Masters Degrees (Packaging Design)

Develop your existing knowledge and experience as a designer, exploiting our significant research expertise to enhance your own design and research skills to a new level.

We place emphasis on personal research, giving you the chance to develop your own interests and ideas in a challenging and supportive environment. Our aim is to help you to become a creative, imaginative and versatile packaging designer who can operate independently or as a member of a design team.

You can work alongside our packaging design consultancy, Design Futures, and with researchers from other design areas. We also have contacts with leading design agencies and design organisations and encourage you to work collaboratively with them.

There are opportunities to participate in study trips and visits to design conferences and debates.

Project-based course

You choose your own project content and this is supported by lectures and seminars dealing with professional practice issues and reviewing your progress. You also take part in regular group and individual tutorials.

Your final major project is the culmination of your research and studio-based design practice. It demonstrates that you can deal with difficult contemporary questions and take a leading role as a design professional.

Research-led expertise

We are one of the oldest established art and design institutions in the UK, renowned for producing internationally recognised research. Your projects are supported by lecturers who are packaging design specialists.

Vibrant and supportive learning environment

During the course you regularly take part in constructive critical debates about your own work and that of your peers. You need to communicate your research, ideas and designs in ways that are appropriate to professional leadership.

You study alongside MA and MFA Design students for part of your course and benefit from a vibrant, international, collaborative and supportive postgraduate environment.

Excellent facilities and creative resources

You have access to a huge range of creative resources to experiment and engage with including • 3D printing for rapid prototyping • state-of-the-art hardware and software • photography studios • a creative media centre • a gallery • well-equipped workshops.

You also have access to our award-winning learning centre featuring a specialist art, design and media library and extensive online resources.

MA and MFA study

MA and MFA students complete the same modules during the course except that MFA students complete an extra project module. The MFA project encourages you to develop professional skills that help you to identify, instigate, and deliver projects with external partners, such as communities, galleries or businesses. You find a project partner, agree a brief and then deliver the project to a professional standard.

We are normally asked to shortlist applicants before recommending a small number to apply. If this happens, we consider your interview, portfolio of work, academic qualifications and learning aims. We aim to pick people whose abilities and aims are relevant for the company and who are most likely to be successful in a competitive interview.

This course is part of the Sheffield Institute of Arts (SIA), an amazing, diverse community of makers – where staff, students and partners work as equals to deliver real innovation and creativity. SIA opened in 1843 and is one of the UK's oldest Art and Design Schools. We have recently moved into the Head Post Office, a redesigned Grade II listed building. It includes state-of-the-art workshops which provide you with a unique studio-based learning environment in the heart of the creative community.

Course structure

FULL-TIME

Semester one

• project 1 • theory supporting practice

Semester two

• project 2 • negotiated project

Semester three

• major project

Semester four – MFA students only

• MFA project

PART-TIME

Semester one (year 1)

• theory supporting practice • negotiated project

Semester two (year 2)

• project 1 • project 2

Semester three (year 3)

• major project

Semester four – MFA students only (year 4)

• MFA project

Assessment

Assessment and feedback are vital parts of the learning process in creative disciplines. Most assessment is through individual project work which combines research and creative practice. Assessment calls for both excellent creative work and well-documented research.

Employability

Packaging is a huge worldwide industry with excellent job opportunities for talented people. At postgraduate level, packaging design presents you with a range of career opportunities including branding, advertising and product development where the ability to originate fresh thinking is paramount.

An increasing number of our design graduates are undertaking more advanced further study through research degrees (PhD) in our Art and Design Research Centre, which has a leading position in the advancement of creative practice in design. Working on a research degree in our Art and Design Research Centre provides the opportunity to become one of a team dedicated to the advancement of creative practice within packaging design.

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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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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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This course encourages the exploration and understanding of the methods and processes at work in contemporary visual communication, and will further develop your personal practice and approach to graphic design. It focuses on individual research and inquiry and helps you to develop your understanding of the significance of the wider cultural role of the visual designer. In addition, you will be introduced to disciplinary and interdisciplinary models of thinking that will underpin your own focused study on the course.

