MA Design (Packaging)

Course summary

• Join an interdisciplinary design programme which promotes social and cultural innovation.
• Develop your specialist skills and knowledge in a collaborative studio environment.
• Innovate with materials, technology and conceptual thinking.
• Extend existing material practices in response to the needs of our rapidly changing world.

Place emphasis on personal research, giving you the chance to develop your own interests and ideas in a challenging and supportive environment. Academic staff are design specialists, researchers and practitioners who will support you to expand your practice. This is an interdisciplinary Design Programme which promotes an ethos of social and cultural innovation.

How you learn

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

The initial modules are taught to all students in the design faculty (including fashion, graphics, illustration, interior, jewellery and metalwork, interaction, packaging and product) and you focus on gaining a critical understanding of design thinking, theoretical studies, research methods and making practices. In subsequent modules, you will follow your own personal practice, supported by key specialist staff.

You learn through

• immersive learning alongside peers in a studio environment
• practice-based research
• project work
• individual and group tutorials
• lectures
• seminars
• constructive critical debates

Future careers

This course prepares you for a career as a

• independent design practitioner
• designer
• design manager
• maker or manufacturer
• company-employed designer
• postgraduate student at PhD level
• educator
• retail/marketing worker
• design research
• academic

Previous graduates of this course have gone on to work for international design companies and consultancies as well as gaining PhD scholarships.

Normally you need a 2.2 degree or equivalent in an appropriate subject or significant relevant experience; appropriate study plans, including an indication of possible project topics and clear, appropriate and realistic learning aims; a high level of creative ability, as evidenced by a portfolio of work; ability to discuss design issues critically and confidently.