MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design (Furniture); MA Design ... · ceramics, furniture or jewellery...

MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design (Furniture); MA Design (Jewellery) Programme Specification - 201920

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MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design

(Furniture); MA Design (Jewellery) Awarding Body University of the Arts London

College Central Saint Martins

School University of the Arts London

Programme Product, Ceramic and Industrial Design (L032)

Course AOS Code 05097 – MA Design (Ceramics)

05176 – MA Design (Furniture)

05098 – MA Design (Jewellery)

FHEQ Level Level 7 Masters

Course Credits 180

Mode Extended Full Time

Duration of Course 2 years

Teaching Weeks 60 weeks

Valid From September 1st 2019

QAA Subject Benchmark

Art and Design

UAL Subject Classification

3D design and product design

JACS Code W270 - Ceramics design

UCAS Code N/A

PSRB N/A

APPROVED


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Work placement offered

No

Course Entry Requirements

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:

An honours degree OR An equivalent EU / international qualification

APEL - 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).

Selection Criteria The application, indicative project proposal and the portfolio will be assessed in relation to:

The suitability, appropriateness and deliverability of the Project Proposal in relation to the professional expertise of the staff team

Analytical and critical skills and the ability of the applicant to apply these to the Project Proposal

The quality of the design work submitted in support of the application and the 'match' between this and the Project Proposal

The applicant's awareness of the historical,

https://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/language-centre/english-language-requirements


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cultural and social implications of their project The resource implications of the Project Proposal

and the ability of the course and the applicant to support the practical realisation of the project.


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Awards and Percentage of Scheduled Learning

Year 1

Percentage of Scheduled Learning 22

Awards Credits

Postgraduate Certificate (Exit Only)

60

Year 2

Percentage of Scheduled Learning 22

Awards Credits

Postgraduate Diploma (Exit Only)

120

Master of Arts

180


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Course Aims and Outcomes

The Aims and Outcomes of this Course are as follows:

Aim/Outcome Description

Aim

To deepen and develop your understanding of your design and discipline practice within a framework defined by the demands of your project, appropriate specialist and interdisciplinary professional practice internationally and a thorough understanding of your target market place.

Aim To enable you to deepen your understanding of, and focus your personal creative identity in ceramics, furniture or jewellery design and practice.

Aim

To develop your subject specific and generic research and analytical skills and critical judgement in order to evaluate and examine contemporary practice and use this in creative forward thinking.

Aim To enable you to research, define, engage with and explore inventively, appropriate technology and skills to support your individual vision.

Aim

To provide the opportunity for teamwork, critical discourse, developmental thinking and design planning with a variety of peers and industry and professional practitioners at a range of professional levels.

Outcome

Through the production of a self-directed body of work have the ability to define, develop, sustain and present a completed project of their own conception to a high professional standard appropriate to the level of the MA award. (AC Enquiry; AC Knowledge)

Outcome Will have developed skills and knowledge in your chosen practice area. (AC Realisation; AC Communication)

Outcome Be able to define and creatively resolve design problems using appropriate skills and bodies of knowledge within professional and cultural contexts. (AC Enquiry)

Outcome Be able to evaluate work through research, practice and critical reflection in the application of relevant methodologies and processes to an advanced level within the subject. (AC Enquiry)

Outcome Will be able to work independently and with authority to a high


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professional standard. (AC Process)

Outcome Will have interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively. (AC Process)

Outcome Have reviewed personal and professional strengths and located and critically evaluated an appropriate contemporary context for your work. (AC Knowledge; AC Process)


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Distinctive Features

1

The course is defined around three areas of discipline and practice; ceramics, furniture or jewellery. Each of these disciplines has a rich tradition in material-led creativity. Framed within one course, we explore the dialogue between these disciplines, and the boundaries and definitions of ceramics, furniture and jewellery. The aim here is to embrace areas of practice far beyond traditional designations. The depth of disciplinary knowledge in the course allows a range of hybrid practices to emerge through this dialogue that disrupt assumptions around craft and manufacture, that mesh outcomes with a full range of future forms of practice from the material to the virtual to the intangible.

