Masters Degrees (Design Thinking)

Are you dismayed, disturbed and totally disenchanted with what is happening to the only real planetary home we have? So are we.

But are you also excited by the opportunities and prospects this opens up for us to create a better, brighter and more beautiful world? So are we.

Then join us in this innovative new postgraduate programme from Schumacher College in collaboration with the School of Architecture, Design and Environment at Plymouth University, the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, the Dartington Hall Trust and surrounding communities.

Ecological Design Thinking

Never has there been a more important time for a new approach for engaging with the challenging situations we face from the local to the global levels. In a rapidly changing dynamic situation, solutions rarely remain optimal for very long and continuous active participation is a necessary ingredient for success. Growing resilience in individuals and communities is the way to keep going despite the continuous change around us.

Our programme in Ecological Design Thinking embraces and explores this complex world of interactions with lively engagement and an optimistic approach. It offers powerful, practical and ecology-centred skills and knowledge to apply to a diverse range of practices from design, education and business to the more specific roles of leadership, management and consultancy.

The Ecological Design Thinking programme is trans-disciplinary, insightful and universal in its application; pragmatic and integrative in its operation. It brings together theoretical and practical discourses on ecologically inspired design, with methods of design thinking that are merged with the latest developments in anthropology, psychology and socio- political economics. It aims to create a novel ground for change makers at the forefront of our transition to sustainable societies.

Ecologically inspired design includes the study of ecological worldviews, systems dynamics and applied complexity theory alongside the philosophies and practices of permaculture and biomimetic design.

Design thinking is a well-established participatory technique grounded in the empathic understanding of the feelings, experiences and emotions of others. It engages people in lively conversations, visually stimulated interactions and playful prototyping. It frames problems as opportunities, forms insights and generates creative and collaborative solutions in complex situations.

The Ecological Design thinking programme aims to provide a nourishing environment for participants by incorporating short-courses led by internationally recognised thinkers, place-making projects in collaboration with the Dartington Hall Trust, the home of Schumacher College, and short placements offered by external partner organisations.

This programme is the fourth radical postgraduate programme developed at Schumacher College and contributes to and enhance the College’s ongoing collaborative inquiry into sustainable living – a live and networked inquiry of practice underway around the world by the College’s 20,000 alumni and others.

Who is this course for?

We would be delighted to receive your application whether you are coming directly from an undergraduate degree, taking time-out to study mid-career or wanting an opportunity to develop your understanding of a practice that is of great importance to all of our futures. We encourage applications from community practitioners and activists as well as planners, educators, architects, politicians and policy makers. You do not necessarily need a first degree in design to apply for this course. You only need to be enthusiastic, resilient and committed.

We are looking for enthusiastic agents of change who are ready to co-design new approaches to the way we live that are socially just and ecologically sustainable. We are looking for those prepared to take risks and stand on the cutting-edge of new practices in this area.

Schumacher College welcomes students from all over the world in a diverse mix of cultural experience and age that allows for rich peer- to- peer learning.

You Will Learn

The foundation of an ecological worldview through subjects such as ecology, deep ecology, systems thinking, complexity science and Gaia theory.
Living systems principles through the philosophy and practice of permaculture design, biophilia and biomimicry.
Creative and process-focused problem solving techniques by applying the methods and principles of design thinking
A multi-perspective appreciation of ethical issues and their implications for the future consequences of redesigning existing systems and creating new ones.
To apply ecological design thinking knowledge and skills to the design of social systems as a part of an emerging new economics
Personal and group enquiry practices to raise awareness of the interdependent relationship between the individual, society and nature and between theory and practice

Co-creative participatory practices and theoretical principles for new approaches to the ecological design process that include a range of stakeholders in the full lifecycle of projects, and you will apply these both in the studio, on the Dartington Hall Estate and in short placements on live projects

Special Features

An interdisciplinary programme integrating design methods with those of ecology and the social sciences.
An integrative design programme rooted in deep ecological understanding and practice and informed by cutting edge thinking in new economic approaches and social dynamics.
A balanced distribution of time and resources on skill-based and cognitive-based knowledge and between practice and theory.
Access to some of the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners in design, Gaia theory, complexity, climate science, systems thinking, new economics and social change.
Short courses led by internationally recognised thinkers and researchers.
Short practical placements with a range of partner organisations operating at the leading edge of social innovation.
An immersive, integrative and transformational teaching and learning approach rooted in the principles established by Schumacher College and Dartington Hall, and engaged in a living and working community on and around the Dartington Estate in Devon.

Where you will go?

Ecological Design Thinking can be applied to a wide range of contexts, from the personal to the societal. This programme aims to create a new generation of designers, entrepreneurs, policy-makers, educators, researchers, consultants and activists. Graduates will have the skills and knowledge to work for sustainable change in the public and private sectors as well as in civil society, or to set up their own projects or organisations that will contribute to the transformation of society.

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The Design Management course provides the opportunity for you to develop an advanced understanding of the practical application of design thinking and design strategy applied within an organisational, business and global context.

In the corporate world design managers oversee the development of products and services and manage the innovation process workflow. However, they also have a significant strategic role in managing the articulation of a business strategy, product and service values, requiring continuous improvement of the customer experience and often involving the management of external specialists. Additionally, they may be engaged in broader organisational development issues.

Students studying Design Management Innovation will focus on design thinking, research methods and the development of management, leadership and change management skills. In addition to operational management they will also focus on design thinking approaches to organisational change, behavioural change and transformation programmes.

The MDes Design Management Innovation draws on current Ravensbourne research. This includes rapid prototyping (an increasingly important operational aspect of the design process); business start up; team building and team dynamics; and the more strategic area of new business model development.

You will work regularly with peers from different disciplines to develop interdisciplinary skills and develop your own approach to design leadership, management and innovation. Major emphasis is placed on developing your own specialist subject in order to create original solutions to social challenges, consumer behaviour, organisational and leadership issues. You will be encouraged to engage proactively in the wide range of activities and events and in the opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning offered at Ravensbourne. Of particular importance is industry engagement through live project briefs and work placements.

Course aims

- To understand the role of design management as a business discipline balancing both leadership roles in terms of innovation, the creation of vision and future directions and management roles in terms of using specific tools, methods and techniques.
- To approach leadership, organisational and enterprise development from the perspective of design thinking and creative innovation.

Study units

Stage One: developing a knowledge base and new reference points - introduces you to a range of theories and practices in the strategic use of design and innovation, with a particular focus on the method of design thinking in the global context and how it relates to design management.

- Unit 1: Cultural and Contextual Design Studies
- Unit 2: Practical Application of Design Thinking in Design Management
- Unit 3: Managing Design in a Global Society and Economy

Stage Two: putting new learning into a professional context – develops the practical application of design thinking with a focus on innovation and industry-oriented professional practice based on design management. It also extends your innovation and leadership toolkit.