Key features
-The emphasis on problem finding, research methods and critical thinking is intended to enhance your long-term employment possibilities through an understanding of the changing global, technological and social context of design.
-The course is taught by academics who are also practising designers and researchers in design. This is supported by studio visits and visiting tutors from industry, live projects, competitions, lectures and workshops.
-Core modules are studied with students from across the Design School's postgraduate community.

What will you study?

Project work will challenge you to develop and enhance your existing ways of working. You will explore the importance of research in underpinning your practice and will be encouraged to build your own visual language and ‘tools' in response to set briefs within each module. In the final stage of the course, you will propose and develop your independent major project. You will be taught by experienced academics and specialist tutors from industry who encourage you to develop your understanding of the relationship between words, pictures and their means of communication and transmission.

Assessment

Project work: visual research, written project report/summary, exhibition, and final major project.

Course structure

This specialist pathway of the Communication Design MA course is part of the School of Design's postgraduate programme. The structure – shared with students from Product & Furniture Design MA, Sustainable Design MA and Fashion MA – enables you to explore your individual specialist interests in graphic design within an integrative learning environment that provides a comprehensive understanding of the value and role of interdisciplinary methods and ways of working. The influences and impact of thinking from other related design subjects on your own specialist study is an important aspect of the identity and the community of interdisciplinary practice at masters level in the School of Design.

This structure is designed to help progress and develop your independent learning, encouraging you to construct and explore projects concerned with areas of particular personal interests. The overarching course philosophy, based upon an emphasis on research, methodology and design thinking, allows individual and personal concerns to be explored through focused study in graphic design.

The two shared modules of the School of Design's Postgraduate Framework both commence with a symposium, in which high-profile external speakers present their work and contribute to a debate on a topic of relevance to all courses in the Framework.

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MA Graphic Design explores the ever-changing landscape of graphic design, to create insightful and well-defined specialist projects. The course is uniquely centred around the staged creation of a year long self initiated design project which builds critical understand and alongside practical design applications. A journey that focuses on individual research and enquiry, asks questions, promotes curiosity and build design investigations, to meet the needs of tomorrow's ambitious designers and their future at the leading edge of the Creative Industries.


Why you should study MA Graphic Design at Middlesex

At Middlesex there is an opportunity to fully submerge your self within the discipline of graphic design and be part of the well-established, award winning Graphic Design Department. Where we take a problem solving approach to Graphic Design to explore contemporary design practice through design thinking, insight and co-design processes, prototyping ideas, methods of design analysis and through building expert collaborative networks and external partners. Students come from a wide range of design and creative backgrounds, all with their own individual skill set, experience and cultural background. A diverse working collective, working across project areas of typography & information, brand identity & campaigns, new technology & digital experiences, design writing & insight analysis, sustainability & environmental issues, structural packaging and book design.

Based in our £80 million Art and Design School and taught by some of the UK's leading practitioners from a range of disciplines, our course features world-class facilities and specialist workshops fitted with both new and traditional equipment. With opportunities to build industry contacts and exhibit your work off-site, you'll also gain the employability skills, exposure and experiences you need to navigate a successful career path in today's competitive creative industries.

Course highlights:

- Our facilities are among the best in the UK, with fully equipped 3d workshops, laser cutting and 3d printing, printmaking and letterpress, digital printing, reprographics, bookbinding and fully equipped photography, animation and film studios, with expert technical support
- Each self-initiated project is tailored to the individual to support individual specialism and next stage links to industry, research, design writing, PhD or education. With the aim to establish expert links and specialist networks for each project.
- An exhibition of your work in central London to create networking opportunities, build industry contacts in a professional environment
- To contribute to research themes within the course and be part of a growing alumni collective.
- Access to networking opportunities, world-leading design research and expertise through the Art & Design Research Institute (ADRI) on campus

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The Food Design Master’s degree program enables students to become design professionals in the food industry, exploring all related sectord. Combining marketing management and communication skills with design innovation, the program’s education model engages with design ssensitivity and methodology for food packaging, tourism, nutrition, agriculture, retail, restaurants, science, objects and experiences.