2

The effects of trans-disciplinarity, a key benefit of an immersion within an art & design university, impacts positively on the majority of students at the college. It is within the intimate environment of course debates, seminars and progress tutorials that cross, trans and multi disciplinary practice comes into play. The three disciplines embrace a deeply rooted understanding of materiality. Working in collaboration disrupts habitual assumptions around these traditional designations of, for example; ideas around scale, relationships to the body or contexts of use. Alternative perspectives create enhanced opportunities for exploration and innovation.

3

The application process on MAD is framed by the project proposal; a brief outline that scopes the work they propose to explore over the two years of the course. Through a structured process of research, exploration, development and evaluation, this project becomes richer. The project is iterated through a series of investigations that challenge assumptions and expose the concepts to a range of alternative perceptions and opportunities that seemed unimaginable at the outset.

4

Students are challenged to confront the reality of bridging the gap between design ideas and resolution. Students are expected to go beyond the development of models into working prototypes through practical iteration and reiteration. This makes students entrepreneurial and highly employable after graduation. We go beyond the college context into manufacturing in all its facets. As 35 plus projects ebb and flow through the studio space each year, the entire cohort is enriched and enlivened. Supported by a very pro-active peer learning process and an extended alumni network.

5

The course team has a long-standing, diverse and international professional and pedagogical experience. Knowledge of discourse and the application of design in global industry contexts is underscored by unrivalled networks in professional practice and research. This places networking at the centre of the course. Students are however expected to develop their own networks in order to develop an infrastructure required to deliver highly resolved design


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work. This activity is expected to augment and complement the learning resources available within the college and university.

6

The term time week is focussed by three timetabled intensive days in college. The timetabled days allow students to take part in rigorous studio practice alongside their peers. The rest of the week provides students time for reflective space, self-directed study, income generation and/or engagement with collaborators.

7 The course is involved in social, process, material, and technological innovation. Our broader view of "specialism" inculcates frames of research and practice that engage actively with completely different fields.

8

The course embraces multiple cultural perspectives, differing knowledge and worldviews. This wider view, driven by research by students and the course team, attracts internationally recognised visiting speakers like Prof Mugendi M'Twa Ritha. An attitude to diversity that extends to international cultural and economic contexts. The course is particularly pro-active in seeking out contributors to enrich the diversity of debate from industries and theory. Diversity is also driven by student projects working with practice communities both inside and outside of their countries of origin, communities that often have oral or practice traditions that may not be recorded through traditional western models.

9

The joint histories of the Central School of Art and Craft and the Saint Martins School of Art embeds the course in over 150 years of academic, economic and aesthetic understanding. Linking the course to generations of students and staff who have used skills and knowledge from historical practice to reshape and re-imagine the future. The Course grew from a history of making excellence: an understanding of the world populated with artefacts that are themselves understood through functionality and connoisseurship.


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Course Detail

MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design (Furniture); MA Design (Jewellery) will develop your creative abilities, imagination and expertise. It offers three pathways: Ceramics, Furniture and Jewellery. These disciplines all have a rich tradition in material-led creativity. Framed within one course, we explore the evolving boundaries of these disciplines, embracing ideas of practice beyond traditional definitions. This allows a range of hybrid practices to emerge, disrupting assumptions around design, craft and manufacture.

The course focuses on design as a process and as a practice. We look at design as modes of thinking, as ways of communicating to audiences and systems of engagement with the materiality of the world. These factors will impact the way your ceramics, furniture or jewellery design work will be realised. It will influence how you design it, talk about it, debate it and how you write about it. We are interested in all forms of manufacturing – from master craftsmanship, artisan work and the hand-made to factory production and emerging technologies. Our students are interested in single artefacts, mass-market delivery and all stages in-between.

On MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design (Furniture); MA Design (Jewellery), you will work on your own personal project. This will be explored and developed according to your individual pathway choice. Your project will evolve through a structured process of research, exploration, development and evaluation. You will be encouraged to refocus your skills intellectually, contextually and practically. You will be expected to extend and exploit design strategies from both your own and other disciplines and to question and test your ideas through team work and group critiques.

The course is taught by team of skilled practitioners. Alongside teaching experience, staff have professional careers and strong links with commercial, artistic, craft and industrial bodies. This will help you locate mentors and foster a broad range of contacts. Meetings with peers, staff, practitioners and industry professionals will also help you develop your presentation skills, so you are able to communicate and discuss your project and your ideas.