- Unit 4: Professional Practice in Management and Consulting
- Unit 5: Strategic Design and Innovation
- Unit 6: Studio Practice

Stage Three: evaluating and advancing existing knowledge

Unit 7: Major Project.

Programme Aims of the Master of Design

The Master of Design programme aims to provide the opportunity for you to develop creative thinking and innovative strategies through an advanced understanding of the practical application of design thinking and design strategy to management and organisational leadership, in order to equip you with the knowledge and skills to apply your learning in a global context. In particular, this programme aims:

- To equip you with an advanced knowledge and understanding of the contextual background to, and developments in design thinking and to reflect on that learning in order to advance your own practice and subject area and to innovate.

- To develop effective managers and leaders with effective design management skills who through creativity and global awareness are able to influence and create positive change in their organisations whether at an operational or a strategic level.

- To equip you with independent study skills that support research, practice and professional development and allow you to continue developing as life-long learners throughout their professional lives maintaining contact with emerging practice from a variety of fields.

- To provide a stimulating environment, which is supportive, flexible and collaborative and allows you to develop your potential.

- To develop a high level of professionalism and confidence to initiate and lead complex design projects involving diverse disciplines and business functions.

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The Master of Design programme provide the opportunity for you to develop creative thinking and innovative strategies through an advanced understanding of the practical application of design thinking and design strategy that can be applied in a global context.

Service Design is a relatively new discipline that has emerged in the UK simultaneously with an increase in the service sector of the economy and the development of services which require innovative approaches to design, development and delivery in public, private and civil society organisations. Through the use of a specific set of methods and processes based on design thinking, Service Design aims to develop services that are useful and desirable for customers/stakeholders and profitable and efficient for the provider.

The course will provide you with the opportunity to develop and use design thinking as a device for modelling multi-faceted service experiences. In particular this requires the ability to design user research, to facilitate development workshops, and to project manage a process when initially outcomes are unknown. A detailed understanding of the management of design and innovation in service organisations is gained through case studies and project based learning. You are introduced to a range of concepts in Service Design such as co-design, user-driven innovation and social innovation. You are also encouraged to develop your own approaches and to respond to emerging industry practices.

You will benefit from staff research interests in methodology and in user experience design strategies. You may also have the opportunity to participate in one of Ravensbourne’s regular industry development projects with a strong service design dimension.

Study units

Stage One: developing a knowledge base and new reference points - introduces the learner to a range of theories and practices in the strategic use of design and innovation, with a particular focus on the method of design thinking in the global context and how it relates to Service Design. Emphasis is also placed on beginning to develop an innovation and leadership toolkit of skills and techniques.

- Unit 1: Cultural and Contextual Design Studies
- Unit 2: Practical Application of Design Thinking in Service Design
- Unit 3: Managing Design in a Global Society and Economy

Stage Two: putting new learning into a professional context - builds on the practical application of design thinking with a focus on innovation and industry oriented professional practice

Teaching and learning methods in this term are reflective of real world practices ensuring that participants are well versed in new service/product design methods, blueprinting, modelling, brand guardianship, consumer marketing and routes to market.

- Unit 4: Professional Practice in Management and Consulting
- Unit 5: Strategic Design and Innovation
- Unit 6: Studio Practice

Stage Three: evaluating and advancing existing knowledge

- Unit 7: Major Project.

Course aims:

- To encourage a human centred approach to design.
- To demonstrate that real innovation comes from gaining a deep understanding of the interaction between service providers and end users, their wants needs, participation and potential for co-creation.

Programme Aims of the Master of Design

The Master of Design programme aims to provide the opportunity for you to develop creative thinking and innovative strategies through an advanced understanding of the practical application of design thinking and design strategy to management and organisational leadership, in order to equip you with the knowledge and skills to apply your learning in a global context. In particular, this programme aims:

- To equip you with an advanced knowledge and understanding of the contextual background to, and developments in design thinking and to reflect on that learning in order to advance your own practice and subject area and to innovate.

- To develop effective managers and leaders with effective design management skills who through creativity and global awareness are able to influence and create positive change in their organisations whether at an operational or a strategic level.

- To equip you with independent study skills that support research, practice and professional development and allow you to continue developing as life-long learners throughout their professional lives maintaining contact with emerging practice from a variety of fields.

- To provide a stimulating environment, which is supportive, flexible and collaborative and allows you to develop your potential.

- To develop a high level of professionalism and confidence to initiate and lead complex design projects involving diverse disciplines and business functions.

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The Master of Design in Social Innovation applies the lens of design thinking to address some of society’s most intractable social, environmental and economic challenges.

In the face of the promise of untold growth we are now confronted by a harsh reality: that in the second decade of the 21st century the traditional model of ‘business as usual’ is no longer viable. In applying a range of approaches to designing and prototyping social ventures and models of organisation, the MDes in Social Innovation will equip you with a practice-based approach to embedding innovation in the area of sustainability, community resilience, corporate social responsibility, venture philanthropy and organisational agility. Working with a cross- disciplinary team of professionals, the course will allow you to learn about radical ideas, evolve these ideas and test them in a ‘lived’ organisational environment.

The MDes Social Innovation will demonstrate that many of the most successful designs, innovations and innovators have learned to operate across the boundaries between disciplines, sectors, organisations and traditional services.

The course will develop your ideas and skills in people-centred and organisational leadership as a way of transforming the way that public, private and not-for-profit services are shaped using design thinking methodologies.

At its heart lie three design principles:

1. an holistic approach - the need to approach innovation from a ‘holistic’ point of view, drawing on its potential impact in terms of people, technology, the environment, psychological and emotional meaning and long-term sustainability

2. a core intent - the potential to develop a ‘core intent’
and value proposition to organisational models to stimulate commercial and brand value through interaction, social value, collaboration and ideas generation

3. participatory and inclusive - the importance of developing social and environmental solutions ‘with’ and ‘by’ key stakeholders, customers/markets etc. and not simply ‘to’ and ‘for’ people.

Course aims

- To understand the role of social innovation as a business discipline balancing both leadership roles in terms of innovation, the creation of vision and future directions and management roles in terms of using specific tools, methods and techniques.
- To approach leadership, organisational and enterprise development from the perspective of design thinking and creative innovation.

Study units

- Stage One
Developing a knowledge base and new reference points - introduces you to a range of theories and practices in the strategic use of design and innovation, with a particular focus on the method of design thinking in the global context and how it relates to social and environmental change and sustainability.

- Stage Two
Putting new learning into a professional context – develops the practical application of design thinking with a focus on innovation and industry-oriented professional practice based on design management. It also extends your innovation and leadership toolkit. The Studio Practice unit gives you the opportunity to take on a work placement or design research project which will inform your major project.