The program combines a focus on food-related markets with design approach and methodologies. This creates a food designer who is able to:
• Manage the design of processes, methods and spaces where products are processed, distributed and consumed.
• Manage food in terms of its aesthetics, communication and representation.
• Manage the equipment and tools used to prepare and consume food.
• Coordinate the communication activities implemented for the promotion of food products.

The Master’s in Food Design and Innovation program is comprised of lessons, design workshops, and seminars with the leaders of the food and agriculture industry and of the design field: entrepreneurs, managers, journalists, food critics, designers, architects, publishers and chefs.

In addition, students will visit food companies, concept stores, and restaurants, as well as important gastronomic fairs and events. At the end of the course, students will have an internship experience in a company, agency or firm working in the field. This masters is held in collaboration with important companies and firms of the food industry.

The course lasts one year (from February/March) and is entirely taught in English language.

QUALIFICATION

After passing the final exam, students will obtain a taught Master’s Degree from IULM and SPD. The Master corresponds to 60 ECTS credits. The Master is managed and organized by: Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM and Scuola Politecnica di Design SPD jointly.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Founded in Milan in 1954, SPD Scuola Politecnica di Design is the first postgraduate school for design disciplines in Italy. Situated in Milan, the capital of design, Scuola Politecnica di Design pioneered design education thanks to its solid grounding and to its peculiar approach integrating different domains: ergonomics, art, perception studies, semiotics.

Today, SPD is an international laboratory for the exchange of ideas, experience and creativity in order to develop projects. Since its foundation the school has welcomed an extraordinary community of students from various countries and backgrounds.

All courses are taught in a personalized and small learning environment promoting easy contact with the faculty and the staff. Indeed, at SPD every student is followed individually by a faculty formed by designers, professionals from different fields and visiting tutors.

The masters programs offered by SPD are organized in collaboration with IULM University, and award academic degrees recognized by the Italian Ministry of Education, The University and Research MIUR, corresponding to 60 credits under the ECTS system.

The teaching method at Scuola Politecnica di Design is arranged into intensive workshops, studio classes, theoretical lectures, seminars and visits. Research work is carried out in collaboration with leading companies such as Volkswagen, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Heineken, IKEA, Artemide and Poltrona Frau Group among the others.

These projects are deveopped according to an interdisciplinary approach which is a testing ground for the student’s skills, from the concept idea to its execution.

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This Automotive Design MA course is suitable for both aspiring practitioners of automotive design and those aiming for design management positions.

This course will equip you with the skills required of a designer in the automotive industry. It contains elements of two and three-dimensional design and provides the opportunity to apply CAD to automotive projects.

WHY CHOOSE THIS COURSE?

-Lectures delivered by senior figures in automotive design and business
-Option of working on a project set by the automotive industry
-Recent collaborators include PSA (Peugeot-Citroen), Ford and Renault

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

The first term will be spent achieving a grounding in the basics of automotive design. Vehicle packaging, automotive modelling, and the business of the automotive industry are all covered in lectures, seminars and studio classes within the first three months. We have an ongoing programme of visiting lectures delivered by senior figures in automotive design, automotive journalism and business.

The second term will involve further skill developments plus a 'live' design project run in conjunction with the automotive industry. Our recent collaborators include PSA (Peugeot-Citroen), Ford and Renault. During this exciting project you will learn to work in teams to achieve a design output for demanding clients.

During the third term you will undertake more design projects and start researching for your MA major project. Your major project takes up the whole of the final term, leading up to the industry-sponsored MA Degree Show at the end of the year.

TEACHING CONTACT HOURS

We do not offer a part-time evening or weekend pattern of delivery, but if you wish to study part time during the day, please contact the course director to explore further.

HOW WILL THIS COURSE ENHANCE MY CAREER PROSPECTS?

Recent graduates have been recruited by manufacturers and consultants in Europe and the Far East keen to acquire their skills in and knowledge of the automotive design process. Career options include:
-Automotive design
-Research
-Teaching and design management

GLOBAL LEADERS PROGRAMME

To prepare students for the challenges of the global employment market and to strengthen and develop their broader personal and professional skills Coventry University has developed a unique Global Leaders Programme.

