MA Industrial Design

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:

• An honours degree in a relevant field: product design, 3D design, furniture design, service design, interaction design, architecture, engineering and ergonomics. Applicants are also considered from related disciplines but portfolios from these areas must demonstrate some proficiency in industrial design skills, however, and demonstrate that personal and professional aspirations are compatible with the aims of the course
• Or an equivalent EU/international qualification

And normally at least one year of relevant professional experience.

AP(E)L – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Exceptionally applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

• Related academic or work experience
• The quality of the personal statement
• A strong academic or other professional reference

Or a combination of these factors.

Each application will be considered on its own merit but cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

English language requirements

IELTS level 6.5 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking (please check our main English language requirements webpage).

We select applicants according to potential and current ability in the following areas:

• You can generate and communicate a range of ideas (Portfolio Review)
• You can analyse a design problem from a number of perspectives and generate a range of design responses to a particular problem (Portfolio Review)
• Demonstrating your personal and professional aspirations are compatible with the aims and objectives of MA Industrial Design (Personal Statement/Interview)
• You can demonstrate the necessary fluency in your design process to be able to benefit from the postgraduate course (Portfolio Review/Personal Statement/Interview).

What happens next

Initial application check

We check your application to see if you meet the standard entry requirements for the course.  If you do, you will be invited to submit a portfolio through the UAL Portal.

Portfolio review

Your portfolio should demonstrate your ability to skilfully generate and communicate a range of ideas addressing problems relevant to the discipline of industrial design including:

• The generation and communicate a range of ideas
• The analysis of a design problem from a number of perspectives and generate a range of design responses to a particular problem
• The necessary fluency in your design process to be able to benefit from the postgraduate course
• The full range and level of your design, technical and practical skills
• Your thinking and decision making in the design process
• Your personal vision and approach to design.

As part of your portfolio application we ask that you include a 2-3 minute video, within this video:

• Please identify one project which challenged you and your understanding of Industrial Design – explaining how the project advanced your practice. Tell us how this experience has motivated you to undertake study on MA Industrial Design
• You must be visible, speak clearly in English and look toward the camera. Record yourself alone and ensure the audio is clear
• Use whichever method of filming that's easiest for you e.g. mobile phone or laptop
• If you have declared a learning difference or a disability in your application you may submit an audio or written file if this task is not accessible to you.

The only files that can be uploaded as part of the portfolio are:

• Images: bmp, gif, jpg, jpeg, png
• Audio: mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, wma
• Video: avi, mp4, mpg, mpeg, mkv, mov, wmv
• Read more about file uploads and limits to PebblePad.

Portfolio advice

Your portfolio should demonstrate creative development, whether for a college project or in your personal work. By creative development, we mean ideas that have originated through your own experience and research and progressed towards potential visual proposals. Ideas, visual research and experimentation are more important than finished design solutions and can be shown in 2D work, or through photos of 3D objects and maquettes.

It is important that the creative work you include reflects and demonstrates your thinking, initiative and personal commitment to a particular project, theme or idea.  We are interested in you as an individual, your personal interests, your creativity and initiative in finding out about your proposed area of study. We would also like to know about your favourite designers and artists, where you have seen their work at first hand and how you have acquired more information about the work that interests you.

For more portfolio advice please visit the Portfolio advice page.

Following the review of the portfolio we select a small number of applicants to move on to the next stage of the process.  These applicants will be invited to an interview.

Interview

We interview either online or by telephone. We aim to complete all interviews by end of March and to communicate all decisions by mid-April 2021.

How we notify you of the outcome of your application

You will receive the outcome of your application through the UAL Portal.

Feedback

This course receives a high number of applications, and unfortunately we cannot provide feedback to everyone who is unsuccessful. We can only provide feedback after you have had an interview.

If you would like to request feedback – please email csm.ukeu@arts.ac.uk. We are only able to provide feedback to you directly, or to someone you have told us in writing can receive it on your behalf.

Each and every application is carefully considered by a member(s) of our academic team. With so many strong applicants to choose from, it is often a very difficult decision to make. If you are unsuccessful, you are welcome to apply to us again in the future.

A typical graduate should have a thorough knowledge of contemporary product design and development, and be able to adopt a critical perspective on both their own work and that of their contemporaries. In addition, the emphasis on self-directed study should equip graduates with appropriate methods and strategies for successful project management both within teams and as individuals. The typical aspiration of graduates is to find work in the consulting field. Following significant shifts in this industry over the last 10-15 years, many graduates working in consultancy find themselves in roles that can be described as designer, design strategy, service innovation, forecasting, or management in addition to straightforward new product development.

The second largest area of graduate employment is through in-house design for manufacturing companies. Increasingly students establish their own studios and have moved to work in charitable organisations and the third sector. A number develop careers in commercial research and also progress to study at PhD. Graduates are now distinguished and respected designers and design managers in international companies.

Employers of recent MA Industrial Design graduates include: Plan UK, Projects by If, Mother, Catapult Satellite Industries UK, Itsu, Arup, Microsoft, Open Desk, Fitch, Tangerine, Seymour Powell, Nokia, LG, Samsung, Herman Miller, The Future Laboratory, Tangerine, Lenovo, BenQ, Acer.