Bath Spa University

MA in Design

• Research Methods
• Theory and Professional Context
• Practice 1 (Design)
• Research Practice
• Theory and Professional Practices
• Practice 2 (Design)
• Master's Project

What you'll learn

Overview

Working alongside other postgraduate students from Textiles, Visual Communication, Illustration, Graphics, and Fine Art, you’ll develop your projects while undertaking practice-led research, theory, and professional practice modules.

Specialist tutors and technicians will guide your progress, supporting you in creating your approach and making your design outcomes more successful.

You'll use subject-specific studios and workshops and have access to specialist software and computers. Our excellent art and design library provides access to books, ebooks, magazines, and periodicals and is supported by a dedicated team.

The year-long Design Master’s culminates in a public exhibition. Our aim is for you to graduate with a broad, informed outlook, genuine confidence in your abilities, and the professional skills necessary to succeed in your chosen specialism.

Course structure

This Design Master’s runs over one year and is divided into three trimesters.

Trimester one
We encourage playfulness and risk-taking and ask you to respond to a range of instructions in ways that will allow you to interrogate how you work – without threatening your approach. Right from the start, you'll begin to gather primary and secondary research that will feed into your assessments.

We introduce a range of key issues in design and communication practice and allow you to explore how your specialist areas relate to the wider field. You’ll also begin to develop your professional practice skills such as marketing, social media, IT, collaborative working, and exhibition installation.

Trimester two
Maintaining an experimental approach, you'll begin to narrow your focus. Academic staff will help you evaluate your development and refine your work to support the project outcome. You’ll be encouraged to pay greater attention to how your project functions and engages its audience. Technical staff will support you to bring your project to a level appropriate for the assessment submission.

Trimester three
A self-directed, double practice module leads to your final Degree Show. You’ll establish a line of inquiry, working to a proposal of your devising, which positions your work within your specialist discipline. You’ll work in the studio with increasing independence to produce a body of work that demonstrates your now advanced knowledge and understanding of your professional practice.

Course modules

This course includes or offers the following modules. Please check the program document for more information on which modules are core, required, or optional.

• Research Methods
• Theory and Professional Context
• Practice 1 (Design)
• Research Practice
• Theory and Professional Practices
• Practice 2 (Design)
• Master's Project

How will I be assessed?

Your progress is evaluated by formative assessment (throughout the course) and summative assessment (at the end of each trimester), through a mixture of exhibitions, verbal/visual presentations, research folders/blogs, and written assignments.

Careers opportunities encompass skills such as book design, digital design, branding and typography, and roles include:

• Art Director
• Illustrator
• Graphic Designer
• Interior Designer
• Multimedia Artist
• Animator
• Set and Exhibit Designer

How will I be taught?

You’ll learn through lectures, talks, taught sessions, individual and group tutorials, and studio critiques and seminars.

Visiting lecturers, and seminars with external professionals and internationally renowned designers and artists, will help you determine where your current practice sits within the industry.

Our collaborative structure also means that you’ll learn from each other – for instance, Illustration or Photography students might engage in debates with a range of other Art and Design students.

Technical Demonstrators, who manage our workshop facilities, provide teaching and support across a wide range of subject specialisms. Your learning is also supported by specialist librarians.