Structure
Course Structure
You will benefit from studying within a large, diverse and dynamic postgraduate community who share an informal well-equipped workspace at our main campus.
An extensive programme of lectures and assignments is delivered by an enthusiastic team of staff that includes contemporary theorists, practitioners and researchers.
Focused around a creative studio ‘hub’, the communal nature of the course provides a supportive environment in which you are able to develop your own personal design agendas. Studio-based sessions are complemented by an extensive virtual learning environment, providing you with 24/7 online access to up-to-date information, course documentation and examples of previous student work.
In the Postgraduate Certificate stage, realist frameworks and analytical techniques are developed through assignments in cultural and commercial contexts. These assignments introduce new perspectives to further inform and develop your design knowledge base.
During the Postgraduate Diploma and Master’s stages you will pursue subjects such as conceptual design along with your own personal project in a chosen pathway, which will be developed through comprehensive research and practice phases.
Taught modules are assessed through assignments. These account for half of the credits available on the course. The majority of the remaining half of the course consists of a personal project involving a negotiated mix of research and practice. You will receive regular feedback on your performance throughout the course.
Trimester 1
Realism (DES7050) –Tuesdays
This module provides students with a broader and clearer understanding of ‘typical’ product design outputs and the associated design processes behind them. Drawing from established theories, policies and practice, including case studies, the core principles of product evolution are used to identify and appreciate the key issues that designers are likely to engage with at different stages of a product’s development. How new ideas, and/or technologies, are ultimately applied at key evolutionary stages of a product’s development (during or beyond) also depends upon the designer’s individual approach to the design process. Students are therefore shown how to recognize different design processes and then subsequently identify with the appropriate methodologies that suit their own personal approach.
Design Culture (DES7051) –Thursdays
The module considers the cultural, aesthetic, political, economic and social influences upon the development of individual, corporate, national and global design ‘cultures’ and how these macro issues effect the individual designer’s decision making processes. It then also considers how the designer’s outputs are utilized and absorbed by the design industry at large – including curators, journalists, bloggers, businesses, brands, retailers and the general public. As a result students will better understand the influences that feed their respective design specialisms and the resultant industries that in turn rely upon them.
Trimester 2
Personal Project Research (DES7053) ‐Tuesdays
This module will introduce students to a range of quantitative & qualitative methodologies relating to advanced research practice. These academic processes and theorems will be evaluated in terms of their potential to support a deep and meaningful self‐directed investigative study, that includes authoritative secondary sources and critically sound primary research. Students will be shown how to formulate strategic management plans for their unique Research Project and be instructed how to apply formal academic conventions to communicate their own judicious ‘Design Hypothesis’ –ultimately leading towards creative design opportunities.
Conceptualism (DES7052) - Thursdays
This module provides students with the opportunities to engage with alternative notions of ideas and concept generation through deconstructing and then reconstructing new design based narratives. By challenging the expectations and conventions of existing products, alternative directions and product opportunities are possible. Creative thinking will be focused specifically on the near horizon and longer‐term future perspectives for specific Product Design sectors. In doing this, students will define innovative ‘Post Optimal’ theorems, case studies and trends which can be further explored in relation to their own design process and practice.
Trimester 3
Personal Project Practice (DES7054) ‐ Tuesdays
Lectures and Precedent Analysis will act as a catalyst for inspired debates about the themes, merits and impact of a range of innovative projects and practices by other designers. Through interaction and collaboration, students will develop strategic creative outcomes derived from their own unique Research Projects. The Design Hypothesis and concepts identified in individual Module: Personal Project ‐Research Reports, will be creatively tested and focussed towards inventive new design solutions and innovative proposals.
Personal Project Communication (DES7055) ‐Thursdays
Precedent Analysis will introduce students to a broad range of communication strategies, media and techniques used by other designers. Through careful analysis and creative practice students will apply professional and creative communication techniques to persuasively convey the key characteristics, messages and details of their Personal Practice Projects.
A one year programme - 52 weeks – 3 trimesters – 6 x 30 credit Modules
Full time students attend for scheduled teaching and learning experiences for two days per week and will need to spend approximately 40 hours a week on assignments.
A two year programme – 52 weeks per year – 6 Trimesters – 6 x 30 credit Modules
Part-time students attend for scheduled teaching and learning experiences one day per week and will need to spend approximately 20 hours a week on assignments.
Trimester 1 includes an induction week and three weeks of winter vacation
Trimester 2 includes three weeks of spring vacation.
Trimester 3 includes two weeks of summer vacation and personal development activities/events.
Award Structure
Final Awards can be gained on exiting the programme.
Postgraduate Certificate: a student must successfully complete all required assessments and obtain a minimum of 60 credits.
Postgraduate Diploma: a student must successfully complete all required assessments and obtain a minimum of 120 credits.
Master’s Degree: a student must successfully complete all required assessments and obtain a minimum of 180 credits.
We invite applications from talented, hard-working individuals with a good command of the English language, an enquiring mind, and a keen interest in the wider world of product design. Prospective students from three dimensional backgrounds are encouraged to apply along with a suitable portfolio submission.