More about this course
Product Design MA at London Metropolitan University is grounded in the understanding that design is a key driver for change in society and the environment. However, traditional roles in design are increasingly blurred and designers need to be able to negotiate complex and ambiguous problems. The challenges and opportunities for design and designers are being constantly reimagined, as the unpredictability of the future tests our capacity to adapt, invent and apply creative design solutions to emerging needs. Graduates of this course will design products and systems that have not yet been conceptualised.
Knowing that the future is largely shaped by design decisions gives a responsibility to designers to act in a manner that combines experimentation and radical thinking with care. The work of a designer is not, however, limited to ensuring that products are safe and function well.
You'll want to imbue your work with meaning, to use it to communicate, to engage emotions and inspire response. Products also need to be designed to be attractive and desirable in the marketplace and relevant to consumers, meaning you'll need an exhaustive overview of current and forthcoming products in order to be competitive.
Design and research for design occupies a large proportion of the course. In parallel with theoretical research, you'll generate, communicate and evaluate all kinds of innovative ideas and concepts for products. You'll discover what design research methods will reveal the widest range of proposals for testing, how best to inform the user and producer of what you have in mind and how best to evaluate concepts that exist in virtual form only.
Aims
Where this course can take you
The creative industry in the UK is huge and about half of all those involved in the design sector work in London. Located in the creative hub of the East End, our School of Art, Architecture and Design offers excellent opportunities for students and professionals to showcase cutting-edge design within related industries and venues. Through work placement and live projects, you will create design projects that are commercially and creatively relevant to global consumer markets.
Typical career opportunities include consultant designers, in-house designers in manufacturing companies, bespoke furniture designers, production facility managers/consultants, freelance designers for multinational corporations, industrial and interior designers, and design management.
Alternative core module information
The School maintains a portfolio of alternative core MA (level 7) 20 credit modules, two of which will be core to this course in any particular year. Prior to the start of the course each September, the course team will decide which of the alternative core modules should be the core 20 credit modules for the following academic cycle. This decision is based on the project opportunities arising and the balance of students across the portfolio of MA design courses. Please note, students themselves do not choose which of the alternative core modules to take themselves. See the modular structure section below for more details.
Assessment
You'll be assessed through portfolios of written, research, visual and physical project work, all directly related to the requirements of practice in the field.
The MA is concluded with a major project in which you'll select an area of study, formulate your own argument or theoretical position and produce an independent body of work. The project challenges you to study in a topic that interests you, which will test your creative ambition. This work will be exhibited at the MA graduation show in our central London location.
Modular structure
The modules listed below are for the academic year 2020/21 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.
Year 1 modules include:
- +Design Project Development
- +Design Research for Practice
- +Project as Professional Practice: Product Design
- +Democratising Luxury
- +Design for Change
- +Interior Contexts
- +Material Thought
