Masters Compare - Find your perfect masters course.
Masters Compare - Find your perfect masters course.
Study Details: 1 year / 45 week programme
Full-time study
Designed products have purpose and meet needs. They enrich lives and improve the places that people inhabit by meeting objective and subjective criteria. There is a constant need for innovation as we live in an environment where things like technology and societal values are always evolving. In this landscape people are regularly impacted by new issues. These are both local and global in scope, ranging from climate or healthcare to work environments or performing daily activities. Solutions to many of these consequential challenges require applying knowledge from multiple domains. Whether from engineering, computing or technology to psychology, social sciences or art, no single area of expertise can fully address human needs.
We’ve designed this programme to explore new terrain for designing products and evolve your design disciplines and practices. In it you will:
challenge your existing practice and have opportunities to explore and deepen specialist knowledge
learn research-based tools and methods that will equip you to explore, synthesise and apply cross-domain knowledge in creative, user-centred and evidence-based ways
learn to ask the questions needed to define design opportunities.
Together, the first two will help you to become more effective at creating impactful solutions. But the challenge for designers today is not just to find good solutions, it is in identifying what problems and opportunities that design should actually address. Innovation comes not just from creative solutions but in re-thinking what are the issues that should be addressed in the first place.
Candidates are selected entirely on merit and applications are welcomed from all over the world. The selection process considers creativity, imagination and innovation as demonstrated in your portfolio, as well as your potential to benefit from the programme and to achieve high MA standards overall.
For MA Design Products, you should have a good undergraduate degree or equivalent in an area of design, or related background and proficient written and spoken English. Several years of professional experience, either before or after a first degree, is a benefit, and you must be able to demonstrate critical and innovative thinking, a design curiosity and the ability to thrive in student led projects.
Applications are welcomed from candidates from related backgrounds, such as engineering, architecture, communication, sports science, medical/health, international development/NGO, economics/business, material science, technology development and user experience.
Graduates are creative catalysts and visionaries who go on to lead in design consultancies, join large established companies, and to set up their own design studios and start-ups. Our graduates are change makers driven by their vision of tackling and redefining industries.
Locating Practice
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The Independent Research Project (IRP)
Ranked for twelve consecutive years as the world’s number 1 art & design university*, the Royal College of Art’s postgraduate programmes enable yo...
Thu 18 Jun 2026