Design for Change

MA Design for Change.

Our Design for Change MA aims to give designers and non-designers alike an in-depth knowledge of integrated design strategies and the skills to leverage design in the pursuit of organisational change and sustainable innovation.
The programme offers powerful, collaborative design skills which our graduates utilise to achieve co-created solutions which engage everyone and forge progressive change in individuals and communities.

Students are introduced to the latest developments in design theory and practice, and through project based learning, collaboration with our partners at the Institute without Boundaries and real client engagement they learn to apply the transformative capacity of design.

The programme responds to the great challenges of the present and future; economic, cultural and ecological. All require strategic approach to design and problem solving and this programme offers a dynamic new way of engaging those challenges creatively, purposefully and responsibly.

What will I be doing?
Complex Problem Solving and Critical Thinking.

Developing creative solutions for economic and cultural challenges.

Working with industry partners and stakeholders on "live projects".

Manage and participate in national & international charrettes.

Develop interdisciplinary outcomes for services, products & strategies.

What modules will I study?
An international collaboration, developed by two established centres of excellence, the curriculum is carefully crafted to allow students to both learn and apply models and theories of design strategy using real case studies with global significance. Throughout the process, students have on-going access to a large list of industry professionals, expert advisors, and faculty.

Modules include:
Interdisciplinary Research Methods
Applied Design
Design: Context and Theory
Integrated Design Strategies
Communication Design
Professional Studies
Major Project

Travel
In term two there is the option for the MA students to travel to Canada to participate in the Toronto International Charrette. This is an annual Institute Without Boundaries event that brings together 200 plus students, faculty and industry experts from organisations around the world. The goal of each charrette will be for participants to design detailed project proposals that respond to the major themes of the current Institute Without Boundaries major project.

Minimum Entry Requirements:
Undergraduate qualification of 2nd Class Honours or higher at Honours Degree level.

Applicants may be considered provided they can demonstrate Honours Degree equivalence, which can be verified through our RPL (recognition of prior learning) process.

Some prior experience in a cognate discipline is desirable.

Advanced Entry Requirements:
Entry to an advanced stage of the MA Programme is available via two pathways

(i) Successful candidates of approved Access/Feeder Programmes (AFPs).

(ii) Applicants may be considered for advanced entry through a combination of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and relevant Industry Experience in the discipline area.

Please contact IADT Admissions for further information on advanced entry.

Application Deadline:
Round 1: 4.00pm Thursday 27th May 2021
Round 2: 4.00pm Wednesday 25th August 2021

*Round 2 is subject to available places.

3 Semesters over 14 months.

Semesters 1 - 2: September 2019-May 2020.
Semester 3: September 2020-Jan 2021.

1 full day + 1 evening per week

Conferring for this programme takes place in March, after the final Semester.

Fees IE/EU Students: €6,000
Fees International Students: €16,000

Future careers
Graduates will be prepared to work at a strategic level across a broad range of sectors. Recent graduates are employed as service designers, design researchers and design strategists in a wide variety of sectors, in Ireland and abroad; tech companies, financial services, non-for profits; government organisations and their own enterprise or consulting service.