Master of Arts - Design Innovation & Brand Management
- 1 year
- Duration
- 18,000 GBP
- Price
- Rolling admission
- Start
- Rolling admission
- Deadline
- Master
- Degree
- Campus
- Format
- Epsom / United Kingdom
- Location
Program description
Our MA Design, Innovation & Brand Management course offers you the chance to study a combined curriculum that will significantly enhance your skill set, preparing you to become a leading brand, design, and innovation manager. It's an exciting opportunity to develop your professional skills and managerial capabilities.
In the current competitive global economy, where businesses continue to compete in crowded markets, our course urges you to take into account the importance of branding. The need to differentiate through emotional attachment has become increasingly vital as consumers get more smart and the variety of items more comparable. This is where the course comes in to help future leaders produce original products and innovative campaign ideas.
Understanding how brand development relates to innovation is essential for success. The conventional wisdom has been that although innovation involves more process-oriented development, branding is related to logos, advertising, and manipulation. This MA programme from UCA covers all facets of product design, brand management, and the innovation elements that serve as the course's cornerstone.
Each essential element will be covered, and students will learn how to properly manage each one while also addressing their own professional and personal leadership growth. For us, innovation refers to an organisational effort targeted at differentiating a firm through unique value creation. Branding refers to providing customers with a gratifying experience. In other words, while each is independently defined, they are all interconnected.
Working with students on other postgraduate courses at UCA Epsom will help you as a student on this course better understand the variety of products available on the market today, their similarities, strengths, and weaknesses, and above all, to develop and deliver customer-centric products and experiences.
You can choose the Integrated International Pre-Masters, a year-long preparatory programme of study to get you ready for your master's in the UK, improving your speaking and writing skills in English along with your specialty skills, research knowledge, and self-confidence.
Program structure
Term one
You will learn about the University and the technological facilities and workshops that are accessible to you. In the first term, you'll take part in a variety of lectures and seminars and begin to investigate your creative practise.
- Research and Communication
With the help of this unit, you can conduct a targeted and in-depth inquiry into the goal and methodology of postgraduate research in the area of design, innovation, and brand management. Through a refined analysis of research methodologies, it is intended to support and progress the project work created during the remaining portion of your MA studies. Through the process of understanding and developing your practise, drilling down from contextual research to more focused ideas, understanding the importance of the blend of academic and practical knowledge, and developing your ability to communicate this in a variety of ways, you will define, articulate, and critically reflect upon the research concerns of your own practise during this unit.
- Creative Thinking
You will learn about the definitions and ideas of creativity in this unit. It enables you to investigate the nature of creativity and analyse creative processes in light of ideas such as taste, consumer need, and user interface. You will be needed to use a variety of approaches related to the development of creative talents as you go through this unit to apply creative processes.
Term two
During term two, you start working on your MA project, analysing and testing the objectives of your proposal over an extended period of independent study.
- Professional Practice
You will work alone or in small groups to address some of the contemporary industrial issues. Over the course of five weeks, you will compose a brief or select one, iterate, and use your research and communication abilities to solve problems and offer intriguing, practical answers.
- Product and Prototyping
This unit will emphasise self-directed practise, where you will define and construct unique justifications and working strategies in order to locate and pre-realize your final project. A Literature Review and Project Proposal that you negotiate and go through with your tutor will drive and guide your research and practise. You will be able to develop, visualise, study, demonstrate, and test design outcomes by prototyping ideas and concepts.
Term three
You'll use the knowledge you learn through your research to produce a final body of work in the third term of the course.
- Final Project
Your studies will be completed with a final project that will serve as an exposition of the key ideas and concepts you've learned throughout your MA programme. This is made up of two parts:
- Portfolio component:
The portfolio component requires that the work show evidence of research, coherence, innovation, and excellent idea and execution. Your work will demonstrate the growth of in-depth subject knowledge, creative independence, and the creation of a unique presentation and citation strategy. This unit's key components include the project's final presentation and research into presentation options.
- Written component:
You will be expected to provide a report-style component in writing. The dissemination strategy should be pre-agreed upon with your tutor. All distribution strategies will be evaluated using a set of uniform standards and must follow accepted academic practises. Your writing must show that you have clear goals and objectives, that you are well-versed in the relevant criticism and theory, and that your argument is well-supported. It must also show a critical understanding of both your own work and the work of others in the subject of study you have chosen, as well as a critical understanding of the connections between theory and practise.
Price
Fee for two semesters (1 year) is 18,000 GBP for international students
We have offer a range of scholarships and fee discounts.
Requirements for applicants
If you do not have qualifications from the United Kingdom, we will accept equivalent qualifications from your native country for admittance into our programs.
In addition to academic credentials, some of our courses require a portfolio of previous work.
For our Master's courses, we usually require that you have successful completion of your Bachelor's degree or equivalent from a recognised university.
English Language requirements for MA/MSc & MBA courses:
- IELTS UKVI or Academic - Listening 5.5, Reading 5.5, Speaking 5.5, Writing 5.5, Total 6.5
- Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) iBT - Listening 17, Reading 18, Speaking 20, Writing 17, Total 90
- Pearson Test of English (Academic) - Listening 59, Reading 59, Speaking 59, Writing 59, Total 59
- Cambridge English Advanced (CAE) or Cambridge English Proficiency - Listening 162, Reading 162, Speaking 162, Writing 162, Total 176
- Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE) - Listening Pass, Reading Pass, Speaking Pass, Writing Pass, Total ISE III
- LanguageCert International ESOL SELT - Listening 38, Reading 38, Speaking 38, Writing 38, Total B2 Communicator High Pass
Portfolio requirements
We'll need to examine your written or graphic portfolio for these courses in order to review it. Once you've applied, we'll send you an invitation to submit your portfolio via your applicant portal; more details will be given at that time. This can also be arranged for you if you would prefer to evaluate your work with the Academic Team in person while on campus.
About the university
The UCA team firmly believes that creativity enhances the vitality, innovation, and humanity of global communities. That is why the university has been a fervent supporter of creative research and teaching for the past 160 years.
Architecture, crafts, fashion, graphic design, illustration, fine art, photography, film, media, the performing arts, and creative business are among areas of study offered by the university. Employers in the creative sector hold a high regard for this programs because of their excellent teaching standards.
We want to inspire people to use their creativity to drive change, overcome challenges and improve the lives of others.
So we’ve designed our university to be an inclusive, dynamic environment. Our campuses across Surrey and Kent, our Institute for Creative Innovation in Xiamen, China, and our homes within partner organisations such as the Maidstone Television Studios all have one thing in common: they are places to forge inspiring partnerships, make work with purpose and build real solutions to human problems across the globe – whether that’s as part of our vibrant teaching and research community, or as a student on one of our courses.
Read more about University for the Creative Arts (UCA), United Kingdom