The objectives of the programme, in which postgraduate and eligible undergraduate students can participate, is to provide practical career workshops and enable participants to experience different business cultures.

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Introduction

MA Industrial Design applies intellectual development directly to design practice, empowering you take on a strategic role, to identify and respond to trends, to initiate new design approaches, and to thrive in multidisciplinary teams.

Content

Flexible, imaginative, innovative and collaborative, industrial designers must respond to rapid commercial and technological change. Increasingly, designers are called on to take a proactive role in industry and to get involved in strategic decision-making.

This course is part of the Ceramic, Industrial and Product Design programme. MA Industrial Design students anticipate and initiate change in all areas of industrial design - in consumer-durable and capital goods, in transport, packaging and sanitary ware, in furniture for private, corporate or public environments, in architectural space, in interface design and design management, and in strategies for corporate and governmental development.

The relationships between industrial designers, manufacturers, retailers, purchasers and users are constantly being renegotiated, demanding greater flexibility and wider knowledge of industry and commerce. Against this backdrop, managerial skills are often as important as the engineering and creative skills required to develop design concepts. MA Industrial Design emphasises self-directed and peer-group learning, benefiting hugely from the range of cultures and backgrounds represented by our students.

Structure

MA Industrial Design lasts 60 weeks structured as two consecutive periods of 30 weeks each (i.e. two academic years) in its 'extended full-time mode'.

MA Industrial Design is credit rated at 180 credits, and comprises 2 units. Unit 1 (60 credits) lasts 20 weeks. Unit 2 (120 credits) runs for 10 weeks in the first year and 30 weeks in the second year.

Both units must be passed in order to achieve the MA, but the classification of the award of MA derives from your mark for Unit 2 only.

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This course will prepare you for the creative industries, to become strategic with your visionary approach, capable of formulating inspired, creative designs based upon sound design strategy and research methodology. You'll be able to lead the creative design direction with flair and precision, to provide successful designs through discerning analysis and synthesis of human needs and design form. You may have come from, or have a wish to enter, a broad and diverse range of creative design industries: from graphics and packaging to product, exhibition and furniture, or to transport and spatial design.

Core units:
Design Aesthetics
Design Interaction
Business Innovation & Enterprise
Design Management
Materials Optimisation for Sustainability
Research Methods
Individual Master's Project

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Microsystems Engineering is one of the most dynamic and interdisciplinary engineering fields. The Master of Science program in Microsystems Engineering (MSE) provides the educational basis for your success in this field. The MSE program is designed for highly qualified graduate students holding a Bachelor degree in engineering or science.

In the first year 12 mandatory courses provide the fundamental theoretical framework for a future career in Microsystems. These courses are designed to provide students with a broad knowledge base in the most important aspects of the field:

• MSE technologies and processes
• Microelectronics
• Micro-mechanics
• MSE design laboratory I
• Optical Microsystems
• Sensors
• Probability and statistics
• Assembly and packaging technology
• Dynamics of MEMS
• Micro-actuators
• Biomedical Microsystems
• Micro-fluidics
• MSE design laboratory II
• Signal processing

As part of the mandatory courses, the Microsystems design laboratory is a two-semester course in which small teams of students undertake a comprehensive, hands-on design project in Microsystems engineering. Requiring students to address all aspects of the generation of a microsystem, from conceptualization, through project planning to fabrication and testing, this course provides an essential glimpse into the workings of engineering projects.

In the second year, MSE students can specialise in two of the following seven concentration areas (elective courses), allowing each student to realize individual interests and to obtain an in-depth look at two sub-disciplines of this very broad, interdisciplinary field:

• Circuits and systems
• Design and simulation
• Life sciences: Biomedical engineering
• Life sciences: Lab-on-a-chip
• Materials
• Process engineering
• Sensors and actuators

Below are some examples of subjects offered in the concentration areas. These subjects do not only include theoretical lectures, but also hands-on courses such as labs, projects and seminars.