• Unit 4 Professional Practice in Management and Consulting • Unit 5 Strategic Design and Innovation
• Unit 6 Studio Practice

- Stage Three
Evaluating and advancing existing knowledge

• Unit 7 Major Project

Programme Aims for the Master of Design

The Master of Design programme aims to provide the opportunity for you to develop creative thinking and innovative strategies through an advanced understanding of the practical application of design thinking and design strategy to management and organisational leadership, in order to equip you with the knowledge and skills to apply your learning in a global context. In particular, this programme aims:

- To equip you with an advanced knowledge and understanding of the contextual background to, and developments in design thinking and to reflect on that learning in order to advance your own practice and subject area and to innovate.

- To develop effective managers and leaders with effective design management skills who through creativity and global awareness are able to influence and create positive change in their organisations whether at an operational or a strategic level.

- To equip you with independent study skills that support research, practice and professional development and allow you to continue developing as life-long learners throughout their professional lives maintaining contact with emerging practice from a variety of fields.

- To provide a stimulating environment, which is supportive, flexible and collaborative and allows you to develop your potential.

- To develop a high level of professionalism and confidence to initiate and lead complex design projects involving diverse disciplines and business functions.

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Luxury Brand Management Innovation focuses on managing the relationship between luxury brands, high value services and consumer behaviour. To understand these complex relationships, you will gather and analyse customer and market data, to understand who the customers are, why they buy, and appreciate the value of brands and brand strategy.

Luxury Brand Management equip you to analyse new, sub-brands and established brands; and at a more strategic level, analyse issues around brand loyalty, equity and value.

Luxury Brand Management requires sensitivity to customer perceptions of established aesthetics and the potential for higher levels of engagement/participation and affinity-enabling services.

The course will take you through the various stages needed to turn a luxury brand into a ‘lived’ experience providing insightful thinking and practical strategies into what makes a luxury brand ‘high value’ in terms of meaningful interactions and diversified services with customers/markets.

Study units

Stage One: developing a knowledge base and new reference points - introduces you to a range of theories and practices in the strategic use of design and innovation, with a particular focus on the method of design thinking and how it relates to luxury brand management.

- Unit 1: Cultural and Contextual Design Studies
- Unit 2: Practical Application of Design Thinking in Luxury Brand Management
- Unit 3: Managing Design in a Global Society and Economy

Stage Two: putting new learning into a professional context – develops the practical application of design thinking with a focus on innovation and industry oriented professional practice.

- Unit 4: Professional Practice in Management and Consulting
- Unit 5: Strategic Design and Innovation
- Unit 6: Studio Practice

Stage Three: evaluating and advancing existing knowledge

- Unit 7: Major Project.

Course aims:

- To enable the development of high value services and luxury brands.
- To develop an understanding of personalised multi-platform experiences and interactions which can add value to, and build a brand on a global scale.

Programme Aims for the Master of Design

The Master of Design programme aims to provide the opportunity for you to develop creative thinking and innovative strategies through an advanced understanding of the practical application of design thinking and design strategy to management and organisational leadership, in order to equip you with the knowledge and skills to apply your learning in a global context. In particular, this programme aims:

- To equip you with an advanced knowledge and understanding of the contextual background to, and developments in design thinking and to reflect on that learning in order to advance your own practice and subject area and to innovate.

- To develop effective managers and leaders with effective design management skills who through creativity and global awareness are able to influence and create positive change in their organisations whether at an operational or a strategic level.

- To equip you with independent study skills that support research, practice and professional development and allow you to continue developing as life-long learners throughout their professional lives maintaining contact with emerging practice from a variety of fields.

- To provide a stimulating environment, which is supportive, flexible and collaborative and allows you to develop your potential.

- To develop a high level of professionalism and confidence to initiate and lead complex design projects involving diverse disciplines and business functions.

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MA Communication Design at Falmouth is a transformative, intensive studio based course, enabling you to develop your individual critical voice in communication design. The course prepares you for the demands of a rapidly changing, complex media world, where the ability to create meaningful and effective ideas is paramount.

Benefits:
- Learn from leading global design provocateurs and teachers in project challenges and study set
- Gain commercial experience through internships
- Work in a multi-million pound studio environment that mirrors leading contemporary design studios
- Specialist skills training, relevant for your project interests
- Final semester London show
- Digital final exhibition for global recognition and launch

Visit the website https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/communication-design-ma

How the course is taught

The course is structured over 45 weeks, across three semesters: deconstruction, reconstruction and reinvention.

You'll be in the studio most weekdays working on outcomes rooted in design process and the development of meaningful and innovative ideas. The experience is designed to be supportive yet provocative, so you can take your ideas and practice into new and exciting realms, that challenge you and the wider communications world.

Your learning is delivered across a mixture of set lectures, tutorials, workshops, and peer and tutor review.

Contact hours vary across the course, being most intensive during the first two semesters, with more self directed study as you develop your final project in the third semester. We expect some students to be away at points during the final semester, either working on research and project feedback, or attending internships.

Course outline

The course prioritises fresh and fearless thinking, developing students who see no boundaries to their work, curious to engage and discover while pursuing the highest level of innovation in communication design.

You'll gain an understanding of the global framework of communication design, and an approach to design process that delivers great ideas across diverse media platforms.

Mirroring the success of longstanding programmes at our School of Communication Design, you'll benefit from frequent industry contact, enabling you to stretch and question your practice, gaining inspiration from within and beyond your immediate boundaries.

Attracting a range of applicants, the course prepares you for independent or studio practice, in the applied creative industries, broader arts, or further academic research.

Our priority is to encourage your development by distilling and building your creative voice and ambition. We do so via three semesters, deconstruction, reconstruction and reinvention, with project outcomes mirroring a design process structure.

What you'll do

Semester 1: Deconstruction
- MACD 101: Process
(20 credits)
This module introduces the components of design process in relation to your own personal practice. Through provocation and critical debate you'll reflect on and challenge what you do, seeing how global, experiential and experimental insights can generate the most appropriate process models for a contemporary communications problem.

- MACD 102: Intersections
(20 credits)
This module examines the fundamental components to the production of design: human interaction and collaboration. Whether this interaction is between client and designer, object and user, or experience and emotion, it allows you to experience provocative challenges that hone your own standpoint. You'll learn how social engagement, polar tension or friction can inspire new thinking.

- MACD 103: Boundaries
(20 credits)
This module allows you to take more radical entry points into your understanding of practice; taking project interest into new forms or creating critical design response from more theorised or experimental catalysts.
Provocateurs will continue to challenge and stretch the limits of your enquiry, exploring new theoretical models and examining the debate of 'designer as author'; how works are translated or used; and how they or their work become the provocateur.

Semester 2: Reconstruction
- MACD 104: Curate and build
(40 credits)
You'll deep dive into your emergent interests, exploring how technology and an increasingly complex consumer and cultural landscape may effect your enquiry. Thinking by doing, you'll elect and develop skill sets and a depth of study in both practice and theory. With the module running across the whole semester, it allows you to fully prepare and test ideas and craft, sectors and media as you begin to prepare your main MA project.

