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MA Product Design

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Why choose Herts?

Teaching Excellence: You will be taught by well-connected national and internationally acclaimed experts. Dr Ian Owen is the foremost specialist on Braun mythology and Dr Wyn Jones designed the British military gas mask.
Industry-Focused Content: You will develop innovative methods to design and develop products using code and computational design used in industry.
Strong Industry Connections: We have strong relations with Braun, Sony, Matell, and Entia and continuously involve industry throughout the course to help develop your own creative network.

An honours degree (2:2 or above) in a field relevant to the award you want to study. If you do not have a degree, you will need to show you have appropriate professional experience and skills to benefit from the course. We may also be able to take into account accredited prior learning (APL) or accredited prior experiential learning (APEL). If your degree is in a different field, you will need appropriate knowledge, skills or experience in the field you wish to study, or be able to show that you are prepared for intensive new learning. In all cases you will need to demonstrate through a portfolio or interview your preparedness for study at postgraduate level.

If English is not your first language, you will need a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent.

For country specific qualifications, please visit our Your Country page.

If you do not have the required level of English for entry, our academic English courses can help you to achieve this level.


Institution code	H36
School of study	School of Creative Arts
Course length	Full Time, 1 Years Part Time, 2 Years
Location	University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

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Employability

Careers

Particular emphasis is given to providing you with the skills necessary to further your career as a product designer. The course is designed to help you understand and work within the contemporary industrial environment and particular attention is given to helping you acquire entrepreneurial skills.

About the course

Allocated specialist support.
Time to reflect and develop as a designer.
Flexibility of core module delivery.
Supported studio & workshop space.
Collaborations with other Creative Arts disciplines.

Why choose this course?

MA Product Design is a Masters award within the MA Art and Design programme at the School of Creative Arts. Within the programme there is strong emphasis on professional practice and the real-world applications of art and design. You will develop key research skills and gain a good understanding of the work of other practitioners in your field.

The aim of the postgraduate programme is to equip you with the skills, knowledge and understanding required to practice at an advanced level, to foster your creativity and enhance your employment opportunities. You will work alongside artists and designers who are involved with a wide variety of media and forms. Induction, seminars and social events for students and staff mean that you will be part of a friendly and supportive postgraduate community, which also includes film makers, musicians and professionals working in new media. Senior research staff and internationally renowned artists work with postgraduate students, helping you to develop original and challenging work.

The MA Product Design degree aims to provide you with an understanding of the cutting-edge of design practice and to develop your creative and technical abilities as a designer. It will be of interest to product and industrial designers and design professionals working in related fields.

You will develop the entrepreneurial and industrial skills you need to develop your career to its full potential and gain a detailed understanding of the commercial and industrial contexts of contemporary design, alongside some of the theoretical and cultural ideas that shape contemporary design practices.

You will also consider design from the perspective of the society and people who use it. The course looks at practical approaches and the research methods involved in product design. Attention is focused on human users from ergonomic, ecological, social and psychological perspectives and the development of products in a post-industrial age where technology and production may respond to customer demands with speed.

Our staff are experienced in research and professional practice, and you will also benefit from contributions from visiting designers, makers and design professionals, as well as from involvement with our international exhibitions programme and close links with industry partners.

What will I study?

This course is designed to help you develop your practice and give you the skills recovery to further your career in industry both in the UK and abroad. The course includes practice based modules where you will explore and develop your work as a product designer. It also contains course or research skills, entrepreneurialism and professional practice. The final part of the course enables you to complete a major project.