Circuits and Systems
• Analog CMOS Circuit Design
• Mixed-Signal CMOS Circuit Design
• VLSI – System Design
• RF- und Microwave Devices and Circuits
• Micro-acoustics
• Radio sensor systems
• Optoelectronic devices
• Reliability Engineering
• Lasers
• Micro-optics
• Advanced topics in Macro-, Micro- and Nano-optics


Design and Simulation
• Topology optimization
• Compact Modelling of large Scale Systems
• Lattice Gas Methods
• Particle Simulation Methods
• VLSI – System Design
• Hardware Development using the finite element method
• Computer-Aided Design

Life Sciences: Biomedical Engineering
• Signal processing and analysis of brain signals
• Neurophysiology I: Measurement and Analysis of Neuronal Activity
• Neurophysiology II: Electrophysiology in Living Brain
• DNA Analytics
• Basics of Electrostimulation
• Implant Manufacturing Techologies
• Biomedical Instrumentation I
• Biomedical Instrumentation II

Life Sciences: Lab-on-a-chip
• DNA Analytics
• Biochip Technologies
• Bio fuel cell
• Micro-fluidics 2: Platforms for Lab-on-a-Chip Applications

Materials
• Microstructured polymer components
• Test structures and methods for integrated circuits and microsystems
• Quantum mechanics for Micro- and Macrosystems Engineering
• Microsystems Analytics
• From Microsystems to the nano world
• Techniques for surface modification
• Nanomaterials
• Nanotechnology
• Semiconductor Technology and Devices

MEMS Processing
• Advanced silicon technologies
• Piezoelectric and dielectric transducers
• Nanotechnology

Sensors and Actuators
• Nonlinear optic materials
• CMOS Microsystems
• Quantum mechanics for Micro- and Macrosystems Engineering
• BioMEMS
• Bionic Sensors
• Micro-actuators
• Energy harvesting
• Electronic signal processing for sensors and actuators


Essential for the successful completion of the Master’s degree is submission of a Master’s thesis, which is based on a project performed during the third and fourth semesters of the program. Each student works as a member of one of the 18 research groups of the department, with full access to laboratory and cleanroom infrastructure.

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Our MA Graphic Design course has been structured to promote the role of designers as skilled professional communicators, and firmly embed a culture of research and problem solving into creative practice.

Our course, taught at UCA Epsom, aims to promote specialism and mastery in your own unique area of graphic design - which you'll identify and develop with us on this MA. Enabling you to produce meaningful outcomes from informed research is a top priority.

Using the extensive industry links brought by our course staff, you'll be encouraged to foster connections with industry partners within your area of specialism. With the help of visiting lecturers, industry experts and live briefs, you'll gain real-life experience of the design industry. And emphasis will be placed on how to present both yourself and your design work in a professional arena.

The industry orientation of this course is concerned with exploring graphic design languages in all their facets. You'll enhance your understanding of the aesthetic and commercial value of your work, and accrue professional experience which will add innovation to your practice.

On this course you'll taught through a range of lectures, workshops, tutorials, live pitches and presentations. We also place a strong emphasis on independent research.

Industry Partner

You'll benefit from well-established industry links with corporate, media, cultural and creative organisations.

Our course has links with:

-Design Bridge

-Pearlfisher (design group)

-FutureBrand

-The Brewery

-The BBC

-Imagine

-Bloom

-Interbrand

We also have regular guest lecturers and recent guests have included:

-Richard Williams - Founder of Williams Murray Hamm

-Tim Perkins - Group Director of Design Bridge

-Philip Carter - Founder of Carter Wong Tomlin

-Helen Healy - Picture Editor for the Guardian newspaper.

Careers

MA Graphic Design alumni go on to work in a diverse variety of exciting careers. Employment opportunities include:

-Graphic design

-Museum design

-Web or interactive design

-Picture editing

-Freelance design or illustration

-Brand design

-Packaging design

-Retail design

-Art direction

-Design management.

Virtual Media Space

Visit our Postgraduate Virtual Media Space to find out more about our courses, see what it's like to study at UCA and gain access to our campus virtual tours.

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This creative and experimental MA in Graphic Arts brings together graphic designers, illustrators, and individuals from related industries to engage with communication design practice at a deeper level. You will research, investigate and debate the nature and dynamics of communication, and explore how they can produce meaningful outcomes using conventional and unconventional forms.