- MACD 105: Compete
(20 credits)
Ahead of the final semester, you'll begin to look at avenues and insights for your own practice and from a business or funding perspective. You'll build professional skills relevant to individual need and examine components of design development including publishing, presentations, production and IP.

The module will also examine other methodologies of delivering work around the world, whether through commission or employment, working in known fields of the creative industries or with museums, arts organisations or universities and research bodies.
Student will also engage in competitive projects set by external bodies.

Semester 3: Reinvention
- MACD 106, MA project
(60 credits)
This module allows you to realise your final major project, in a largely self directed semester, bringing together practice, theory and an evaluation phase that provides reflection and potential industry or funding opportunities to be negotiated ahead of graduating.

The first phase leads to exhibiting at a key industry or cultural event, with an interim show. The second sees you gather insights, industry or critical feedback, or undertake an internship, or preparing for the launch of your project. This final phase sees the production of an essay or strategic report, depending on future plans.

Facilities

- Dedicated MA studio space
- Lecture theatres, design lab, break out spaces and meeting rooms
- Digital printing facilities, Risograph machine, woodblock printing and presses, workshop and negotiated access to screen-printing studios
- Apple suite, with Adobe CS and full collection of Monotype typefaces
- Extensive library facilities and digital collections
- Negotiated use of other facilities such as film, photographic, textiles and product design studios

Staff

You'll be taught by staff with backgrounds spanning design, academic, writing and research careers. They offer decades of experience teaching and working for leading studios, working with international clients, arts and cultural organisations, exhibiting and publishing work and research. They are enaged with many of the world's top creative universities and organisations as keynote speakers, external examiners and consultants. Overall they are all inspired by design, teaching, nurturing and encouraging great and motivated students.

Assessment

- Individual project briefs
- Design research journal
- Essay
- Oral presentations, individually and in groups
- Critical review or business plan

Careers

Communication design is a broad field of study, with career choices depending largely on your own personal project focus.

Options include:

- Graphic design
- Advertising
- Packaging and brand design
- Service design
- Photography and film
- Type design or illustration
- Editorial design
- Motion graphics, interactive or digital design
- Information or UX design
- Design criticism and writing
- Teaching, research or PhD study
- Allied fields: television, the heritage sector or exhibition design

Interview and selection process

Please apply via submission of an application form, an outline of your key interest or masters proposal and a portfolio. Details about our portfolio requirements can be found on the application form.

Interviews are held in person at the School, online via Skype or by phone.

Find out how to apply here - https://myfalmouth.falmouth.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=MACODEFC_SEP&code2=0001

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The MSc Industrial Design programme within the Contemporary Dialogues portfolio offers an exciting and innovative re-thinking of the Postgraduate provision that reflects the strategic thinking of Swansea College of Art. The portfolio facilitates migration between diverse thematic disciplines, exploring new ideas and conceptual approaches that confront us in society today and that of the future.

Course Overview

The MSc Industrial Design programme is about pushing the envelope of design ideation by giving students the freedom to challenge current conventions through collaborative experimentation and design thinking that reflects and addresses environmental, economic and technological challenges present in today’s society. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted, giving the students the opportunity to realise a design outcome, through analytical and practical investigation. You will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the virtual environment to validate a design direction, considering both an intellectual and technical argument to your outcome conclusions. The modules focus on design thinking and the development of your technical and philosophical perspectives, acting as a platform to design for manufacturing reality.

This programme is delivered in the newly refurbished Alexandra Road building in the Swansea Arts Quarter, and during the course of your studies you will be supported by specialist staff, leading professionals and practicing artists through lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials. We have exceptional traditional and digital facilities, housed in spacious purpose-build workshops. Through these, we encourage creative freedom within all of our students and support you in challenging conventional thinking and established practices and facilitate new technological advances across a broad range of disciplines. We have found that through collaborative experimentation and innovative design thinking our students are able to produce work that meets the challenges and respond to the demands of the 21st century. This ensures that the course delivers a qualification and experience that is highly relevant to the changing needs of the industry.

Modules

Core Modules
-Collaborative Dialogues (20 credits)
-Co-Existent Perspectives (20 credits)
-The Thought Experiment (20 credits)
-Explorative Research Praxis (60 credits)
-Confirmative Praxis (60 credits)

Key Features

The MSc Industrial Design programme within the Contemporary Dialogues portfolio offers an exciting and innovative re-thinking of Postgraduate provision that reflects the strategic thinking of Swansea College of Art. The portfolio facilitates migration between diverse thematic disciplines, exploring new ideas and conceptual approaches to allow young artists and designers to confront the issues that face society today and into the future.

The portfolio’s ethos of collaborative dialogues through material practices provides an innovative model of design, fine and applied arts education. This development allows students from all pathways to experience and share creative practices and innovative mind-sets through inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary dialogues. This ethos is enhanced within each programme to stimulate ‘collaborative’ practices and experimentation across a broader spectrum of specialist fields, developing graduates with the contextual awareness, creative thinking and technical skills to operate at the forefront of their discipline.

During the course of your studies you will be supported by specialist staff, leading professionals and practicing artists through lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials. We have exceptional traditional and digital facilities, housed in spacious purpose-build workshops. Through these, we encourage creative freedom within all of our students and support you in challenging conventional thinking and established practices and facilitate new technological advances across a broad range of disciplines. We have found that through collaborative experimentation and innovative design thinking our students are able to produce work that meets the challenges and respond to the demands of the 21st century.

Facilities include:
-Firing kilns for glass and ceramics
-Printmaking, Screen Printing and Digital Textile Technologies
-Traditional and Digital Stitch
-Wood, Metal, Clay
-Cutting Etching and Engraving Technologies - Waterjet, Laser, Plotter
-3D Printing and CNC
-Chemical and Digital Darkrooms
-Specialist computer facilities with commercial standard software

Assessment

The main modes of assessment used on this programme are; studio projects, written assignments and seminar presentations.

Assessment at postgraduate level is reflected by your ability to reformulate and use relevant methodologies and approaches to address problematic situations that involve many interacting factors. It includes taking responsibility for planning and developing courses of action that initiate or underpin substantial change or development, as well as exercising broad autonomy and judgement. It should also reflect an understanding of the relevant theoretical and methodological perspectives and how they affect your area of study or work.

Career Opportunities

This programme is written from an employability enhancement perspective, creating the platform for students to embrace the spectrum of commercial and cultural opportunities available, encouraging real life engagements, networking and other activities.

One of the guiding principles and enhancements of this programme is a commitment to flexible learning, with creative flexible learning and teaching relationships and discourses in order to make sure that the student’s individual needs and projected career opportunities are at the centre of their activities. This flexibility and concentration on individual needs and opportunities within learning is placed primarily at the service of employability.

