MA MSc Industrial Design
Option for Placement Year
Option for Study Abroad
Option for Placement Year
Option for Study Abroad
Please note that whilst we are accepting applications, this course is subject to validation.
The Industrial Design course at Northumbria University is highly specialised in combining the creative elements of technology, engineering, creative expression, and business entrepreneurship into industrial design. It is designed to encourage a deep understanding of how our sustainable development challenges can be addressed by applying design-for-people-and-planet theory and methodologies to smart products and services supported by emerging technologies, with particular emphasis on AI.
On our Masters course, you will learn to create better products, services, and business models that are needed to meet changing priorities in society, and you will be assessed by your coursework for all modules.
Our course features two focused pathways:
- MA Industrial Design – Designing services
and promoting behaviour change or
- MSc Industrial Design – Generative AI design and smart
products.
Service Design - better services and experiences are key to a better future.This module focuses on product development, our industrial design processes and design thinking, as these skills are now just as sought-after in reshaping services and experiences. It covers the key principles and co-design methods, which are increasingly applied to the domain of health and wellbeing, and product lifecycle services.
Design for Behaviour Change - design changes behaviour. Whether through an intuitive user interface, persuasive communications or compelling product package, design can direct user action. In this module, you will explore how you can deliberately guide positive, ethical behaviour change by understanding desires and motivations, or shaping capabilities, opportunities, and perceptions. You will draw on underlying psychological principles such as social proof, scarcity, or reciprocity to help realise positive outcomes.
Industrial Design major project dissertation MA/MSc - now is your chance to design the future. This major design project/thesis module allows you to focus on designing products or services or, integrated product-service systems for connected futures, with reflection on and synthesis of previous learnt product and service systems design principles, approaches and practices. This MA project will focus on service design.
Experimental Generative Design - AI is driving a design revolution. The AI revolution is likely to change not just the way we work but perhaps also whether we can work at all. This module will introduce you to designing at a higher level with a cross section of industry leading artificial intelligence tools which help to boost design experimentation, iteration and quality of final outcomes. You will gain an understanding and practical application of emerging generative AI and related design tools and models in relation to human-centred design principles.
Smart Product Design and Practice - smart products are the future. Smart product design involves creating products that leverage digital technology such as AI and Digital twins, connectivity, and intelligent features to enhance functionality, user experience, and overall value. This module will first introduce smart product design principles, methodologies and processes across the product (ordinary) lifecycle, and then discuss how these can be applied to build smart connected products/devices.
Industrial Design major project dissertation MA/MSc - now is your chance to design the future. This major design project/thesis module allows you to focus on designing products or services or integrated product-service systems for connected futures, with reflection on and synthesis of previous learnt product and service systems design principles, approaches and practices. This MSc project will focus on product design.
Research Power - Art and Design at Northumbria is ranked 4th in the UK for research power (REF, 2021). This is a rise of 6 places compared to 2014.
Top 20 University - Art & Design at Northumbria is ranked 17th in the UK by the Complete University Guide for 2024, rising 4 places since last year.
Northumbria University is the largest provider of postgraduate taught education in the North East and the 9th largest provider in the UK. *HEIDI PLUS Student FPE 2022/23
Applicants should normally have:
A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree in design, Business, Engineering and computing or a related discipline. Applicants with appropriate work experience and/or a relevant professional qualification will be considered
Additional Requirements
All students need to have some design communication skills to start the course. These skills include freehand sketching, digital sketching, 3D CAD modelling and rendering, 2D/3D mark-ups, or design videos. Therefore, students need to submit a creative portfolio evidencing the above skills.
International qualifications:
If you have studied a non- UK qualification, you can see how your qualifications compare to the standard entry criteria, by selecting the country that you received the qualification in, from our country pages. Visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry
English language requirements:
International applicants are required to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 with 5.5 in each component (or approved equivalent*).
*The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades you will need in our English Language section. Visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications
Full UK Fee: £9,700
Full International Fee: £19,350
Scholarships and Discounts
ADDITIONAL COSTS
There are no Additional Costs
else
The School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries is a leading centre for supporting and energising creative practice and academic study. Our inter-disciplinary research and experiential education is committed to the betterment of people, place, cultures, and societies. Our programmes are defined by the way we collaborate with communities, industry, and external partners to inform curriculum, your learning and contribute to wider society.
This Industrial Design Masters is an innovative approach to taught postgraduate study, which develops your creative thinking and professional practice with emerging technology to support your personal career aspirations.
We passionately believe that the breadth of knowledge and experience that the cohort brings from a wide range of specialisms, generates invaluable insights, skills, and fresh perspectives that benefits our learning community and contributes to our mutually designed futures, caring for the individual, society and planet, underpinned by Industry 5.0.
On graduation, you will be ready for employment, entrepreneurship or doctoral research within areas such as, service design and innovation, product design and innovation, manufacturing, health and welling, industry innovation and consultancy.
Our Masters students are often heard talking about the creative freedom within the design faculty, and how they are always encouraged to run with their ideas, no matter how creative they might be. Your portfolio work will be a perfect place to encapsulate that and represent some of the exciting, unusual, and impactful projects that you have been working on over the past year.
You will be taught by a wide range of international leading design practitioners, researchers and educators. Their expertise includes product design and innovation, service design, design for behaviour change, creative computing and AI, designing thinking and innovation, research through design, sustainable design, engineering design and manufacturing, design for healthcare and wellbeing, and smart design.
As an MA/ MSc Industrial Design student, you will have shared use of a dedicated design studio. The Masters studio includes state-of-the art computers and industry standard software. You will also have access to a range of workshops including model-making, photography studio, virtual reality suite and prototyping lab, Bio Design Lab, Creative Technology Hub for creative technology, physical computing, 3d printing, electronics, creative coding and virtual reality.
If you have not used specialist equipment and workshops before, you will have the opportunity to be inducted by our expert technical staff. You will also have free access to online tutorials to familiarise yourself with new software.
All information is accurate at the time of sharing.
Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.
Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.
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