You will develop your design process: from creative strategies for generating ideas; gathering and analysing information; producing text; to producing final outcomes to industry standards. Skills development is embedded throughout and a vital re-skilling stage, a series of technical workshops delivered by experienced technical staff, ensures you are up-to-date and industry-ready.

Students value the experience and expertise of staff and the extensive, cutting-edge facilities and workshop areas covering digital and traditional print, media, film and animation, fabrication, photography, and apple mac suites.

Course detail

You will benefit from the opportunities generated by the University's strong links to the creative and media industries. Regular guest speakers from industry and live collaborative projects provide invaluable opportunities to gain real-world knowledge and experience. Our students continue to perform well in both local and national awards and competitions.

The course will offer you the chance to extend your practice and explore new areas in the changing world of industry and design. Learning to be independent, to research effectively, to question and to be critical, and to sustain practice for the long term.

Students learn up to date technical skills in design for print, web, motion graphics, and fabrication.

Modules

• Introduction to Graphic Arts (30 credits)
• Research Practice (30 credits)
• Analysing Practice in Graphic Arts (30 credits)
• Developing Practice in Graphic Arts (30 credits)
• Extended Practice in Graphic Arts (60 credits)

Format

You will be based in the department's Graphic Design studios at one of our city centre locations. You will study through a combination of one to one tutorials, group tutorials, seminars, lectures, technical workshops and day projects. Initially there are set briefs to assist you in writing your own study proposal for the MA stage.

Assessment

You will be assessed by a combination of practical and written work at the end of each module.

Careers / Further study

Many of our graduates enter or continue employment in the creative industries as freelance designers whilst others run their own companies or work for large clients. Recent graduates have taken up positions at: The Creative Place Ltd, London; Graham & Green, London; and Proctor & Stevenson, Bristol. Others have secured work producing packaging design for supermarkets like Asda and Lidl. Some work in the education sector at Universities and Colleges in this country and beyond including University of Liverpool, University of Gloucester, Southampton Solent University, Filton College, Weston College, plus institutions abroad.

How to apply

Information on applications can be found at the following link: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/study/applyingtouwebristol/postgraduateapplications.aspx

Funding

- New Postgraduate Master's loans for 2016/17 academic year –

The government are introducing a master’s loan scheme, whereby master’s students under 60 can access a loan of up to £10,000 as a contribution towards the cost of their study. This is part of the government’s long-term commitment to enhance support for postgraduate study.

Scholarships and other sources of funding are also available.

More information can be found here: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/feesandfunding/fundingandscholarships/postgraduatefunding.aspx

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Develop your existing knowledge and experience as a designer, exploiting our significant research expertise to enhance your own design and research skills to a new level.

We place emphasis on personal research, giving you the chance to develop your own interests and ideas in a challenging and supportive environment. Graphic design covers a wide and diverse field, so our aim is to help you to become a creative, imaginative and versatile designer who can operate independently or as a member of a design team.

You can work alongside our packaging design consultancy, Design Futures, and with researchers from other design areas. We also have contacts with leading design agencies and design organisations and encourage you to work collaboratively with them.

There are opportunities to participate in study trips and visits to design conferences and debates.

Project-based course

You choose your own project content and this is supported by lectures and seminars dealing with professional practice issues and reviewing your progress. You also take part in regular group and individual tutorials.

Your final major project is the culmination of your research and studio-based design practice. It demonstrates that you can deal with difficult contemporary questions and take a leading role as a design professional.

Research-led expertise

We are one of the oldest established art and design institutions in the UK, renowned for producing internationally recognised research. Your projects are supported by lecturers who are graphic design specialists.

Vibrant and supportive learning environment

During the course you regularly take part in constructive critical debates about your own work and that of your peers. You need to communicate your research, ideas and designs in ways that are appropriate to professional leadership.

You study alongside MA and MFA Design students for part of your course and benefit from a vibrant, international, collaborative and supportive postgraduate environment.