Students will be encouraged to embrace professional networks and create links with enterprise – locally, nationally and globally, as well as connect with external agencies and organisations. Additionally the postgraduate programme has great potential to contribute to the commercial, academic and applied research aspirations of the University and its desire to contribute knowledge to the field of innovation, product and transportation research and development.

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Our MA Urban Design programme is jointly delivered by the Welsh School of Architecture and the School of Geography and Planning. The goal of this programme is to enable practitioners and scholars to transform the field of urban design through critical thinking and creative practice.

Urban design is transdisciplinary, straddling professional fields such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and public policy, and also disciplines such as politics, economics, sociology and cultural studies. The programme fully embraces this transdisciplinarity through the theory, research training and design teaching it offers.

You will learn from academic staff from both schools who are highly accomplished and locally engaged in Cardiff, nationally in the UK, and internationally across the world. In the context of the design studios, you will also be able to benefit from the input and expertise of leading practitioners.

Studio teaching focuses on developing critically informed as well as creative and practical proposals for real sites, addressing important contemporary issues of design and urbanism

Distinctive features

• Learn from academics in two Schools which are ranked among the top 50 in the world.

• The course is taught via lectures, workshops and design studios, by staff drawn from both the architecture and planning schools, who are leading experts in their fields. Design Tutors include leading practitioners who bring their experience of cutting edge practice to the core of design studio work.

• The course is recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute as a 'specialist' masters for those who have completed at least a three-year RTPI recognised undergraduate spatial planning degree, allowing completion of the RTPI's educational requirements for membership. For further details visit the Royal Town Planning Institute website.

• Accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), allowing completion of the educational requirement for RICS membership.

Structure

This is a one-year full-time degree.

The course is structured to provide a set of three lecture-based modules and three studio-based design modules, followed by a dissertation in the form of a research-based design project. The three lecture-based modules run in parallel with studio-based design projects which enable you to continually relate theory and practice.

Your research-based design project represents the culmination of your studies. You will be required to develop proposals relating to a chosen site, demonstrating an understanding of all aspects of urban design drawings and a written, reflective commentary.

You will have between 2-3 days of contact time each week, working between the design studio and your module lectures/seminars.

Core modules:

Urban Design Thinkers
Urban Design Foundation
Research Methods and Techniques
Development Management
Autumn Studio
Spring Studio
Research Based Design Project

Teaching

Teaching takes place in new light-filled studio spaces in the centre of the City. You will also have access to the latest modelling and workshop facilities in the Architecture School.

This MA is taught via lectures, workshops and design studios, by lecturers who are all experts in their fields – in geography, urban planning, urbanism, urban design and architecture. The design tutors also include leading practitioners who bring their experience of cutting-edge practice to the core of design studio work.

Studio teaching focuses on developing critically informed as well as creative and practical proposals for real sites, addressing important contemporary issues of design and urbanism.

Assessment

Non-design modules provide the foundations for developing understandings of urban design. These are assessed through:

• Essays
• Reports
• Presentations

Most of these provide the opportunities for summative assessment. However, tutorials, and a number of essays provide the opportunities for formative assessment.

Summative assessment is conducted at the end of each module. Formative assessment elements include design reviews, usually one or two per design module, and weekly tutorials also provide an opportunity for this.

Other forms of assessment include:

• Drawings
• Sketchbooks
• Viva voce examination of the dissertation
• Reports

Career Prospects

Graduates move onto careers as urban designers, or in urban design related work. Most of these careers are to be found within the wider areas of architecture, urban planning, property or public policy. These may be within the public, private or voluntary sectors. Some of our graduates continue to higher research degrees.

Guidance and mentoring on careers are provided during the year.

Fieldwork

As part of your studies you will take a field study visit within a UK city or a city in mainland Europe, which is fully funded within the advertised fees.

Study visits are an intrinsic part of this programme. Where your experience during the visits inform assessed assignments in required core modules, the visits are compulsory.

These field study visits are compulsory since experiences of urban design ‘in the field’ are required for completing some assignments. However, modified versions of the field trips may be allowed at the discretion of the Course Director.

The trip will require you to move around the city and make observations and presentations during these journeys. Every effort will be made to accommodate students with disabilities. It is advisable to speak to the Course Director about the possibility of adjustments before enrolling.

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Our MA Urban Design programme is jointly delivered by the Welsh School of Architecture and the School of Geography and Planning. The goal of this programme is to enable practitioners and scholars to transform the field of urban design through critical thinking and creative practice.

Urban design is transdisciplinary, straddling professional fields such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and public policy, and also disciplines such as politics, economics, sociology and cultural studies. The programme fully embraces this transdisciplinarity through the theory, research training and design teaching it offers.

You will learn from academic staff from both schools who are highly accomplished and locally engaged in Cardiff, nationally in the UK, and internationally across the world. In the context of the design studios, you will also be able to benefit from the input and expertise of leading practitioners. 

Studio teaching focuses on developing critically informed as well as creative and practical proposals for real sites, addressing important contemporary issues of design and urbanism.

Distinctive features

• Learn from academics in two Schools which are ranked among the top 50 in the world.

• The course is taught via lectures, workshops and design studios, by staff drawn from both the architecture and planning schools, who are leading experts in their fields. Design Tutors include leading practitioners who bring their experience of cutting edge practice to the core of design studio work.

• The course is recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute as a 'specialist' masters for those who have completed at least a three-year RTPI recognised undergraduate spatial planning degree, allowing completion of the RTPI's educational requirements for membership. For further details visit the Royal Town Planning Institute website.

• Accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), allowing completion of the educational requirement for RICS membership.

Structure

This is a one-year full-time degree.

The course is structured to provide a set of three lecture-based modules and three studio-based design modules, followed by a dissertation in the form of a research-based design project. The three lecture-based modules run in parallel with studio-based design projects which enable you to continually relate theory and practice.

Your research-based design project represents the culmination of your studies. You will be required to develop proposals relating to a chosen site, demonstrating an understanding of all aspects of urban design drawings and a written, reflective commentary.

You will have between 2-3 days of contact time each week, working between the design studio and your module lectures/seminars.

Core modules:

Urban Design Thinkers
Urban Design Foundation
Research Methods and Techniques
Development Management
Autumn Studio
Spring Studio
Research Based Design Project

Teaching

Teaching takes place in new light-filled studio spaces in the centre of the City. You will also have access to the latest modelling and workshop facilities in the Architecture School.

This MA is taught via lectures, workshops and design studios, by lecturers who are all experts in their fields – in geography, urban planning, urbanism, urban design and architecture. The design tutors also include leading practitioners who bring their experience of cutting-edge practice to the core of design studio work.

Studio teaching focuses on developing critically informed as well as creative and practical proposals for real sites, addressing important contemporary issues of design and urbanism.