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Course Units

On MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design (Furniture); MA Design (Jewellery), your programme of study is based on your project proposal. This will be negotiated on entry and then developed into your agreed plan of action for the course. The three units of the course support the development of this action agreement and your journey through the project.

Initially your task will be to research your project proposal. Research itself is taken to be a wide-ranging activity which includes visual, social, cultural and factual information gathering and most importantly: drawing, designing and modelling as you investigate the practical outcome of your project through design practice. You will be expected to develop strategic industry awareness, and to visit international trade events, seminars, production facilities, exhibitions and social and retail environments. This self-driven research is supported by seminars and tutorials.

Critical thinking will become the basis of your critical review. This examines your project intellectually and contextually and forms part of your Master’s submission. You will be encouraged to draw on the full range of your experience, resources and abilities. You will also be encouraged to think globally to realise your project outcome. This may include, for example, mobilising personal craft skills, devolved production across the globe and use of both traditional and new technologies.

Unit 1: Exploring and Designing

Unit 1 introduces issues and topics relevant to ceramics, jewellery or furniture, including research methodologies and techniques. These will help you orientate your practice within the course, and to develop contextual, critical and research skills at the onset of MA learning. You will be designing out ideas from day one as you research. You will work collaboratively with students from other courses and examine some of the key cultural and theoretical ideas impacting design.

Unit 2: Design and Professional Practice

Throughout Unit 2 you are expected to develop a critical self-awareness of professional practice. You will focus on reflectivity, contextualisation and positioning practice in response to the action proposal developed in Unit 1. You are expected to actively engage with your peers, external practitioners and collaborators to produce a body of work which will map and articulate your position in your field. You will reflect on your understanding of design industry structures – in particular, contemporary practices in ceramics, furniture and jewellery. The unit incorporates personal and professional development, enterprise and contextualising activities.

Unit 3: Evaluation and Resolution


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Unit 3 brings your project to both a practical and critically reflective conclusion. You will produce practical outcomes, evaluating the project through a critical review. During the final stages of the course there will be further personal and professional development. This is devised to support your career development.

Mode of study

MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design (Furniture); MA Design (Jewellery) is offered in extended full-time mode which runs for 60 weeks over two academic years. You will be expected to commit 30 hours per week to study, which includes teaching time and independent study.

The course has been designed in this way to enable you to pursue studies, while also undertaking part-time employment, internships or care responsibilities. 

Credit and award requirements

The course is credit-rated at 180 credits. 

On successfully completing the course, you will gain a Master of Arts (MA degree). 

Under the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, an MA is Level 7. All units must be passed in order to achieve the MA but the classification of the award is derived from the mark for the final unit only. 

If you are unable to continue on the course, a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) will normally be offered following the successful completion of 60 credits, or a Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) following the successful completion of 120 credits.


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Learning and Teaching Methods

Project brief Peer learning Research through design and making Professional panels and mentors Studio practice

Assessment Methods

Critiques Feedback tutorials Individual design work (2D, 3D, 4D) Group design work (2D, 3D, 4D) Pin-up and onscreen presentations Performances Action agreement documents Portfolio submission A written critical review Viva voce interview

Reference Points

The following reference points were used in designing the course:

The Learning and Teaching Policies of University of the Arts London College Policies and Initiatives HE Level Descriptors External consultation with design professionals and organisations


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Course Diagram Indicative assessment weeks are detailed in the course diagram. For exact dates please refer to the timetable. For details on the winter, spring and summer breaks, term dates are published on the UAL website: https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/term-dates

Year 1

Autumn Term Spring Term Summer Term

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Unit 1: Exploring and Designing 60 credits

Unit 2: Design and Professional Practice 60 credits

Year 2

Autumn Term Spring Term Summer Term

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Unit 2 continued Unit 3: Evaluation and Resolution 60 credits

Key

Week Summative assessment

https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/term-dates


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The University will use all reasonable endeavours to provide the Course and the services described in this Output. There may be occasions whereby the University needs to add, remove or alter content in relation to your Course as may be appropriate for example the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body, or in response to student feedback, or to comply with applicable law or due to circumstances beyond its control. The University aim to inform you of any changes as soon as is reasonably practicable.

CSM.041_PROG_TITLES-AW47 - MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design (Furniture); MA Design (Jewellery)MA Design (Ceramics); MA Design (Furniture); MA Design (Jewellery) Programme Specification - 201920

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