Excellent facilities and creative resources

You have access to a huge range of creative resources to experiment and engage with including • 3D printing for rapid prototyping • state-of-the-art hardware and software • photography studios • a creative media centre • a gallery • well-equipped workshops.

You also have access to our award-winning learning centre featuring a specialist art, design and media library and extensive online resources.

MA and MFA study

MA and MFA students complete the same modules during the course except that MFA students complete an extra project module. The MFA project encourages you to develop professional skills that help you to identify, instigate, and deliver projects with external partners, such as communities, galleries or businesses. You find a project partner, agree a brief and then deliver the project to a professional standard.

We are normally asked to shortlist applicants before recommending a small number to apply. If this happens, we consider your interview, portfolio of work, academic qualifications and learning aims. We aim to pick people whose abilities and aims are relevant for the company and who are most likely to be successful in a competitive interview.

This course is part of the Sheffield Institute of Arts (SIA), an amazing, diverse community of makers – where staff, students and partners work as equals to deliver real innovation and creativity. SIA opened in 1843 and is one of the UK's oldest Art and Design Schools. We have recently moved into the Head Post Office, a redesigned Grade II listed building. It includes state-of-the-art workshops which provide you with a unique studio-based learning environment in the heart of the creative community.

Course structure

FULL-TIME STRUCTURE

Semester one

• project 1 • theory supporting practice

Semester two

• project 2 • negotiated project

Semester three

• major project

Semester four – MFA students only

• MFA project

PART-TIME STRUCTURE

Semester one (year 1)

• theory supporting practice • negotiated project

Semester two (year 2)

• project 1 • project 2

Semester three (year 3)

• major project

Semester four – MFA students only (year 4)

• MFA project

Assessment

Assessment and feedback are vital parts of the learning process in creative disciplines. Most assessment is through individual project work which combines research and creative practice. Assessment calls for both excellent creative work and well-documented research. 

Employability

There are many opportunities for employment or self-employment. We encourage you to take an enterprising approach and to strengthen your ability to develop your own business.

You can work in areas such as branding and advertising, where the ability to originate fresh thinking is essential.

An increasing number of our graduates undertake advanced further study through research degrees (PhD) in our Art and Design Research Centre, which has a leading position in the advancement of creative practice in design.

Sheffield is home to the largest concentration of creative production in the region. Support for creative industries in the city has encouraged home grown talent as well as practitioners relocating here.

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Study for your MPhil at Sheffield Hallam’s Cultural, Communication and Computing Research Institute (C3RI). C3RI an inspiringly diverse multidisciplinary group which makes connections between the research traditions of

• art
• design and media production
• communication studies
• computing.

The Institute consists of two research centres

• Art and Design Research Centre
• Communication and Computing Research Centre.

We provide an environment in which each discipline can develop its own approach to research. At the same time we bring people together on questions that cut across traditional subject boundaries.

Research activity at C3RI

Our work covers strategic and applied research as well as covering research into teaching and learning. Much of it is through partnerships with businesses and professional collaborators.

Research is supported by research councils, the European Union, commercial clients, charitable bodies and government.

We support a PhD research programme with over 80 students. We also maintain many knowledge transfer partnerships that support close collaboration between academics, researchers and industrial partners.

Design Futures

C3RI also houses Design Futures, a commercially-focused product and packaging design consultancy group based within Sheffield Hallam University.

Design Futures has had specialist design teams working exclusively on commercial consultancy services for several years. These teams have developed award winning, innovative solutions for many clients, some of which have been patented.

Course Structure

MPhil – two years full-time, or three years part-time

Start dates – September, January or May.

Candidates are required to critically investigate and evaluate an approved topic, to demonstrate an understanding of research methods appropriate to their chosen field and to present and defend a thesis by oral examination.

Supervision

Each student is allocated a director of studies and a supervisor. Regular meetings between the student and supervisors are scheduled, with targets set for written and oral presentation of research progress.

Research training

Some students may be required to complete research training modules if not already studied as part of a masters degree. This can have fee implications for part-time students, but is included in the full-time fee.

Additional training sessions to benefit doctoral students will be arranged and advertised to students, by the Faculty and the central Doctoral School, throughout the year at no additional cost.