Assessment

Non-design modules provide the foundations for developing understandings of urban design. These are assessed through:

• Essays
• Reports
• Presentations

Most of these provide the opportunities for summative assessment. However, tutorials, and a number of essays provide the opportunities for formative assessment.

Summative assessment is conducted at the end of each module. Formative assessment elements include design reviews, usually one or two per design module, and weekly tutorials also provide an opportunity for this.

Other forms of assessment include:

• Drawings
• Sketchbooks
• Viva voce examination of the dissertation
• Reports

Career Prospects

Graduates move onto careers as urban designers, or in urban design related work. Most of these careers are to be found within the wider areas of architecture, urban planning, property or public policy. These may be within the public, private or voluntary sectors. Some of our graduates continue to higher research degrees.

Guidance and mentoring on careers are provided during the year.

Fieldwork

As part of your studies you will take a field study visit within a UK city or a city in mainland Europe, which is fully funded within the advertised fees.

Study visits are an intrinsic part of this programme. Where your experience during the visits inform assessed assignments in required core modules, the visits are compulsory.

These field study visits are compulsory since experiences of urban design ‘in the field’ are required for completing some assignments.
However, modified versions of the field trips may be allowed at the discretion of the Course Director.

The trip will require you to move around the city and make observations and presentations during these journeys. Every effort will be made to accommodate students with disabilities. It is advisable to speak to the Course Director about the possibility of adjustments before enrolling.

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This programme encourages students to take a risk, to test the boundaries of the discipline and push their design ideas beyond personally predetermined limits.

You will develop an enhanced research and design proposal, culminating in a new body of work that will showcase your development and achievements.

This unique and convention-breaking programme has a strong emphasis on personal creative freedom and design innovation, ensuring you have the best chance of employment and career development upon graduation.

You will be encouraged to challenge your existing research and design knowledge and develop new skills and networks. You are expected to experiment and explore: independent study is paramount but underpinned by a number of supporting projects, workshops and events.

We expect collaboration within the School of Design, with the creative industries and where appropriate with external clients to allow you to realise personal and project possibilities to the full. There is a strong international student input which introduces diverse experience and encourages wide-ranging thinking.

We encourage bold, lateral approaches, coupled with a clear understanding of process and technique, to produce innovative, emotive and enduring design from students who learn through intense, sustained involvement with the design process.

Programme structure

The curriculum is student-led with an emphasis on independent learning. With tutorial guidance, you will negotiate and develop a programme of study based on personal areas of research and practice, alongside set projects to support and inform your line of enquiry.

You will initially focus on the research and development of a study proposal. With support from our dynamic team of experienced tutors (all industry practitioners or researchers) you will be encouraged to expand on your preconceived ideas and let your findings dictate future development. We expect you to engage in sophisticated design dialogue to push your ideas to their full potential. There is a hotbed of debate and prototyping before any designs are taken into production.

The written context of the programme helps amplify and contextualise your understanding of process and this wider awareness of design feeds back into your practice-based work. You will produce written context assignments alongside studio based work.

Career opportunities

We are committed to providing our students with enhanced career prospects and the ability to achieve at the highest level. Graduates are professionally vital and well-informed, and are able to enter the design industry with a freshness of approach and the flexibility and adaptability to be able to respond to change.

Our Graphic Design graduates work in a wide range of creative career paths. The variety of projects, approaches and opportunities on course enable graduates to apply their knowledge and experience of the design process and their considerable skills onto many disciplines. Typically though our graduates leave to become valuable members of a graphic design agency.

Our extensive links with industry built through industry-led projects and staff research, and our range of visiting speakers, ensures that graduates are aware of the full range of career possibilities and are provided with a strong footing from which to develop their chosen career.

Previous career paths have included experiential design, packaging, advertising, digital design, interaction design, exhibition design, design research, marketing, retail design, exhibition design, multimedia, design management, education. Graduates may freelance or seek employment within a company.

A specific scheme we run within the programme is the Design Agency project which, in 2013, won a Guardian University Award for Employability Initiative.

Design Agency is a flagship initiative that enables graphic design students to form their own design agencies. They create their own brand for the agency and work collectively towards a common objective based on ability, regardless of age or experience. Edinburgh-based design agencies act as ‘mentor partners’ to the student agencies. The long-term relationships that are built with mentors ensures that students have the chance to show, over an extended period rather than just a few weeks on placement, what they can contribute to potential employers.

In 2013, the ECA Design Agency won the Guardian University Awards 2013 prize for Employability Initiative, with the judges praising its ambition and said its risk-taking innovation “should be applauded.”

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As a cultivated form of invention, design shapes, modifies and alters the world around us for better or worse, and the need for modern design to be more sustainable and ethically responsible has never been more important.

Many multinational companies, research centres, governments and individuals acknowledge that a change in attitude to the way we design products, spaces, communications and communities is a positive step and long overdue. Indeed, over the last 10 years, commercial understanding of sustainable design has transformed, shifting from being about risk and compliance to a dynamic leadership issue.

Our Sustainable Design MA helps you to rethink the parameters of good design in an unsustainable age. Working alongside experts in ecology, psychology, design and business, you will gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to focus your practice and become a more effective agent of change.

Why study with us?

• Interdisciplinary approach to sustainable design that incorporates ideas from ecology, psychology and business with a balance of theory and practice
• Campus in one of Europe's most progressive and creative cities
• World-renowned staff, including sustainable design expert Professor Jonathan Chapman
• Guest lecturers from industry including Louis Joseph (head of global strategy at Puma), Richard Gilbert (director of The Agency for Design) and Oliver Heath (founder of OH Designs)
• Diverse student body with backgrounds in graphic design, illustration, architecture, fashion, education, politics and product design

Areas of study

• Sustainable Design: Present(s)
Semester one, 20 credits

You start with a foundation in sustainable design principles, theories and methodologies. Themes include cradle to cradle, low-carbon building and production, design for recycling, biodegradability, biomimicry, alternative energy, ecological thinking, permaculture, and disassembly.

• Research Methods
Semester one, 20 credits

This module gives you an overview of design research methods and how they are used in professional practice. It enables you to construct the kind of research questions, hypotheses and methodologies that underpin innovative design, as you develop a more autonomous position in the process of critical inquiry.

• Studio
Semesters one and two, 60 credits

The Studio module spans two projects – ‘Behaviours’ and ’Matters’. The Behaviours project takes place in semester one and provides you with a theoretical context for the studio-based investigation, analysis and generation of essential design criteria that shape patterns of consumption.

In semester two, you undertake the Matters project, a studio-based experience that places emphasis on materiality and the nature of physical experience as mediated through the design, production and physical manifestation of things.

