Department of Design, Graduate School of Design Strategic Design Course

A course to design the society of the future through Design × Business × Entrepreneurship

Based on the philosophy and goal of "world class design education," the Strategic Design Course aims to train strategic designers who can accurately grasp, conceive, and implement various relationships and directions related to design strategies, design researchers who can evaluate and analyze these relationships and directions, innovation leads who can construct methodologies for starting and implementing businesses based on business knowledge and entrepreneurship, and researchers with expertise in these areas. Students can take practical classes integrating business and entrepreneurship through QBS/QREC collaborative courses and corporate and local government collaborations.

Curriculum

Fields of Study

  • Design Strategy

    Students will learn specialized knowledge of design business and also acquire the ability to develop new design needs in relation to society, the economy, and industry, and to construct methodologies that lead to solutions.

  • Social Design Strategy

    Students will learn to confront various social issues from an international perspective, such as administrative design and the SDGs, and develop design strategies that are integrated with business.

  • Design Entrepreneur Strategy

    Students will gain a deep understanding of the integration of business and entrepreneurship with design and the ability to construct design strategies in the spirit of entrepreneurship.

  • Design education for learning practical design strategies that integrate design, business, and entrepreneurship

    The Strategic Design Course aims to develop human resources who can grasp, conceive, and implement strategies related to the social implementation and business of design, evaluate and analyze these strategies, and construct methodologies for entrepreneurship and practice. Students can acquire design management skills in companies and organizations, and construct design strategies for a future-oriented economic society. Therefore, students can not only learn design strategies that integrate business and entrepreneurship based on diverse design expertise in products, environments, and services but also take practical subjects in collaboration with QBS/QREC and cooperation with companies and local governments. In addition, students can receive a certificate by participating in the Creative Leadership Program in collaboration with QBS and QREC.

Creative Leadership Program

This program aims to develop advanced design talent with competencies in design, art, business, and leadership. The graduates of the Creative Leadership Program will become the next generation of leaders, who can use a highly creative approach to conceive a long-term vision for society and culture, develop an innovative proposal based on a deep understanding of human beings and the environment, and empathize and collaborate with diverse stakeholders to deliver on such value propositions in society by implementing innovative projects.

In cultivating these skills, the Graduate School of Design will take charge of areas related to creativity, such as design and art. We will collaborate with Kyushu University Business School (QBS) in business management and with the Robert T. Huang Entrepreneurship Center of Kyushu University (QREC) for entrepreneurship.

Students who complete the requirements will receive a program completion certificate. In order to complete this program, students are required to complete Studio Projects in addition to the prescribed lecture and seminar courses offered by the Strategic Design Course of the Graduate School of Design, QBS, and QREC.

This program is a collaboration between the Graduate School of Design, Kyushu University Business School (QBS), and the Robert T. Huang Entrepreneurship Center of Kyushu University (QREC). The program aims to develop "advanced design professionals" with four requirements: design, art, business, and leadership.

The list of course outlines for QBS courses is as follows:
https://qbs.kyushu-u.ac.jp/enrolled-student/syllabus/
The list of course outlines for QREC courses is as follows:
https://qrec.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/lecture/syllabus/

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Faculty Members

Faculty members in
Strategic Design
Name Position Field of Specialization
HIRAI Yasuyuki Professor Interior Design, Office Design, Interior Product Design, Inclusive Design
SARANTOU Melanie Professor Strategic Design, Social Design
SUGIMOTO Yoshitaka Professor Product Design, Industrial Design
TAMURA Ryoichi Professor Design Systems, Design Management
ASO Tsukasa Associate Professor Intellectual Property Law
MATSUGUMA Hiroyuki Associate Professor Computer Graphics Design
NAKAMURA Naoto Associate Professor
TOKUHISA Satoru Associate Professor Service Design, Innovation Management, Human Computer Interaction
ZHANG Yanfang Associate Professor Universal Design, Social Design
HAYAMA Yasuyuki Assistant Professor Product Service System Design (PSSD), Design Driven Innovation, Design for Sustainability Transitions
INAMURA Tokushu Assistant Professor Design Engineering
SAKOTSUBO Tomohiro Assistant Professor Public Transportation Design, Product Design, Industrial Design

Career

Graduates are expected to find employment in a variety of companies, such as manufacturers of home appliances, furniture, and toys; space, architecture, and urban planning-related companies; information and media-related companies; advertising agencies; trading and retail companies; infrastructure companies; and government agencies. They can also enter doctoral programs at graduate schools. After completing the second semester of the graduate program, they are expected to work as researchers in the companies' research institutes or educational research institutions such as universities.

Main Employers
Industrial Designer, Product Designer, Service Designer, Design Strategist, Business Designer, Design Manager, Vision Designer, Entrepreneur, Design Researcher, Government Official, Researcher, etc.

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