The Master Design is a two-year part-time course. It is centred on doing design research. This research seeks answers to self-defined design questions, and combines methods of making, gaining in-depth knowledge, storytelling and positioning.
At the Master Design you learn to do design research to seek answers to a self-defined design question. You combine methods of making, gaining in-depth knowledge and positioning.
This master of the Willem de Kooning Academy/Piet Zwart Institute has its own design research methodology, which is the base of workshops, lectures and coaching sessions. During the study you constantly reflect on what you discover and share your findings through storytelling. With your design research you contribute to new practices in which relevant issues and ways of working are explored.
In the first year you get to know different methods in the three learning lines design research, storytelling and new practices. By deploying it directly to answer your own design question, you gradually develop your own methodology. You also work on a suitable network of participants and look for your positioning in your context. In the second year you work on your own methodology and are thereby relevant to the social and design context in which you work. You graduate on design (methodology and work), a publication and a clear vision with which you stand as a professional in your new network.
Students come from different design disciplines, but most have a Bachelor of Arts or Design. What binds them during the master is iterative researching and working with participants.
From September 2020 on the Master Design is an international classroom. The program is taught in English, but students individually can work in Dutch. The study after an application assessment accepts both students from the Netherlands and within the EU.
Practical information on the Master Design, the application and projects from (previous) students can be find at https://www.wdka.nl/programmes/master-design
If you have any questions, please contact us through wdka.masterdesign@hr.nl