• Sustainable Design: Future(s)
Semester two, 20 credits

This module takes the form of a series of seminars, workshops and discussion groups where specialist practitioners, writers, researchers, manufacturers and theorists present their work on sustainability. It covers themes including consumer motivation, behaviour, phenomenology, deep ecology, temporality, consciousness, emotional durability, materiality, defuturing and experience-authoring.

• Master
Semester three, 60 credits

The Master project represents the culmination of your work throughout the course. It allows you to apply all of the experiences and skills that you have accumulated, as you choose an area of sustainable design that you want to pursue in detail.

You work is structured by an individually defined 'statement of intent' that provides the framework through which you will be assessed. This process enables you to explore distinctive areas of expertise with a unique approach to the ubiquitous issues of sustainability and design.

The final body of master work must be developed through practices relevant to you and your statement of intent. These might include the development and production of design proposals, a written thesis, a documentary, an ad campaign, an article for a leading publication, a touring exhibition or a combination of the above.

Our studio

From 2016, students will work in the new Masters Centre, which provides studio, seminar and tutorial space for all postgraduate students in the School of Architecture and Design.

Students on MA Sustainable Design will have dedicated studio space with access to workshop and digital model making facilities. More specialised materials and making requirements can be supported on an individual basis with colleagues in engineering, crafts and arts.

Careers and employability

After graduation, many students secure influential positions within major global businesses, charities and NGOs.

A number of our students establish independent design agencies, social innovation labs and research centres. Many decide to continue their research in the form of a PhD, and have a particularly strong record of achieving fully funded studentships, both here at Brighton and internationally.

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This course is concerned with the advanced exploration and application of principles of graphic design within the contexts of research and professional development. Engagement with digital and making technologies is central to discovering and harnessing new thinking in design.

This course is of particular relevance to those interested in effective visual communication and developing innovative concepts and approaches in publication design, illustration, motion graphics, corporate identity, photography, design for digital media and graphic design for advertising.

Design Network

Based in the heart of the School of Art, MA/MFA Design: Graphic Design and Art Direction is part of an innovative design network — a community of staff and students exploring design ideas in a discursive, cross-disciplinary studio environment. Critically informed practical designers, the group works experimentally, inspired by new insights and possibilities.

While studying towards a particular qualification at MA/MFA level, students experience their subject in the broader context of contemporary design practice.

Specialist Environment

Dedicated spaces for the postgraduate community have been developed to enable the postgraduate community to flourish. These spaces, for thinking and practice, are located centrally within the School of Art, allowing easy access to an extensive range of workshops where the combination of traditional and state of the art equipment opens up a world of exciting possibilities.

Course Content

The MA Design: Graphic Design and Art Direction is made up of four units totalling 180 credits.

The programme is designed to help you acclimatise to the challenges of MA level research and practice, enabling you to identify and describe a clear direction for your postgraduate design study.

You will be encouraged to develop design propositions that encompass key design issues and have complexity and ambition, taking full consideration of the relative contextual drivers.

You will also be encouraged and supported to extend your experience in the professional sphere either through a practical project, research context, exchange, work experience, or other negotiated professional set of interactions with an external partner, groups of students and creative industry.

Towards the end of the programme you will undertake a major project to consolidate your past research and practice into fully realised collections, pieces, proposals, business plans, or exhibitions – whatever means is appropriate to the work. You will also have developed a strategy for the continuation of your practice located and contextualised to the profession or discipline.

If you choose to progress to MFA Design: Graphic Design and Art Direction award you will study a further two units of 60 credits each.

This route is focused on the continuation of your practice aligned to the research and selection of appropriate public or professional venues and platforms to disseminate a significant body of work. You will be required to produce work for a public audience in the most relevant and appropriate form along with any implicit publicity and dissemination material.

Resources

We have developed a dedicated postgraduate area occupying an entire floor of the main School of Art building, offering an exciting space to be, both intellectually and practically. The centre is located in the newly refurbished Chatham Tower with studios, design laboratories, seminar rooms and extensive workshops that form the nucleus of this vibrant, cross-disciplinary learning environment.

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Introduction

MA Interaction Design Communication is a practice-led design course that prepares students to design for an increasingly technologically informed and interdisciplinary design world with skills in the following areas: interaction design, design prototyping, physical computing, user centered design, open source digital platforms, design research, foresight and insight, experience design, communication design, speculative and critical design, interactive design and digital arts.

Content

MA Interaction Design Communication provides an opportunity for experimental practice in an area of design that increasingly explores the intersection of the physical and digital domains. With a focus on synthesising thought through rigorous design prototyping (making), digital processes and user perspectives, the course is highly reflective of interdisciplinary practice within the contemporary design, media and communications industries.

The integrated approach of the course to critical thinking provides you with the opportunity to work with critical ideas in an applied design context – for example psycho-geographic practice as empirical research or engaging with other critical theories of space to generate user perspectives. This ensures that ideation processes take on both the macro as well as micro opportunities for innovation and speculation crucial to building a portfolio of highly engaged work.

As well as placing you in a position to work across the board spectrum of interaction, design and communication the course is just as interested in design questions as design answers. This means that the course also prepares you for progression to further design research at MPhil/PhD level as well as to advanced self-directed experimental practice.

LCC has an outstanding team of practitioners and published researchers and enjoys a powerful programme of visiting speakers. The course also benefits from a cross-European collaboration with design industry professionals and higher education institutions and there is an opportunity to visit at least one other centre in Europe during the course.

Structure

Phase 1

1.1 Theories and Technologies of Interaction Design (40 credits)
1.2 Research Practice and Human Centered Design (20 credits)

Phase 2

2.1 Interaction Futures and Speculative Design (40 credits)
2.2 Physical Computing and Design Prototyping (20 credits)

Phase 3

Unit 3.1 Final Major Research Project

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This taught research course gives you the opportunity to carry out in-depth original research into design practice while developing the skills to become an independent, critical thinker and effective design researcher.

The taught modules provide a framework of transferable skills that apply to all researchers as well as those relevant to your chosen pathway subject of Arts, Design, English Literature, History, Social Science, or Media.

You will gain an understanding of research methods while developing expert professional skills in communication, self-management, and project planning. You will devise and deliver a significant research-based project in the form of a dissertation or practical arts based project, to demonstrate your interests and ability to think independently.

Whether you go on to further PhD study, or work as a researcher for a range of public services and professions, this course gives you the research and professional skills for a successful career.

Learn From The Best

Mark Bailey is Director of Innovation Design and leads the University’s partnership with Unilever. He spent 10 years in the Aerospace industry working on advanced passenger and business jet concepts.

After graduating from Northumbria’s School of Design, Bruce Montgomery became a designer for fashion brands including Katherine Hamnett, Moschino and Jeff Banks.

Matthew Lievesley has helped develop improved care-pathways for people with Type II Diabetes in collaboration with Newcastle University Medical School.

