Why study Design at Chester?
Postgraduate Design is situated in an environment where previous conventions can be broken or new ones established, and where creative solutions can be explored and challenged, and innovation, intent and the potential of personal design practice can be realised.
This part-time programme provides an opportunity for designers who may already be working either in a design studio/agency or as a freelance/sole trader to have their professional practice recognised.
The programme is also intended to serve those students who have recently graduated and welcomes all designers whether they regard themselves as traditional practitioners or are steeped in digital media and the world of Adobe and beyond.
The range of design disciplines that are supported include graphic design, typography, design for the web, interaction design, editorial design, motion graphics, graphic illustration and animation.
Features:
The Department of Design is distinctive in having established research interests in the areas of advertising ethics, information design, games, interaction and multimedia design, and would welcome candidates who wish to develop their practice in these areas.
The programme aims to:
- develop advanced design practice - through which students can deepen their critical and contextual knowledge, extend their expertise and develop as independent, lifelong learners
- encourage students to understand critical ideas and subject their work to robust scrutiny, negotiating contexts that will lead to new insights and/or relating emerging and new theories to their design practice
- enable students to give their work a sharpened focus and intent, by developing and refining their approaches to questioning and enquiry
- promote new levels of self-confidence that will enable students to extend the ambition of their work and to practice as designers in a professional context or to continue as practice-based design researchers to doctorate level study.
In overview, the programme is based on the relationship between theory and practice which allows designers to understand critical ideas and to subject their work to robust scrutiny, thus devising contexts that will lead to new insights and an invigoration of their practice.
Programme Structure:
The structure of the programme, in which design practice is underpinned by professional reflective criticism, employs teaching and learning strategies that are both flexible and sensitive to the needs of individual students. Theoretical modules are accompanied by specialist practice modules that are delivered in part through e-learning and accompanied by an appropriate, structured and closely supervised set of learning and making activities. This allows the specialist modules to be both student focused and staff directed and to offer some flexibility, where appropriate, regarding on-campus attendance. It is important to note, as in all design education, that engagement, collaboration and face-to-face dialogue is an essential element of any advanced practice.
In the first year, students investigate and establish advanced practices within design while underpinning this with knowledge of research methodologies. This allows students to integrate theory and practice within their own negotiated design areas, establishing a direction and context to individual studies. The second year involves an understanding of design processes to ensure the development and application of appropriate methodologies to student practice. The externalisation of individual practice is also considered as design has both a social and functional context. The Masters Major Project is undertaken in the summer period of year two and is a body of research-led practice with an appropriate negotiated written element discussing critical and contextual issues.
Typical part-time first year*/ 60 credits
20 Level M credits: Research Methods for Design
40 Level M credits: Advanced Design Practice
Typical part-time second year*/ 60 credits
20 Level M credits: Collaborative Practice
40 Level M credits: Advanced Design Project
Typical part-time "summer" of a second year*/ 60 credits
60 Level M credits: Masters Major Project including a written component (supervised)
Potential subjects for the taught and supervised modules currently include:
Graphic Design; Typography; Digital Imaging/Illustration; Editorial Design; Information Design, Advertising, Packaging; Design for the Web; Web Animation; Design History; Design Studies; Electronic Games Design Criticism; Design for Electronic Games.
* Apart from the Research Methods for Design module, the density and sequencing of the others is subject to negotiation - as the department is very aware of the obstacles and non-academic challenges that part-time students have to face and overcome and that they may require a flexible approach from the team, whenever possible. It is possible to take up to six years to complete this part-time programme.
As a part-time mode of study, the teaching on the programme is structured to accommodate students who may wish to combine their study alongside other outside responsibilities and commitments. Formal contact is generally on a Wednesday evening and involves lectures, seminars, student presentations, and presentations by visiting speakers. In addition, students are allocated a personal tutor and arrange tutorials at a time that is mutually convenient to both parties. Whilst students have full access to the department's specialist workshops, equipment, ICT facilities and technical support, it is expected that students on the programme will also have their own studio/workspace.
Students will be assessed on their ability to demonstrate:
- skill and competence appropriate to advanced design practice within an appropriate critical context
- a clear purpose to their work, and to apply research skills appropriate to design practice, so that their work is pursued with rigour and resourcefulness
- sustained development across a body of design practice that is informed by critical reflection and consideration of its context(s)
- the production of a body of work that is visually articulate and coherent in its synthesis of content, form and function.
Potential areas for employment for successful, motivated postgraduates progressing from the programme are considerable given the wide range of creative economy businesses locally, regionally and internationally. The MA Design programme develops key theoretical and practical skills so designers can work within the many areas of the professional design domain and respond to this challenging environment.
It also develops graduates who could alternatively and realistically seek employment in other design-related aspects of the creative, cultural, entertainment and industrial sectors, or who can undertake additional postgraduate/doctorate study or research in a related subject.
Candidates must be able to demonstrate, through the submission and review of a portfolio and through an interview, a level of knowledge and competence appropriate to the demands of the programme, and to demonstrate the potential to benefit from that study. Candidates will normally hold an honours degree in an appropriate Design subject, or, exceptionally will have evidence of recent professional work equivalent to honours degree standard.
Applications must include a statement of intent, supported by eight to twelve colour slides or digital images showing evidence of recent work. Suitable candidates will be invited for interview, to which they should bring a portfolio of recent, original work or, in the case of three-dimensional work, photographs.
At interview, an applicant's potential to benefit from the programme of study will be assessed, and the interview will focus on the Design practice of the individual, so that his/her needs in relation to the programme aims can be discussed.
Candidates for the part-time programme will be required to have regular access to an appropriately equipped Design studio or its equivalent.
