
Study Plan
Please refer to the "Study" tab.Study Options
| Year 1 48 units | - | - | - | - |
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Study Plan
Please refer to the "Study" tab.Study Options
| Year 1 48 units | - | - | - | - |
| - | - | - | - |