MA Design Management

The team recognise that applicants come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds from across the world. We are actively seeking open-minded graduates from diverse academic and industry/professional backgrounds who want to explore design management at a high level.

A key characteristic of our candidates will be their desire to work across disciplines and professional boundaries, to explore the future changes of design management. Educational level may be demonstrated by:

• Honours degree at 2.1;
• Possession of equivalent qualifications;
• Prior experiential learning or professional training, the outcome of which can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required;
• Or a combination of formal qualifications and professional training which, taken together, can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required.

APEL - Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

If you do not meet these entry requirements but your application demonstrates additional strengths and alternative relevant experience, you may still be considered. This could include:

• 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. We cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

For fees and funding information, please see website 

Graduates of MA Design Management will be equipped to make a contribution to both private and public sectors in areas such as private enterprise, public sector service provision and the voluntary sector.

They will leave with an in-depth understanding of design business and management with the skills of critical analysis and debate usually associated with the humanities and social sciences. 

Career opportunities include setting up your own business, managing design projects, strategic leadership in a variety of industries, forecasting, consultancy, research and entrepreneurship.

You could take up a career within a wide range of creative industries or organisations such as museums, galleries, auction houses, publishing, arts administration, Public Relations, marketing, forecasting consultancies, design and branding agencies, advertising and retail. Alternatively, they may go on to work as editors, design critics, journalists, event and exhibition curators or educators. 

There are also opportunities to study for further professional qualifications or research degrees such as a PhD or MPhil at LCC/UAL.

Block 1

• Design Research, Society and Culture (60 credits)  
  In this Unit you will develop your contextual understanding of design, its strategic role in business, and its wider impact on society and culture. You will critically engage with design thinking and develop effective research skills as you learn how to define business and design research problems for different scenarios and audiences. 

Block 2

• Leading Design Futures (40 credits)  
  In this Unit you will develop, apply and experiment with ideas, techniques and concepts introduced in Unit 1. You will explore and develop design leadership skills and techniques for speculative design, interdisciplinary research and forecasting methods while developing your understanding of leadership and management roles, collaboration and the various ways in which design engages and interacts with stakeholders across various sectors and cultural contexts.
• Collaborative Unit (20 credits)  
  The Collaborative Unit, is common to all courses at Master's-level. This is a group-based, largely student-led unit focusing on collaborative modes of working and may involve working on a live brief along with external and or internal collaborators from the creative industries, cultural sector, public sector or commercial sector.  

Block 3

• Master’s Project (60 credits)     
  In this Unit you will utilise learning from previous units and your own research in a particular area, bringing these together in self-directed enquiry that you will present and reflect upon. Your project should consider how design management can bring about transformation within a global context applied locally. You will investigate design problems, key drivers of social, political and cultural meaning, and speculate on design resolutions with positive equitable impact.  You will then write up an extended abstract summarising your project and a critically reflective report analysing and synthesising your project and MA experience.