Dr Irini Pitsaki specialises in Design Management and Strategic Brand Management with more than 15 years of experience as a researcher and lecturer in higher education.

Dr Mersha Aftab’s current work looks at Role of Design at strategic level in multinational industries. Her passion for teaching led to a full time lectureship teaching Innovation.

Dr Stuart English is a specialist in design led innovation, and the creator of Ideas-lab. He leads a portfolio of postgraduate programmes.

Elizabeth MacLarty has a degree in Fine Art from Leeds University and her research interests include the relationship of theory to practice, particularly in Design Education teaching practice.

Teaching And Assessment

You’ll learn through a combination of discipline-specific and core framework modules that develop your research skills.

You’ll undertake a dissertation or project of 20,000 words (or 10,000 word dissertation in support of a practical project for Arts practice researchers). This can be either a specialist, in-depth study based upon a substantial body of subject-relevant sources or a you can take a broader ranging approach crossing over a number of disciplines.

You will also take two discipline-specific modules that examine the key themes, traditions, and debates in your chosen discipline.

You’ll be assessed by a mixture of traditional and innovative practices, including dissertation (or equivalent project), oral and written presentations, critical reviews, and portfolios of work.

The academic team will help you develop the skills required to plan, manage and review your learning.

Learning Environment

Northumbria's School of Design was named one of Europe’s top design schools by US Business Week magazine and has an international reputation for innovation and creativity.

It has been fitted out with state-of-the-art facilities and the latest in design technology including:

- Dedicated exhibition gallery and outdoor show spaces
- Modern presentation rooms with the latest screening facilities
- Digital photography studio
- CAD suites
- Traditional letterpress and screen printing
- The latest in computer numerically controlled machinery
- Extensive 3D prototyping workshops
- Industry standard textile, printing, knit and garment
- Construction facilities
- Sound studios and recording booths
- Interaction and animation studios
- Mobile laptop facilities
- Postgraduate, research and consultancy suites

Alongside teaching staff with experience as designers, technicians, craftsmen and journalists, you’ll also learn from visiting designers and design professionals.

Research-Rich Learning

Northumbria is in the UK top 10 for research power in Arts and Design. The School of Design hosts three research groups:

Design Issues
This research group addresses complex social and cultural issues from a design perspective. They work on themes such as social care issues with the Carers Centre Newcastle and Alzheimer’s Scotland and socio-economic challenges with Newcastle YMCA and Traidcraft.

Design Innovation and Research Methods
This group focuses on innovating and creating value across society by applying design-led innovation and better research methods to support the work of designers in context. Work involves the industrial and commercial sector, such as design's role in corporate innovation and creativity in product manufacturing and service organisations.

Design Making
This research group focuses on materials and the cultural and technology benefits of making in society. Researchers work in product, industrial, interaction, service, textile, craft, fashion and interior design disciplines.

Give Your Career An Edge

This course will give you skills for life-long learning, including critical skills and attitudes, presentation skills, and the ability to reflect and evaluate abilities. These are all attractive traits and in demand from employers.

You’ll be able to demonstrate critical awareness of research and scholarship in your chosen design discipline and show that you are self-motivated, disciplined and possess a thirst for independent learning.

Throughout the course, you’ll build on your undergraduate skills, adding intensity, complexity and depth of study as you also develop communication, time management and highly developed research and inquiry skills.

Your studies have a real world focus and you’ll have the opportunity to work with external partners and industries to develop your experience and network of contacts. We seek to nurture home-grown talent to support and grow the economic, social, cultural and intellectual capital of the region and beyond.

Your Future

Northumbria boasts an illustrious design alumni list including Sir Jonathan Ive, principal designer of the iPad, iPhone and iMac. Rob Law MBE, Founder of Trunki, Nicola Morgan, Designer, Lanvin, Paris, and Tim Brown, Chief Executive, IDEO.

As a graduate you’ll be able to demonstrate critical thinking and judgement and will leave equipped with excellent practical, communication, and transferable skills.

You will become an expert on your chosen research topic and well placed to use this as a platform to excel in your career and contribute to the community and the wider world in which you live.

On graduating, you will have a qualification which may enhance your promotion prospects in the fields of teaching, professional research, museums and archives, public policy, and project management.

There are also opportunities for you to advance your studies further, with advice in writing PhD and funding applications available to support students.

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This course promotes the investigation and interpretation of interior space, inside and outside of the traditional architectural envelope, whilst considering human occupation, engagement and experience as the catalyst. This may manifest in a variety of outcomes and will allow you to work within your chosen speciality such as building re-use, exhibition or shop design, branding, identities or environmental graphics, performance or set design, temporary installations or ‘event’ design, furniture or artefact design. The specialist workshops provide you with opportunities to explore materiality, fabrication and realisation of your ideas, through technical rigour at a variety of scales whilst studio teaching is underpinned by engagement with industry.

Design Network

Based in the heart of the School of Art, MA/MFA Design: Interior Design is part of an innovative design network — a community of staff and students exploring design ideas in a discursive, cross-disciplinary studio environment. Critically informed practical designers, the group works experimentally, inspired by new insights and possibilities.

While studying towards a particular qualification at MA/MFA level, students experience their subject in the broader context of contemporary design practice.

Specialist Environment

Dedicated spaces for the postgraduate community have been developed to enable the postgraduate community to flourish. These spaces, for thinking and practice, are located centrally within the School of Art, allowing easy access to an extensive range of workshops where the combination of traditional and state of the art equipment opens up a world of exciting possibilities.

Course Content

The MA Design: Interior Design is made up of four units totalling 180 credits.

The programme is designed to help you acclimatise to the challenges of MA level research and practice, enabling you to identify and describe a clear direction for your postgraduate design study.

You will be encouraged to develop design propositions that encompass key design issues and have complexity and ambition, taking full consideration of the relative contextual drivers.

You will also be encouraged and supported to extend your experience in the professional sphere either through a practical project, research context, exchange, work experience, or other negotiated professional set of interactions with an external partner, groups of students and creative industry.

Towards the end of the programme you will undertake a major project to consolidate your past research and practice into fully realised collections, pieces, proposals, business plans, or exhibitions – what ever means is appropriate to the work. You will also have developed a strategy for the continuation of your practice located and contextualised to the profession or discipline.

If you choose to progress to MFA Design: Interior Design award you will study a further two units of 60 credits each.

This route is focussed on the continuation of your practice aligned to the research and selection of appropriate public or professional venues and platforms to disseminate a significant body of work. You will be required to produce work for a public audience in the most relevant and appropriate form along with any implicit publicity and dissemination material.

Resources

We have developed a dedicated postgraduate area occupying an entire floor of the main School of Art building, offering an exciting space to be, both intellectually and practically. The centre is located in the newly refurbished Chatham Tower with studios, design laboratories, seminar rooms and extensive workshops that form the nucleus of this vibrant, cross-disciplinary learning environment.

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