Bachelor of Design Innovation

Get a Bachelor of Design Innovation at Victoria University of Wellington. Gain future-focused skills in industrial design, media design and design practice.

Tailor your design study path to what you care about. Learn to design in a rapidly changing world.

Design your own degree

Explore a range of design topics and develop your creative, critical, and design skills. Learn new techniques—ranging from hands-on making to high-tech virtual or digital production—using our range of cutting-edge tools, technologies, and facilities.

Draw on your unique lived experience, passion, and talent to develop your own design kaupapa. Discover how design can respond to the critical issues of sustainability, accessibility, and social justice. Explore how you can enrich people’s lives and experiences with innovative designs.

Whether you’re aiming for a specific career in design or still discovering your design passion, the BDI is right for you. You’ll explore a range of design subjects and shape your study path as your interests and confidence grow. You’ll graduate with specialised design skills and a unique portfolio of work—ready to make your mark on the world.

Download our handbook

Fill in a form to download our qualification handbook and find out more about your study options in Design Innovation.

Get a taste for university

Watch this short taster lecture to help you decide which degree is right for you. If you're curious to explore more, check out our full library of taster lectures.

Scholarships for international students

We are currently offering a NZ$15,000 VUW Undergraduate International Scholarship to all eligible international students enrolling in a Bachelor’s degree. Your scholarship will be processed automatically when your programme application is accepted, and the amount will be deducted from your tuition fees.

Choosing your major

In the first year of your BDI, you’ll explore the foundational skills and knowledge that designers need in Aotearoa New Zealand—design thinking, design tools and techniques, and critical design history.

Although you choose a major when you apply to study the BDI, you have the flexibility to change direction as your interests and confidence grow. You will start to specialise in your major in your second year.

Build your degree

The Bachelor of Design Innovation offers eight majors:

Animation and Visual Effects—Pakiwaituhi me ngā Mariko Ataata

Bring stories to life on screen through animation, VFX, and virtual reality by blending creativity with technology.

Communication Design—Hoahoa ā-Whakakōrero

Bring a fresh design perspective to surfaces, screens, and physical and virtual spaces, exploring topics like graphic design, typography, branding, illustration, and visual narrative.

Design for Social Innovation—Hoahoa mō te Auahatanga ā-Papori

Design with kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga to respond to the critical issues facing our people and our changing environments through interdisciplinary design. You might design products, systems, or services.

Fashion Design Technology—Hangarau Hoahoa ā-Kākahu

Learn skills in emerging technologies to create fashion designs that solve challenges and improve lives.

Game Design—Hoahoa ā-Kēmu

Develop the design thinking and professional studio skills you need to create compelling games and work in creative industries.

Industrial Design—Hoahoa ā-Ahumahi

Design and develop the physical objects or products that shape the world and our interactions.

Interaction Design—Hoahoa ā-Pāhekoheko

Create digital systems and interfaces that improve aspects of human life.

Media Design—Hoahoa ā-Arapāho

Explore the possibilities of emerging technologies before they enter the mainstream and consider how we can harness them.

Special first-year requirements

If you want to major in one of the following subjects, there are specific courses that you’ll need to take in your first year:

• Animation and Visual Effects
• Game Design
• Fashion Design Technology.

Flexibility in your degree

The BDI allows you to study in more than one design discipline through your selection of majors and minors. You can also change your major or minor during your studies, if your interests take you in a new direction.

By selecting an interdisciplinary BDI, you can explore how different subjects intersect and create a unique portfolio that expands your career opportunities.

You may choose to add to your study with one of the following options:

• Double major—study two BDI majors at the same time, or add an ‘outside’ major from another undergraduate degree
• Minor—add a minor from the BDI to your study
• Conjoint degree—complete the BDI and another degree at the same time in a minimum of four years.

Find out more about your study options, how long it takes to complete them, and what kind of other subjects you could major in.

Cutting-edge facilities and equipment

During your study, you’ll have the opportunity to use the latest design technology in purpose-built workshops and studios. You’ll have access to:

• 3D printers
• VR headsets
• motion-capture equipment
• a fashion studio with state-of-the-art machines and equipment
• specialist design workshops with laser cutters, robots, CNC routers, wood working machines and tools, a paint booth
• Mac and PC computer labs with a range of cutting-edge software supporting animation, VFX, game engines, 3D modelling, digital design (including the Adobe Suite), AI, interaction, and coding
• a design resource centre providing printing services, equipment hire, and material shop
• a photography studio and life drawing studio
• a specialist architecture and design library on campus
• on-site technical specialists to support your learning.

Year breakdown

Over three years of the BDI, you’ll start by learning the critical foundations of design. Then, you’ll expand your knowledge as you develop specialist skills in chosen majors and specific courses.

First year

Your first year is interdisciplinary. You’ll:

• study a mix of core design courses and electives
• investigate a variety of design practices and principles
• critically explore the role of design in both past and present contexts
• learn from Mātauranga Māori design to explore your role as a designer in Aotearoa, informed by your own background and cultural connections
• learn how to use design tools and techniques.

By the end of first year, you might know which area you want to focus on for the rest of your degree.

Second year

This is the year when you’ll begin to focus on your major. You could also choose another design area alongside your major.

Third year

In your third year, you’ll refine your design skills and build confidence in your own design kaupapa.

You’ll complete a capstone project to incorporate research methods into your design process, and address critical questions through design. Your capstone is an opportunity to conduct a self-directed project, explore what you’re passionate about, and create a showcase piece for your portfolio.

If you study a minor, you’ll integrate the knowledge from that subject into your design work too.

️Future careers with your degree

Design Innovation graduates have the practical design skills, creativity, knowledge, and research skills to excel in a range of design roles. Many design skills are transferable across different industries and roles.