Career opportunities
Graduates can go on to work as designers in new media, as internet and web designers, at multi-disciplinary design agencies and within the broader creative industries such as broadcast graphics, publishing and graphic design, interior design, product design and other leading design and media industries.
Course structure
Three levels, each of 120 credits.
Level 1 modules include
Introduction to 3D Computer Aided Design
Design for Information
Art, Media & Design in Context
Creativity in 3D Design
Software
Introduction to Digital Communications
Level 2 modules include
Professional Practice in Creative Industries
Principles of Interaction
User Centred 3D Design
New Technologies for Manufacture
3D Solid Modelling
Animation principles
Level 3 modules include
Project
Digital Moving Image
Advanced Modelling Technique
Design Professional Practice
Smart Product Solution
Advanced New Media
The UK Design industry is the largest in Europe, currently employing over 185,000 designers and generating a turnover of £11.6 billion. More than half of the activity of UK design consultancies is centred in communications design and digital multimedia. The aim of this course is to encourage and enable the development of critical practitioners equipped with the technical, design and creative skills, knowledge and attributes required to operate effectively within the diverse and growing field of interactive design. Students will explore the practical and theoretical issues surrounding the contemporary design industry, producing design work in a variety of media and interactive contexts, working both on their own and as part of group projects. Our strong employer relationships ensure that creative problem-solving and design project skills are developed in a realistic context.
The design, housing, and apparel graduate program focuses on the study of relationships between humans and their designed environments. This focus is based on the assumption that design and analysis of environments contributes to the improvement of the human condition. The program addresses theory, research, and application, using a shared disciplinary base from the arts and social and behavioral sciences. The goal of the program is for students to analyze, evaluate, and integrate theoretical frameworks related to humans and their designed environments.
The M.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees are available with four areas of emphasis: apparel, design communication, housing studies, and interior design. The M.F.A. and M.A. degrees are available with an emphasis in interactive design. The emphasis in apparel advances both theoretical knowledge and applications for textile and apparel products related to human behavior. Students may focus on consumer behavior and behavioral aspects of dress; history and culture; product development and design. The emphasis in design communication focuses on design theory, process, and methods related to design practice and research. Potential areas of study include graphic design history, theory, and critical narrative; visual systems research; situational and transformative design; and interactive design. Students and faculty collaboratively develop designed objects and information resources that will enhance people’s lives. The emphasis in housing studies advances both theoretical and applied knowledge in the housing field. Through research experiences, students are prepared to assist people and communities in addressing housing-related issues. Courses emphasize human needs and behavior, analysis of designed environments and technology, policy and community development, and housing for special populations such as the elderly or low-income families with children. Graduate study in interior design emphasizes the theory, research, and specialized practice components of design as applied to people’s health, safety, and welfare in the interior environment, including design education, sustainability, social/cultural issues, aspects of professional practice, and facilities research (educational, office, criminal justice, and residential). Advances in theoretical knowledge and study of the interactions of humans in interior environments prepare students for teaching and research positions as well as design specializations within the profession. The emphasis in interactive design provides students with experience in designing for the electronic environment. The program integrates theory with practice in the application of emergent and established technologies to digital design solutions. Students complete a creative thesis.
Accreditation Information :
Pre Requisite Courses :
Qualifying Exams :
Tution Fees :
Financial Aid / Scholarship Offered :
Courses :
Curriculum
ART100 Design Fundamentals
ART101 Rapid Visualization
ART102 Observational Drawing
DFV101 Intro to Digital Filmmaking
DFV120 Fundamentals of Audio
GEN101 English I
GEN102 English II
GEN105 Effective Speaking
GEN109 Computers for the Arts
GEN140 History of Western Art I
GEN143 History of Western Art II
GEN321 Global Thinking in a Creative Context
IMD110 Designing for Multimedia Display
IMD200 Fundamentals of Authoring
IMD211 Project Management
IMD215 Web Scripting
IMD220 Writing for Interactive Media
IMD230 Interactive Authoring I
IMD250 Interactive Design
IMD300 Advanced Web Scripting
IMD330 Interactive Authoring II
IMD340 2-D Vector Animation
IMD360 E-Learning Design I
IMD365 3-D Web Animation
IMD370 E-Learning Design II
IMD380 Database Management
IMD400 E-Commerce Site Design
IMD420 Web Marketing & E-Commerce
IMD430 Portfolio Preparation
IMD450 Senior Project
MAA100 Survey of Design & Media Arts
VFX101 Image Manipulation
VFX110 Digital Typography
VFX201 Advanced Image Manipulation
VFX250 Fundamentals of Motion Graphics
Other
GEN Math Elective
IMD101 – Intro to the World Wide Web
GEN Math Elective
GEN Physical & Life Science Elective
GEN Physical & Life Science Elective
GEN Social Science 100 level course
GEN Social Science 200 level course
GEN Humanities & Fine Arts 200 level course
IC402 – Career Development
GEN Physical & Life Science Elective
GEN Humanities & Fine Arts Course
The course is structured around three different units, which enable students to gradually build on their design skills and critical judgement.
