Master of Arts - Product Design

The Product Design MA addresses the needs of graduates from product design and related discipline backgrounds, or those who wish to collaborate with professionals in the field. MA Product Design is one of several postgraduate design courses that co-exist at the School of Art, Architecture and Design, offering rich opportunities for the collaborative multidisciplinary approach that is a feature of the current and future design sector and a requirement for success in the field. Product Design MA 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 humans 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. Students will want to imbue their 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 students will 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, students will generate, communicate and evaluate all kinds of innovative ideas and concepts for products. Students will discover what design research methods will reveal the widest range of proposals for testing, how best to inform the user and producer of what they have in mind and how best to evaluate concepts that exist in virtual form only. The School of Art, Architecture and Design is a community that shares a commitment to contemporary design and its global and local contexts, a passion for design in all its forms, and desire to test the premises of the field, theoretically as well as practically. London Metropolitan University aspires to effect real, meaningful and beneficial change through design work and MA Product Design is a part of that vision. An International Bright Futures Scholarship in the amount of £3,000 will automatically be applied to eligible students with overseas fee status starting a degree with London Met in the 2024/25 academic year. This scholarship includes a tuition fee reduction for the duration of students' studies and is applicable to both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Tuition Deposit is £4,000 for all students excluding those from Punjab and Haryana for whom the deposit amount will remain at 50%