MA Material Futures

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:

• An honours degree
• Or an equivalent EU/international qualification

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

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 we 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:

Portfolio

The quality of portfolio demonstrating:

• Strong design and technical skills
• A personal approach to developing a design concept (including research, design development and final outputs)
• A knowledge and understanding of materials
• A creative approach to visual communication and presentation.

Interview

In addition to the skills demonstrated in the portfolio, the applicant’s potential ability will be assessed using the following criteria:

• The ability to discuss your portfolio demonstrating a critical perspective of your work
• A clear understanding of your design context and an engagement with issues that affect your industry
• The ability to have an informed conversation about your role as a designer
• Motivation, commitment and understanding of the ethos of the MA Material Futures course.

What we are looking for

We are looking for people who are highly driven and passionate about design and who keep informed about the material, ethical, moral, social and political issues that affect the creative industries today, as well as how they locate themselves and their work within the global context of design.

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

Your portfolio should be up to 20 pages and demonstrate:

• Strong design and technical skills
• A personal approach to developing a design concept (including research, design development and final outputs)
• A knowledge and understanding of materials
• A creative approach to visual communication and presentation.

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

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

In addition to the skills demonstrated in the portfolio and in the written statement, the applicant’s potential ability will be assessed using the following criteria during the interview:

• The ability to discuss your portfolio, through verbal or written means, demonstrating a critical perspective of your work
• A clear understanding of your design context and an engagement with issues that affect your industry
• The ability to have an informed conversation about your role as a designer
• Motivation, commitment and understanding of the ethos of the MA Material Futures course.

Interviews are held online or by telephone.

How we notify you of the outcome of your application

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

MA Material Futures has established various links with industry in London and beyond, allowing students to work on international design projects and initiatives. MA Material Futures itself has contributed much to debate around design, both through the media and by organising and delivering papers at international conferences.

MA Material Futures students are expected to establish their own network of contacts and develop collaborations within industry as part of the development of their Masters project. Employers have included Adidas, Distance Lab, Banff New Media, Castelbajac, Donna Karan, Etam, Hussein Chayalan, Line Consultants, Louis Vuitton, Margiela, Media Lab Europe, Nicole Farhi, Speedo, Ted Baker, Design Lab, Trend Union and Nissan Design Europe.