The course shares part of its programme with a pool of other postgraduate courses: MA Industrial Design, MA Communication Design, MA Creative Practice for Narrative Environments and MA Design by Project. Joint Lecture programmes as well as interdisciplinary design projects are designed to foster a creative and challenging multidisciplinary environment and the development of experimental and innovative “hybrid” design practices.
Attendance is as follows:
Year 1: Wednesday to Friday
Year 2: Monday to Wednesday.
Unit 1
Critical interrogation of practice (4 weeks over 25 weeks)
The joint postgraduate Critical Context Programme is a multidisciplinary lecture and seminar programme. This programme aims at fostering a critical and analytical perspective of the nature and context of design and culminates in a short multidisciplinary team project and presentation.
Unit 2
Design challenge (20 weeks over 25 weeks)
In the first part of the course, students are challenged by a series of design projects which aim at fostering the creation of innovative design proposals and new textiles . Projects may include design related to smart textiles, new materials, interactive design, sustainable textiles, trend forecasting, branding, fashion and/or craft futures. Some of these projects are linked with industry and they differ every year.
Students will be encouraged to challenge traditional techniques and break conventions as well as to explore new technologies such as laser cutting, ultrasonic welding, digital printing and digital jacquard weave. This is the most intensively taught unit. Students will gain new hindsight on the nature and practice of textile design, through group and individual tutorials with a range of design professionals; and via team projects and design presentations led by practitioners.
The particularity of this course is that it encourages innovation in textile design by confronting textile design with other design disciplines. For this reason, guest lecturers come from various fields (textile design, craft, fashion, branding, material and environment consultant, fine art, architecture and interaction design, as well as programming, digital art and web and graphic design).
Unit 3
Design Future (year 1: week 25 to 30 and year 2: week 1 to 30)
This unit is dedicated to the development and realisation of the personal master project, which has to be located within a chosen ‘future’. Students have to produce a body of comprehensive and thorough research with appropriate methodologies. This is mostly a self-directed study time. The justification and critical analysis of the MA personal design project is inherent to the creative process. This should be reflected in the Master thesis which is a critical evaluation of the design project. Students are encouraged to take risks and to produce a body of experimental work before the realisation of the final design work. Work produced at Master level should be original, innovative and sophisticated, and should contribute to advance the discipline of textile design.
Aims and outcomes
Through the course and your personal project you will develop a creative and innovative design portfolio; a critical agenda and a focused design philosophy; and a network of professional contacts related to your project and career aspirations. You will also develop design project management and team working skills.
In relation to your project, you will have investigated the latest material and technological developments and have acquired information on the future directions of the textile and fashion markets. You will also have produced a written report, which presents a pertinent viewpoint of the textile discipline and demonstrates your ability to research and support your arguments to a professional standard.
Graphic Design is hardly adequate to describe the breath of this course. The curriculum embraces typography, advertising, photography, moving image, drawing, print-making, illustration and interactive design.
The BA Graphic Design course at Central Saint Martins is a three-year full time course for students of graphic design and design for communication media. Students are encouraged to experiment creatively and critically. The philosophy of the course is probably unique amongst UK undergraduate graphic design courses. It is analytical and diagnostic with emphasis on solving visual communication problems through the development of original and often surprising solutions, rather than simply focussing on technical media or applying formulaic solutions. Our student centred ethos encourages students to develop their creative practice in divergent career opportunities at graduation. The philosophy of the graphic design course at Central Saint Martins is that students define their goals, experiment with ideas and challenge current practices to produce work that is outside commercial constraints. The course helps to develop individual student’s creative potential through improvisation, speculation and experimentation. After a first year introductory common programme, students are offered a choice of specialist areas at the beginning of their second year - Advertising, Design, Illustration or Moving Image.
