The course forms a "first-level graduate designer": a figure with multidisciplinary awareness who is able to work together with various specialists linked to the design, production and marketing of new products, whether material or graphic/multimedial.
A graduate in design is able to develop concepts for new products rich in cultural content, taking into account a complex series of requirements involving all the variables of the project (not only technical but also humanistic concerns, such as cognitive ergonomics, psychology, visual communication), along with the essential requirements of environmental sustainability,design for all', comprehensibility and usability of the product in its form, its functions and its communicative value.
Graduates use their expertise to exchange information with experts in the fields of technology and materials technology, mechanical design, and production, to ensure the design is compatible with the durability of its components and with production techniques; thus they are able to interact effectively in multidisciplinary teams to realise the final product.
The course forms two professional figures: PRODUCT DESIGNER and GRAPHIC AND VIRTUAL DESIGNER
Design graduates check the historical, methodological, and technical-managerial aspects of design, environmental sustainability of production processes and finished products, and quality control. They are also aware that "People are at the center of design¿: in other words people are the target of every product, and as such are not just users but subjects to be involved in the product¿s creation.
Throughout the programme students can focus on new behaviours and meanings of manufacturing processes (including handicrafts) with respect to transversal issues of sustainability, cultural heritage and ethics: the concept of "good, clean and fair" means products rooted in our culture that do not impoverish the producers, and that comply with regulations, provide information about the production chain and create new jobs.
Design graduates know the methods, tools, techniques and technologies for the conception, design and manufacture of products. They must have a thorough understanding of cultural aspects (expression, language, form, materials, relevance of context), 2D representation (manual, computer graphics) and 3D representation (real and virtual models), choosing those most appropriate from concept to final design. They must therefore be able to work together with interdisciplinary teams who are specialised in the aspects of engineering, production and marketing that the graduate does not deal with autonomously.
Graduates may prefer to apply their innovative professional approach to the vast world of visual communication, advertising, publishing, web design, corporate identity, signage and construction of interactive virtual reality (including immersive virtual reality). They pay particular attention to new forms and means of communication and digital image processing, and to the effects of technological innovation in this field on human behaviour, ensuring a sensitive approach to and use of informatic and hypermedial tools.
The attention is not only on programming and tools, but on new ways of using them and on the contents they transmit, which must be clear, understandable, structured expressively and with a clear focus on usability.

The Study program qualifies the following professional profile/s:	Roles and skills:
Product Designer	JOB ROLES: The Product Designer is a designer who knows the cultural and strategic value of design and the meaning of appropriate technology, to configure and manage the design and manufacture of industrial products, whilst paying attention to issues such as ethics and environmental sustainability . SKILLS RELATED TO THE ROLE: The product designer recognizes, describes and interprets challenges arising from the context and the end user behaviour in order to propose appropriate approaches and design solutions; this may be done with a product concept, a system-product or a service; the product designer uses skills from production sciences to verify the construction, technology and production consistency of the project. The product designer takes part in the various stages of the definition and implementation process of the industrial product: - Definition of the scenarios and product brief: - Market exploration and innovation; - Concept of design solutions, representation and communication of the solutions; - executive design; - Traditional modelling, and advanced computerized modelling (rapid prototyping) - Support to the product engineering, prototyping, testing; - Assistance in the planning and implementation of production; - Management and promotion of the design and product on the market (product marketing & communication). CAREER OPPORTUNITIES: Industrial and manufacturing companies, service companies, technical design studios, museums and culture & art Institutions, in the different stages of the definition and implementation process of the product, product-system or service.
Graphic and virtual product designer	JOB ROLES: The graphic and virtual product designer is a designer who knows the cultural and strategic value of design, and is able to fully plan and manage the design and production of a communication product, whilst paying attention to issues such as ethics and environmental sustainability. The graphic and virtual product designer is not only capable of managing the formal processes of the communication product (real and/or virtual), but can also mediate feedback from research and innovation in technology (especially in ICT), from the market and from production. SKILLS RELATED TO THE ROLE: The virtual and graphic product designer interprets and disseminates content; through design, he defines, selects and manages, the language and the right tools to convey different types of message; he interacts with cross curricular and very different teams, coming from art, production sciences, psychology and the humanities. He leads all activities related to the engineering phases of the production process of the communication products in areas such as web design, traditional publishing and ICT multimedia. CAREER OPPORTUNITIES: Professional graphic design studios, advertising and web design agencies, publishing houses, public and private organizations and institutions, in the various stages of the definition and implementation process of the graphic and virtual product / system-product or service.

Qualifications for further studies	Knowledge required to continue studies