Design for Communication with Industry Experience - MA

This course is designed for students to refine their subject specific practice through creative industry experience. You will tackle issues central to contemporary design practice – such as design authorship and social engagement – through a process of analysis, experimentation and the implementation of creative ideas. During your time with us, you will be encouraged to engage creatively with contemporary visual communication issues to enable you to graduate as a professional designer.

Throughout the course, you will be encouraged to undertake independent contextual and theoretical research that will improve your capacity for independent enquiry, creativity and professional practice. The course places an emphasis on problem setting rather than problem solving, through the development of self-initiated projects and briefs.

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in live projects as we work closely with key cultural organisations within the north-west. These include The Center for Chinese Contemporary Art, Hotbed Press, Islington Mill, Castlefield Gallery, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Artworks, Mark Devereux Projects, Textbook Studios, Dr Me and Magma Books.

You will:

• develop your skills through creative thinking, research, visualisation, interactivity, social and multi-media.
• capitalise on placements, residencies and exhibition opportunities with key arts and design organisations.

This course is for you if:

• The programme is suited to those with a background in or responsibility for delivering; creative skills, disciplines and media.
• This course is intended to support your professional development and encourage your independent expertise and facilitation skills
• The course focuses on developing individual creative habits and strategies to be shared within a community context.

Course Details

This course embraces a range and diversity of practices and aims to:

• Provide the skills needed to professionalise careers through embedded creative placements and live projects with industry and community organisations.
• Develop creative, critical, analytical and intellectual competencies appropriate to Masters level degree study, which is informed by current industry practice.
• Develop advanced understanding of research methods in the context of contemporary art & design practice and to understand how the boundaries of knowledge are advanced through research
• Enhance the students’ knowledge and understanding of professional, contextual and collaborative frameworks appropriate to their experiences and objectives by establishing intellectual debate to enable the articulation and dissemination of their propositions.
• Critically explore at an advanced level, knowledge and understand of specific contemporary issues and the application of creative problem solving in the field of communication design facilitating the student’s development as professionals within the creative industries.

This course is for students interested in observing practical and contextual issues within communication design. This could be as an individual artistic pursuit, generating a body of practice, through research and experimentation that seeks to address contemporary issues relative to a self initiated appreciation of the subject area, or as a method of engaging with professional and live projects that enable the student to produce a large body of critically aware outcomes that facilitate the transition further professional development.

Course Structure

The programme structure consists of five modules, four of which are delivered within a collaborative framework allowing all students across the master's in art and design programs (Contemporary Fine Art, Socially Engaged Arts Practice and Design for Communication) opportunities to engage with your peers whilst working through individual assignments focused around each programme. The remaining one module is tailored to the specific programme learning outcomes.

Visit the website for further information on modules.

Teaching and Assessment

This course uses a range of teaching and learning settings including lectures, seminars/workshops, tutorials, situated learning (e.g. ‘live’ projects) and independent learning. The combination of these aims is to develop an environment that allows students to progressively take ownership and direction of their learning so that they may develop as independent, life-long learners. The process of Masters level study, relating to an individual and independent arts practice, is one of dense critical self-reflection; this is achieved by including self-directed projects where students have the opportunity to negotiate their learning and assessment requirements.

Indicative to the course are:

• formal lectures
• seminar presentations
• workshops
• critical analysis and independent learning

You will be assessed throughout the course on:

• Body of work and contextual research: e.g studio/portfolio/exhibition/publication/etc.
• Reflective journals: log or sketch-book/statement/critical writing/seminar or other presentation*

All submissions are comprised of a body of arts practice: ‘studio’ plus a contextual and critical research portfolio, and reflective logs/journals. As the ‘thesis’ is embedded in the practice there is no requirement for a separate, written dissertation - although you may elect to do so, if appropriate, by negotiation with final award Course Team.

*You can negotiate the format of your submissions, in response to the needs and priorities within your practice, and in line with contemporary professional practice habits.

School of Arts and Media

The School of Arts and Media is the largest School at the University of Salford with more than 4,000 creative students. Across sites at MediaCityUK and the University's Peel Park campus, we offer a huge variety of courses, from fashion image making and styling, television and radio, creative writing and music to journalism, animation, design and performance.

Careers

Art and design alumni are actively employed in various sectors of design practice both in the UK and overseas, including Brazil, China and Taiwan. Previous graduates have also progressed into research, while several graduates are now employed as lecturers in the field of education in schools and universities

Graduates from this course pursue professional practice via a range of enterprise, employment and self-employment strategies and contexts. Continuing practice-based and driven research is supported via MPhil/Phd courses at the University of Salford.

Graduates can become associate members of the School of Arts and Media Research Centre or other Research centres as appropriate to individual practice drivers. Graduates are currently engaged in further study via PhD.

Visit the Design for Communication with Industry Experience - MA page on the University of Salford website for more details!