Skillset Media Academy
Central Saint Martins has been awarded Skillset Media Academy status, one of only 17 institutions across the UK, granted in recognition of the outstanding achievements of the college in relation to their Media Courses. This course is part of the programme that contributed to the successful application. Skillset is the industry body which supports skills and training for people and businesses to ensure the UK audio visual and publishing industries maintain their world class position.
Admission Requirements
Applicants to the MSD Program must hold a baccalaureate degree in Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, or a related design discipline. When applying for admission, applicants must declare one of seven concentrations: Healthcare and healing environments, new product innovation, interactive design, arts/media/engineering, visual communication design, industrial design, or interior design. Further information can be found in the program description on the admissions Web page at admissions.
Applicants must file separate application materials to both the Graduate College and the MSD Program.
A 3.00 or higher baccalaureate grade point average is required for application.
Minimum TOEFL score of 550 on paper-based or 83 iBT is required of applicants whose native language is not English.
Submit the following materials to:
MSD Program
COLLEGE OF DESIGN
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 872105
TEMPE AZ 85287-2105
A mandatory statement of intent form found on the admissions website listed above (maximum 600 words; ) which must include the following points:
Specify intended concentration: Healthcare and Healing Environments, New Product Innovation, Interactive Design, Visual Communication Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, or Arts/Media/Engineering.
Discuss proposed research topic. What will be your research focus? Why is this research important to you, the design community, and the general population?
Specify a proposed mentor for intended research. Faculty biographies can be found on the website at design.asu.edu/msd/faculty.shtml.
Discuss personal academic background and professional experience that has prepared you for or will support your proposed research topic.
Three recommendation forms (found on the admissions Web site listed above) from persons who are qualified to comment on your potential in the selected area of study. Students must have the recommender use the recommendation form. Students have two options to return letters of recommendation: 1) have the recommender mail in the letter to the MSD program or 2) submit letters with a complete application packet; letters must be sealed and the recommender’s signature must be across the seal in ink.
An additional statement from applicants wishing to be considered for teaching or research assistantships outlining areas in which they feel competent to serve as a teaching or research assistant and inexpensive copies of samples of work that will not be returned (international students who wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship and whose first language is not English are required to pass the Test of Spoken English [TSE], the SPEAK test, or have a score of 24 or higher on the iBT TOEFL in the speaking section.
The TSE is administered by TOEFL/TSE Services, (PO Box 6151, Princeton, NJ, 08541-6151, USA) and can be taken in your home country (or US). Ask to have the score sent directly to the MSD Program at the above address.
The SPEAK test is the local version of the TSE, authorized by Educational Testing Services (ETS) and administered on campus through the American English and Culture Program (AECP) at ASU. It is an oral proficiency exam.
An 8.5″ x 11″ portfolio documenting papers and imaginative projects that support the intended concentration and demonstrate drawing, rendering, graphic and modeling skills.
The portfolio is returned after final admission procedures, provided sufficient prepaid postage is enclosed, or if the materials are claimed in person within one year of submission. Unclaimed portfolios are retained for only one year.
The MSD Program assumes no liability for lost or damaged materials. IMPORTANT NOTE: Items 1 to 4 above must be sent to the MSD Program address. DO NOT send these materials to the Graduate College. If these materials are sent to any other area other than the MSD Program, they will not be reviewed and your application will be denied.
Application Deadlines
Primary consideration is given to completed applications received by the deadline. Applications for assistantships and scholarships normally are considered at the same time, but positions will not be filled until July.
The Graduate College and the MSD Program must receive all materials by January 15 to be considered for the following fall semester. Please note that the MSD program only accepts fall admission.
Selection Procedures and Notifications
The faculty evaluates the applications and supporting materials and recommends to the Graduate College whether the applicant should be granted regular or provisional admission or if admission should be denied. If admission is provisional, the Graduate College specifies in its letter of admission the provisions to be met to gain regular status. The MSD Program informs successful applicants of the procedures for enrollment.
Professional Opportunities
Visual art designers can choose from a wide variety of career opportunities. Primarily, our students have done work on printed materials, advertisements, web and interactive design, identity systems, information and products bearing animation characters, fonts, illustrations, animation and events. Graduates usually work for publishers, design studios and developers, public relations departments of companies, magazines, newspapers and broadcasters and move up to become design directors of the companies. Some start their own enterprises or work as freelancers.