University Of Art And Design Lausanne ECAL
Master Product Design
Lausanne, Switzerland
Master degree
DURATION
LANGUAGES
French
PACE
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Feb 2025
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
About: ECAL’s Master in Product Design focuses on personal research and professional commissions. The programme sharpens design research, prototyping, production processes, efficiency and the value of design through a personal project, client assignments and a Master’s thesis. Practitioners teach using ECAL’s workshops, joint labs, gallery and network to support exhibitions, publications and portfolio development.
Career Outcomes: Graduates secure roles in agencies, design studios, manufacturers or launch independent practices. Typical positions include product designer, industrial designer, design researcher, design consultant, product developer, studio founder. They work in product development, production management, brand collaboration, exhibition curation and design direction, backed by portfolios.
As a decisive turning point in a career or as a follow-up to a Bachelor in Industrial Design, this Master's programme is for students wishing to focus on two fundamental aspects of a designer’s practice, personal research as well as the professional handling of commissions for clients, companies or producers.
Besides the steadily ongoing refinement of design research abilities and practical design skills, the students are confronted with the multifaceted realities of the design business. From production processes and concepts of efficiency through to the value of design, this Master's programme offers the tools to become a successful professional. Supervised by renowned practitioners and theoreticians, the programme revolves around three basic pillars: a personal project developed by the student throughout the curriculum, assignments in cooperation with international companies leading to various productions, exhibitions, and publications in the international press, and the drawing up of a Master’s thesis. Students benefit from ECAL’s exceptional resources in terms of both infrastructure and the school’s unique network in the art and design fields.
Upon completion of this programme and with the help of additional training in fields such as photography, students build up a portfolio to the highest professional standards. ECAL graduates are much sought after by international agencies, design studios, and companies or run their own businesses.
