Master of Arts - Industrial Design
- 2 years
- Duration
- 22,175 GBP/year
- Price
- September
- Start
- June
- Deadline
- Master
- Degree
- Campus
- Format
- London / United Kingdom
- Location
Program description
The MA Industrial Design programme at Central Saint Martins is a pioneering course that continually expands the discipline's purview to address contemporary social, economic, and environmental challenges. It emphasizes strategic competencies, encouraging you to question how, why, and for whom goods and services are produced, and to leverage design as a catalyst for change.
The course draws on insights from fields like behavioural science, policy design, and environmental studies, fostering a critical and socially responsive approach that reappraises the role of industry and the designer. It prepares you to take on strategic, sustainably informed roles, thrive in multidisciplinary teams, and prototype the future of the discipline. A core commitment is to embed ethical practices through UAL's Principles for Climate, Social, and Racial Justice.
Program structure
The MA Industrial Design curriculum is structured around emphases in practice that challenge and advance the discipline, consistently placing people at the centre of the design process. It develops innovative, human-centred approaches - informed by theatre, performance, and storytelling - to understand users, emerging technologies, and behavioural impacts.
These methods are embedded in studio projects that integrate anthropological design and sustainable development principles, allowing you to explore the consequences of design in varied contexts.
- Industrial design for enterprise
- Industrial design for publics
- Industrial design for service
- Industrial design for discourse
- Industrial design horizons
MA Industrial Design consists of four units, each of which is structured around studio projects. Unit 2 is a collaboration with another student group at CSM. They are devised to allow you to adopt a strategic and proactive role within the discipline.
- Unit 1: Methodological and Critical Approaches to Design
This unit is made up of a series of projects which vary in length. These will introduce you to a variety of research methods and issues relevant to the discipline. These are implemented in the realisation of design work.
- Unit 2: The Collaborative Unit
This unit aims to explore the potential of collaborative practice, equipping you with interdisciplinary approaches and collective agency to build communities of practice across the College. It examines how relational, network‑based methods can create positive impact for shared well‑being - social, economic, and environmental - focused on a specific place, space, or community of humans and non‑humans.
- Unit 3: Positioning and Professional Practice
Unit 3 reviews professional design practice by engaging external agencies and expertise. You will reflect on this activity through design practice.
- Unit 4: Self-Directed Design Research
This unit requires you to specify, manage, implement, and evaluate a self-directed design project informed by themes and issues identified in Unit 3.
Price
Tuition fee:
- 22,175 GBP per year*
*Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.
You may need to cover additional costs which are not included in your tuition fees, such as materials and equipment specific to your course.
Requirements for applicants
The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:
- An honours degree in a relevant field: For example, product design, 3D design, furniture design, service design, interaction design, architecture, game design, creative computing, engineering, and led social innovation.
- Applicants are also considered from disciplines as broad ranging as performance practice to physical and behavioural sciences. In this context, applicant portfolios must demonstrate some proficiency in industrial design skills, and that personal and professional aspirations are compatible with the aims of the course.
- Or an equivalent EU/international qualification.
And normally at least one year of relevant professional experience.
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 we 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
About the university
The University of the Arts London (UAL) produces and encourages the creativity essential for a better future. Its colleges have been at the forefront of innovative education since 1842, creating work with a lasting impact on people and the planet, driven by curiosity, imagination, and purpose.
London is fundamental to UAL's identity, providing a vital context where the university connects and exchanges ideas with individuals from all walks of life. Globally, its creative network influences education, culture, business, and society.
Through innovative research and creative instruction, UAL's faculty and staff bring fresh perspectives to education. The university enables students to build the careers they desire by working with them at every level - from pre-degree to postgraduate, and from short courses to online learning.
UAL's colleges
Ranked second in the world for art and design, UAL comprises six distinct colleges:
- Camberwell College of Arts
- Central Saint Martins
- Chelsea College of Arts
- London College of Communication
- London College of Fashion
- Wimbledon College of Arts
Together, they form a community of creatives, innovators, trailblazers, and storytellers, united in their mission to reimagine the future.
Courses in the visual arts, animation, screen, communication, fashion, media, and performance are available at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
