The Department of Design aims to explore urban and rural regional cultural design, intelligent interaction design, and the integration and innovation of digital design and focuses on the new development in emerging technology, local economy and significant national strategies. In-depth interdisciplinary efforts have been made to lead the integration of design and science, design and cultural strategy, playing to the advantages of professional disciplines. At the same time, the Department is devoted to inherit, transform and present Chinese traditional culture in the new digital era, integrating digital design and art communication to improve design productivity and contribute to the socio-economic development of China, especially in the southwest region with Chongqing as the center.
The Department currently offers three programs: Product Design, Environmental Design, and Visual Communication.
Product Design (formerly Industrial Design) was created in 1985. It is a municipal level first-class major. It focuses on the intersection of art and engineering and cultivates senior design personnel with strong capabilities in product innovation and design. Attention has been given to improve the awareness and ability of innovation in students, and the quality of style design. Professional foundations courses focus on the systematic training of essential knowledge and skills including product innovation design, product modelling design and other related professional courses to cultivate high-level interdisciplinary talents capable of expanding knowledge base with the awareness of market innovation as well as the ability to analyze and evaluate the needs for product design innovation and lead the development of the discipline, industry and society.
Environmental Design boasts a long history of operation and achievements. It is a municipal level first-class major. It takes root in the regional culture in southwest China to promote the integration of urban and rural design with other emerging cutting-edge disciplines. Efforts have been made to develop a theory of space and innovative practice rich in Chinese characteristics, as well as a comprehensive professional program integrating architecture, planning, landscape, exhibition space design and art iteration and innovation. The curriculum focuses on five areas: architectural evolution, landscape iteration, urban renewal, exhibition space, and design practice. It advocates an international perspective, inherits traditional culture, and focuses on in-depth integration with other disciplines, aiming to cultivate leading and interdisciplinary talents in environmental art design with profound fundamental knowledge, a strong sense of innovation, a wide range of expertise, and balanced development in theory and practice.
Visual Communication studies how visual media works to disseminate specific information when new concepts, ideas and demands are raised by the rapid development of the global economy towards digitalization, ecology and transformation to a smart society. It takes the new liberal arts education as the driving force of change, focusing on the interdisciplinary, cross-media integration, and cross-disciplinary application, contributing to the creative transformation and development of tradition and modernity, science and art, aesthetics and technology, the humanities and economy, as well as design and society. The curriculum covers print design, display design, digital media design, advertising design, interaction design, cultural and creative design, brand design, design management, and user research.