Industrial/Product Design @ Brunel 2015 OFFER HOLDERS

Congratulations and good luck! I'm a Brunel Product Design placement student at the moment. If you've got any questions then feel free to ask away

Hi! I'm trying to decide between Industrial Design and Tech at Brunel and BA Design at Goldsmiths. I've visited both, and the Brunel student works seem amazing! However, I couldn't be sure about the student life, the area etc. The area that Goldsmiths is in felt much nicer and friendly but the student works seem more about designing concepts&developing ideas rather than making actual prototypes. (I'm not sure if this is correct though)

The most important part is, do the industrial design students at Brunel feel independent about their own projects, or is it like everyone follows the same path? What are some of the projects you did where you felt most independent? and which year was is in?

Other than that, just some general information/comment would be nice

Thank you

I cant say much about goldsmiths since i know very little about it. However I can talk about Brunel. But answering your questions.. I would say that Brunel students feel very independent about their projects. In first year a lot of the projects are quite descriptive, especially at the start, but that's just so that you get to grips with the basic skills, after that they give you a lot more freedom, and a lot of the time you can set your own brief - for example for a group project in second year we were given the choice of three broad topics - can't remember them all, but the one we chose was "environment" - within that we then did some research and set our own design brief and off we went. same goes for individual projects. So in answer to your question i would say that towards the end of first year and beyond is where you get a lot of independence - second year is pretty much as independent as you get - meaning that you get all the freedom with projects that you want really.

my simple piece of advice - if you want to make products that work then go to brunel.

in terms of the whole atmosphere - the campus is very lively, but can be a bit of a ghost town at weekends. uxbridge is actually not that bad., to me it feels like a very safe area and I'm never afraid to walk alone at night, and the town has everything that you really need - food, stationery etc. and there are a few good clothes shops too. as uxbridge is ont he edge of london you have all the perks of london, such as transport links etc, but at the same time you arent paying the price of living in central london. so i would urge you to weigh up the fact that you have london on your door stop - for shopping, for transport, for clubbing etc. and it's not that far away.

any more questions just ask

Thank you so much for such a detailed and quick response, it helps a lot!!

Also, is Brunel in a place where I could just go and hang out during my free time, like a cafe to read a book etc.? or does it require taking a bus/the tube to go anywhere? and are these supermarkets or places to shop for groceries close by? As I remember there are a few places to hang out inside the campus, but I feel like I would want to go out as well.

Thanks!

At Brunel there isn't a lot of common space. Theres space in the library to eat and relax - its also nice for group projects. Likewise in Tower A (which is the design facility) there are usually empty rooms which you can use as long as they are not needed for a class or whatever. Theres also some chairs dotted about which can be used - most often these are used by people when on the breaks from using the workshop. At the top of Tower A there is also a computer lab - this is 24 hours and a lot of designers go there to relax and eat lunch in between lectures. There's also a costa on campus you could go to. Brunel also has a canteen which you could go to - but you do need to buy food to sit there - sometimes they arent too bothered, but when its full then you will need to buy something. Otherwise - assuming you live on campus your room will be at most a 10 min walk away (most are within 5 mins), which is nice to do if you have a fairly long break between lectures or whatever. I did this in first year, but then in second year i used to spend my time in either the library or Tower A either with friends or alone. Besides campus there is not much in the immediate local area - there is a public library in uxbridge, align with many restaurants and cafes.

In terms of grocery shopping - theres a Costcutter on campus - this sells basic things like sandwiches, snacks, toilet roll, and a few pieces of meat etc - its your typical corner shop essentially - but it can be quite expensive for things like meat - but its still the cheapest place to grab a small snack (sandwich). Theres also Costa, Locos (student bar but they sell food too), and a place that sells chicken (a bit like nandos) - I havent yet tried it but i hear its okay though. I believe they also recently opened a place on campus where you can microwave your packed lunch if you travel from far away or whatever too. Once a week there is also a market on campus - they sell fruit and veg, and there is often a stall with meat too, sometimes there are also other stalls that sell various things such as foreign food, nuts/dried fruit etc. It's very reasonably priced.

The nearest supermarkets are then in Uxbridge - which is a 20 min walk from campus, or about 5-10 mins on the bus. there you have a tesco (its quite small, but more than adequate), theres also a large sainsburys. I believe theres also a market sometimes. Further away from campus, in the opposite direction to uxbridge (about a 10-15 min bus trip) there is a larger tesco (one that sells clothes and stuff). It's a little further but personally thats where I prefer to go (i go by bus, so the price didn't matter as each trip costs the same regardless of how far you travel - make sure to get an osyter as you can't pay cash on buses - this meant i had a bigger selection to chose from though). There is also a Lidl, Iceland and Morrisons there. Talking of which, there is also a Lidl maybe 15 min walk from campus.

firmed Brunel for Industrial Design
anyone else in the same boat?!