Year Three - Product Design SETU

YEAR 03:

You step into industry, widen your perspective, and learn to deliver design in real conditions.

Work Placement or International Study

Year 3 gives you an opportunity to test your skills beyond the studio. Many students choose a work placement with design-led companies, gaining direct experience of professional workflows, teamwork, and delivery. Others opt to study at a partner European university, expanding their design perspective through a new cultural and educational context.

Industry-Connected Studio

Back on campus, Year 3 continues to build strong industry engagement through live briefs. These projects challenge you to respond to real organisational needs, develop viable concepts, and communicate outcomes clearly, balancing creativity with constraints such as user requirements, time, and production realities.

Professional Confidence & Readiness

Across the year, you strengthen the habits and expectations of professional practice: working with external stakeholders, presenting decisions with evidence, and developing solutions that are both considered and deliverable.

By the end of Year 3, you’ll produce a more professional portfolio that reflects industry-facing work, stronger research foundations, and clearer design decision-making. It shows how you ground ideas in evidence, framing problems, gathering insights, and translating research into justified concepts, prototypes, and outcomes. Your projects will demonstrate independence and real-world readiness, whether developed through live briefs, placement experience, or international study. See student examples below – click and explore. You’ll build this work through ongoing studio practice, critique, and iterative refinement across the year.

Your Third Year Journey In SETU Design

User Centered Research

User-Centred Research focuses on understanding real users to inform meaningful design decisions. You’ll apply methods like journey mapping to uncover needs, behaviours, and usability issues. Through in-depth research and analysis, you’ll learn to place the user at the core of your process, shaping grounded, relevant, and impactful design solutions.

Design For Testing

Designing for Testing develops prototypes that help you evaluate usability in both product and service contexts. You’ll build reflective, test-ready concepts to gather feedback, validate decisions, and refine solutions through iteration. Using CAD and the 3D printing lab, you’ll produce high-fidelity prototypes that closely represent real-world form, function, and user experience.

Design Critiques & Reflection

Design Critiques & Reflection helps you build confidence in presenting your work and learning from others. You’ll take part in student-led, staff-facilitated sessions where peer feedback shapes your ideas and decisions. Through regular reflection, you’ll improve your process, develop critical thinking, and refine your designs in a supportive studio environment.

Visual Communications

Develop your ability to translate studio research into clear, persuasive outputs. You’ll learn to visualise insights through presentations, large-scale prints, and publication design. Using Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and digital sketching tools (Wacom tablets and iPads), you’ll create compelling visuals that communicate ideas clearly and influence your audience.

Product Styling & Form

Shape the visual and physical language of your designs. You’ll explore proportion, surface, and detail to create products that are both functional and appealing. Through sketching, modelling, and iteration, you’ll develop a strong sense of form, identity, and coherence in your design work.

Erasmus+ Study Opportunities (Year 3, Semester 1)

SETU Product Design students have the opportunity to undertake an Erasmus+ exchange in Year 3, Semester 1, engaging with leading European institutions that align closely with our design-led, industry-focused approach. These partnerships offer students the chance to experience diverse pedagogical models, expand cultural awareness, and situate their design practice within an international context.

The selected partner institutions reflect strong compatibility in industrial design, product development, and applied innovation, ensuring continuity in learning outcomes while introducing new perspectives on materials, manufacturing, and user-centred design.

Netherlands: Windesheim University of Applied Sciences

Germany: Augsburg University of Applied Sciences

Germany: Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd

France: University of Caen Normandy

Czech Republic: Tomas Bata University in Zlín

Spain: Universitat Politècnica de València

Student Qoute

Work Experience Opportunities (Year 3, Semester 1)

Our students gain invaluable industry experience through placements with leading design studios, manufacturers, and innovation-driven organisations. These work experiences allow them to apply studio-based learning in real-world contexts, developing professional confidence, technical competence, and a clear understanding of contemporary design and development practice.

Faye Grogan – Jones Engineering

During my internship at Jones Engineering in Bagenalstown, I worked as a Design Intern supporting the design team. My main responsibilities included 3D printing and assembling scaled down generator models, giving me hands-on experience with complex mechanical layouts. I also captured 360° walkthrough images and edited visual content for client presentations. This role helped me build my technical skills and helped me grow more confident in a professional environment. It also encouraged me to think more practically as a designer.

Melissa Donnelly – CarveOn Leather

During my third-year first semester, I completed a placement at CarveOn Leather in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare. As part of the design and production team, I designed client graphics, operated a Trotec laser to personalise and cut leather, and prepared branded packaging for shipment. This role enhanced my skills in client communication and emphasised the importance of production quality in delivering high-end leather accessories. The experience gave me valuable insight into the full production process from design to delivery.

Dzastina Jankaitis – Universal Graphics

During my 3rd year of college, I completed work placement at Universal Graphics in Emyvale, Co Monaghan. A company that specializes in professional branding, signage and fleet design. During my time there, I gained valuable hands on experience. Alot of time was spent in the production of signage. This is where I learned practical skills such as welding, soldering and spray painting techniques. Developing these technical skills will help me create more refined and professional design work in college as I continue my studies.