Level 7

Module	Credits	Compulsory/optional
Creative Economies	15 Credits	Compulsory
The Creative Economies module enables students to explore and engage with creative economies relevant to their individual practice. The module delivers a series of lectures and workshops examining creative economies. The taught sessions examine the social, political and economic dimension of creative practice across a range of professions and consider the transitional nature of creative economies. The module provides an opportunity for students to engage with people and environments, seeking an understanding of how their own practice may be located within these contexts, locally, nationally or globally.
Major Study: Product Design	60 Credits	Compulsory
The module enables students to develop and realise their practice in the form of a final presentation of Product Design work, which demonstrates an accumulation of specialist know ledge and creative endeavour. Students build upon ideas established and explored in earlier parts of the programme and bring together various practical, theoretical, commercial, social and ethical concerns to complete a sustained body of original and innovative practice. This body of work will evidence creative autonomy, demonstrate professional excellence and in-depth know ledge of contemporary practice in Product Design. The realisation of this body of work is supported by work-in-progress seminars involving students f rom all of the Art & Design MAs, group and individual tutorials. At the culmination of the module students are required to present a summary of their work in a Postgraduate student symposium.
Research and Enquiry	15 Credits	Compulsory
This module aims to provide students with a range of research skills suitable for postgraduate-level study in art, art therapy, design, film, media and music. The module views creative, technical and therapeutic practices as research processes and helps students locate their own work within contemporary, advanced-level practice in their discipline and to make a critical evaluation of the bodies of practice and ideas that sustain them. Key skills addressed include those of research management, critical evaluation, academic conventions, notions of creative, technical and therapeutic practice as research methodologies, and a range of modes of contextual analysis. The skills gleaned on this module will provide students with a platform for research for the remainder of the programme and in their future careers.
Practice 1: Design	30 Credits	Compulsory
This module is designed to enable students to develop a proposal for Masters level study which forms the basis for the development for their practice during the MA. It aims to help students make a critical evaluation of their work, to identify and acquire the skills necessary to begin to realise the proposal and develop a methodology by which they expand and explore the project/theme. Furthermore, the module aims to help students develop an exploratory and expansive approach to their work and to carry out research into the contemporary social and commercial contexts appropriate to their practice. During the module, the student's practice will be refined and ideas and concepts within the proposal will be debated, developed and challenged through a series of student-led seminars and tutorials.
Practice 2: Design	30 Credits	Compulsory
The module is typically delivered in two phases; an interdisciplinary group project where students work with tutors and invited practitioners on a project looking at notions of genre, medium, group working and experience as narrative and which aims to allow students to step outside the accepted boundaries of their usual practice. In the second phase, the module enables students to further develop their work in preparation for its final realisation in the Major Study module. Students are required to investigate and prepare a body of advanced practice-based work, together with a summary contextualising document that demonstrates how the work has been developed, the key aesthetic, commercial and contextual issues that have arisen and the impact of these factors on the resulting portfolio of practice. The module is delivered through individual tutorials and student led work-in-progress online discussions.
Discourse and Reflection: Design	30 Credits	Compulsory
This module provides students with a detailed understanding of some of the issues and critical debates that inform current movements in contemporary design and other cultural practices. Particular emphasis is given to using the module as a crucible for informed analysis and debate for use as a tool to advance students' practice. A series of lectures about cultural theory relating to contemporary practice outline the themes of the module. Emphasis is then placed on students' own investigations culminating in the submission of a written text of 4000 words (or alternative submission by negotiation) and a series of student presentations that consist of formally presented papers based on a critical evaluation of some aspect of advanced scholarship, research and/or creative practice that relates to students' practice. The delivery of the module is concurrent with the Practice 1&2 Modules in which students are required to test their studio-based practice against various external critical, commercial and/or aesthetic imperatives that have arisen through the process of research.
Research and Enquiry (Online)	15 Credits	Optional
This module aims to provide students with a range of research skills suitable for postgraduate-level study in art, art therapy, design, film, media and music. The module views creative, technical and therapeutic practices as research processes and helps students locate their own work within contemporary, advanced-level practice in their discipline and to make a critical evaluation of the bodies of practice and ideas that sustain them. Key skills addressed include those of research management, critical evaluation, academic conventions, notions of creative, technical and therapeutic practice as research methodologies, and a range of modes of contextual analysis. The skills gleaned on this module will provide students with a platform for research for the remainder of the programme and in their future careers.
Creative Economies (Online)	15 Credits	Optional
The Creative Economies module enables students to explore and engage with creative economies relevant to their individual practice. The module delivers a series of lectures and workshops examining creative economies. The taught sessions examine the social, political and economic dimension of creative practice across a range of professions and consider the transitional nature of creative economies. The module provides an opportunity for students to engage with people and environments, seeking an understanding of how their own practice may be located within these contexts, locally, nationally or globally.

Further course information

Course fact sheets
MA Product Design	Download
MA Product Design	Download

Programme specifications
MA Design (Product Design)	Download
MA Design (Product Design)	Download

Additional information
Sandwich placement or study abroad year	n/a
Applications open to international and EU students	Yes

Student experience

At the University of Hertfordshire, we want to make sure your time studying with us is as stress-free and rewarding as possible. We offer a range of support services including; student wellbeing, academic support, accommodation and childcare to ensure that you make the most of your time at Herts and can focus on studying and having fun.

Find out about how we support our students

You can also read our student blogs to find out about life at Herts.

Funding and fees
Other financial support

Find out more about other financial support available to UK and EU students

Fees 2023
UK Students

Full time
- £9000 for the 2023/2024 academic year
Part time
- £750 per 15 credits for the 2023/2024 academic year
EU Students

Full time
- £15450 for the 2023/2024 academic year
Part time
- £1290 per 15 credits for the 2023/2024 academic year
International Students

Full time
- £15450 for the 2023/2024 academic year
Part time
- £1290 per 15 credits for the 2023/2024 academic year
*Tuition fees are charged annually. The fees quoted above are for the specified year(s) only. Fees may be higher in future years, for both new and continuing students. Please see the University's Fees and Finance Policy (and in particular the section headed "When tuition fees change"), for further information about when and by how much the University may increase its fees for future years.

View detailed information about tuition fees

Living costs / accommodation

The University of Hertfordshire offers a great choice of student accommodation, on campus or nearby in the local area, to suit every student budget.

View detailed information about our accommodation

Read more about additional fees in the course fact sheet

International/EU applicants without pre-settled status in the UK

Apply through our international/EU application portal

Home and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status in the UK

2023

Start Date	End Date	Link
23/09/2023	30/09/2024	Apply online (Full Time)
23/09/2023	30/09/2024	Apply online (Part Time)

2024

Start Date	End Date	Link
23/09/2024	30/09/2025	Apply online (Full Time)
23/09/2024	30/09/2025	Apply online (Part Time)

MA Product Design

Why choose Herts?

Careers

About the course

Why choose this course?

What will I study?

Further course information

Student experience

Other financial support

Fees 2023

UK Students

Full time

Part time

EU Students

Full time

Part time

International Students

Full time

Part time

Living costs / accommodation

International/EU applicants without pre-settled status in the UK

Home and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status in the UK

2023

2024