Canary Islands PAU Design study plan

Define in your own notes the seven elements of design language (form, colour, texture, space, composition plus line and value as supporting terms) and give two original examples of each drawn from Canary Islands visual culture such as almagre pigment tones or volcanic rock textures.

Analyse ten designs you can see directly (posters, packaging, signage, furniture) and label which elements dominate and how they interact, writing a short justification for each.

Build a personal vocabulary sheet of 25 Spanish design terms with English equivalents and use at least 15 of them in written analysis.

Sketch three compositional studies of the same subject using contrast of scale, contrast of colour temperature and contrast of texture, and annotate the differences.

Apply colour theory deliberately: produce a 12-step colour wheel in paint or digital, then derive a complementary, an analogous and a triadic palette for one brief.

Explain and demonstrate figure-ground, hierarchy, balance, rhythm and grid alignment by redesigning one badly laid out page you have collected.

Compare typographic classification (serif, sans serif, slab, script, display) and identify the category, weight and role of type in eight real examples.

Measure and document typographic detail: x-height, leading, tracking and measure in three printed pieces, noting whether each choice aids or hinders reading.

Write a design brief for a self-chosen problem, stating user, context, constraints, success criteria and what you will deliberately not do.

Run structured research: gather at least eight sources (interviews, observation, existing products, standards) and summarise findings into three insight statements.

Generate 30 distinct ideation sketches in timed sprints, then cluster and select three directions with written reasoning.

Build two low-fidelity prototypes (paper or cardboard) of the strongest directions and record what each test revealed.

Design a small signage or wayfinding system for a real local setting (a market, a school, a trail) with a consistent typographic and pictogram logic.

Draw the system to scale using orthographic projection: plan, elevation and at least one section, with dimension lines, scale bar and title block.

Produce a one-page brand mark study: three mark directions, one refined mark, and rules for minimum size, clear space and colour variants.

Test legibility of your signage at realistic viewing distances and record the results with recommended adjustments.

Take one everyday object and reverse-engineer its function: list every user task, then identify where the form helps or obstructs each task.

Carry out an ergonomic assessment using measured hand or body dimensions and state the percentile range your design should accommodate.

Compare five materials (for example pine, cork, recycled aluminium, bioplastic, ceramic) on strength, weight, cost, recyclability and local availability, and justify a selection.

Redesign the object to fix at least two identified problems and build a full-size model or a detailed digital model with dimensions.

Build a timeline of design history from the Arts and Crafts movement to contemporary practice, placing at least 15 movements and naming one designer and one characteristic work for each.

Write a 400-word contextual analysis of one movement explaining the social, technological or economic conditions that produced it.

Explain the shift from craft production to industrial and then digital production, and give one design consequence of each shift.

Connect two historical positions to a current debate such as sustainability or accessibility, arguing both sides briefly.

Audit one public space or product for accessibility using contrast ratios, reach ranges, tactile cues and signage clarity, and list concrete failures.

Apply circular design thinking: map a product's material flow from extraction to disposal and propose two changes that reduce impact.

Draft a short ethics and professional practice checklist covering client briefs, copyright of images and type, attribution and honest presentation of work.

Rewrite one of your earlier deliverables so that it meets the accessibility findings you documented.

Consolidate all previous deliverables into one portfolio with a consistent layout and a short written rationale for each project.

Run a timed mock exam: answer a full set of practice questions across all seven domains under exam conditions and mark it against the official weightings.

Revisit your weakest two domains using the mock results and produce a one-page correction sheet for each.

Rehearse a five-minute spoken defence of one project, covering brief, process, decisions and evaluation.