Training is followed by, or delivered in conjunction with, theoretical and textual research, analysis and writing, working closely with the supervisors. Students are expected to present seminar papers on their work and to submit written papers for comment. Students will also be expected to attend relevant seminars and presentations from the research seminar series and other doctoral students.

Assessment

Thesis followed by oral examination 

Employability

Research degrees are a vital qualification for most academic careers and for professional specialisation within an existing or planned career. The rigorous analytical thinking they involve is also an attractive feature for potential employers of all kinds.

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The MA Graphic Design course at The University of Central Lancashire encourages the diversity of design study that is possible within the wider field of Graphic Design. The course focus is rooted in visual communication research, underpinned by theory and with an emphasis on the development of a very personal body of practical work. Throughout the course students are encouraged to pursue a unique personal line of inquiry within any area of contemporary graphic design practice or explore the potential of design diversity. By the end of the course all students should have completed a cohesive body of work to a professional standard and be able to clearly articulate a sound intellectual rationale and a broad critical viewpoint.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND ASSESSMENT

Practical work is carried out within our extensive and very well equipped studios and workshops.

Full time and part time students will be required to attend the Friday morning lecture programme throughout semesters 1 and 2. Full time students will also attend weekly seminars and tutorial sessions during the week. Part time students are scheduled for their practical sessions on a Friday afternoon, so that their commitment on campus allows for day release from their place of employment.

Evening tutorial sessions may be available from time to time for some students who are unable to attend in the day. Many of the Friday morning lectures are filmed for supporting distance learning or those who miss sessions.

Study is further supported by a lecture programme of visiting practitioners from a variety of design disciplines.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Graphic designers can work in many different areas, from traditional print for book design in the publishing industry and packaging design for the food and drink industry, to the digital arena of web design and new media. Often, the career path of an artist or designer does not take a particularly conventional route. Some graphic designers work on a freelance basis, whilst many work for design agencies or as part of in-house departments of larger companies. Life as a graphic designer can be exceedingly fast-paced and challenging as well as highly exciting.

A design related masters degree can provide a platform from which to enter employment in a range of other exciting sectors, such as: Art & Design; Teaching & Education; Advertising, Marketing & PR Media Culture; Music & Performing Arts; Management Consulting; Business & Admin; Hospitality & Tourism; Retail & Sales; Recruitment & Human Resources; Charity, Not-for-profit & NGO.

The MA course exists within the context of the University module scheme. The theory and practical modules run alongside in order to inform each other. Design Research 1 and 2 are theoretical modules that provide an opportunity to explore research methodologies appropriate to Graphic Design and the broader area of visual communication. A special feature of the course is the Friday morning lecture programmes with lectures from subject specific academics, guest speakers and practicing designers who are at the top of their profession. Graphic Design Practice 3 incorporates a theoretical element to summarize and complement the final practical body of work.

Throughout the programme students will continue to explore the links and concerns between theory and graphic design practice. The practical modules (Practice 1, 2 & 3) are designed to allow students to pursue their own specific individual design research project, which is a major investigation into a particular personal area of study. A key element of the practice sessions are to facilitate the opportunity to generate, investigate and test new ideas. The programme then culminates with a final public exhibition of student work.

OPPORTUNITIES

The MA Graphic Design programme is also delivered at our partner University in Thessaloniki, Greece. Students are able to study there for one semester. The MA will help further career opportunities in the field of Graphic Design and Visual Communication, giving recognition to each student’s individual practical and intellectual abilities.

The opportunity for a structured work experience will be provided for every student who requests it. This is a major commitment by the University to help our graduates to reach their potential and thrive in their careers after graduation.

Study trips are an essential part of research activity that brings design to life. Throughout the programme, students are introduced to contemporary influences with International city trips and study visits to exhibitions and museums - Manchester, London, Berlin and New York have been regular trips in recent years (students will be required to pay for overseas trips/visits and are therefore optional).

With an MA in Graphic Design, there are many other opportunities to explore and career options worth considering that require the broad range of skills gained at masters level and related to graphic design / visual communication / art and design.

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