BA (Hons) Design Management and Cultures

Content

BA (Hons) Design Management and Cultures is structured to provide you with an introductory year where you gain the essential skills and knowledge practices required for your discipline.

This includes an introduction to design management and the creative and cultural industries and an exploration of design cultures and its relationship to a variety of themes – global, commercial, technological, subcultural and institutional.

The course supports the development of critical thinking and writing skills to express yourself, technical and design skills to communicate your ideas and management skills to locate them in the public realm.

In year two, you will undertake a collaborative project with other courses and external institutions. This will place an increased emphasis on participatory and collaborative design approaches, global perspectives, research methods and the development of your personal vision and career objectives.

In the third year, you will complete an extended piece of written work and embark on an individual major project, which you will promote using your knowledge of marketing communications.

The course features distinctive to help ensure that we are offering a unique, exclusive and exciting experience for you, including:

• Creative practice – Unlike other design management courses, which are mainly theoretical and taught through lectures and seminars, BA (Hons) Design Management and Cultures combines creative practice with academic study and offers a creative approach to the study of a design business, global cultures and histories.
• The inclusion of 'Cultures' in the title is significant because it refers to the many different understandings of culture that are addressed within your learning. We take a broad view of design management and cultures that include an analysis of global cultures, technological cultures, subcultures and institutional cultures. Students are introduced to culture as a way of life, as a form of creative practice and as a dynamic and socially engaged process.
• Student Exchanges/ Erasmus - The course has a strong global emphasis through its cross-cultural approach to course content, projects and international partnerships. You will have the opportunity to participate in the Erasmus Programme, which is a European student exchange programme offering students the possibility of studying in another European country for one or two terms. We have an Erasmus agreement with the Cultural Management course at Metropolia University, Helsinki and are negotiating different modes of exchange with Alto in Finland, Paris College of Art and Parsons Paris. You will also be encouraged to undertake online collaborations with students at design institutions in other countries.
• Projects – There is an emphasis on socially engaged design and real world projects. For example, a project could involve collaboration with an organisation like Age UK. You would work to a brief given by the charity, which would be set in context by tutors.
• Collaboration is at the heart of BA (Hons) Design Management and Cultures. You will gain an understanding of working as part of a team, which will prepare you for future roles which could include working with in-house or freelance design practitioners and external companies and institutions.

The three key strands of the course are Design Management, Design Cultures and Design Practice:

• Project Management: collaboration, co-design, partnerships, networking, negotiation and communication; developing a brief/working and presenting ideas to clients; design thinking/service design
• Business Skills: cultural and creative industries; business models and organisational structures; entrepreneurship and innovation; resource management and planning; costing, pricing and selling; corporate social responsibility; leadership
• Marketing and Branding: marketing, events, PR and social media; trend forecasting and futurising

Contextual and Theoretical Studies

• Year 1 – introduction to histories, theories and debates relevant to design management and cultures, writing workshops and research methods.
• Year 2 – your knowledge and understanding of the historical, social, theoretical and cultural developments of spatial design and visual communications are broadened and deepened by focusing on two specific options.
• Year 3 – you will complete an individual and extended piece of writing of 8/10,000 words, or a shorter piece of 4/5,000 words plus a global design case study.
• Research methods – You will gain familiarity with a variety of conceptual and theoretical frameworks to address current design issues and social meanings in a range of contexts. This could include critical thinking; design thinking; content analysis; semiotics; visual ethnography; discourse analysis; case studies; sociological and ethnographical approaches; political economy; interviews, focus groups; qualitative and quantitative analysis; participant observation; psychoanalysis; oral histories.

The following list includes the applications/skills you will engage with, dependent on the project briefs set:

• Design Project Practice: visual research, design and concept development; design for environments and artefacts; information design and interaction (way finding/wall text); communication design (graphic layout/online and print production).
• Software, Multimedia and Craft Skills: drawing (visualisation/technical); prototyping (model making/construction/materials/paper engineering); multimedia applications, such as digital imaging/3D modelling/Photoshop/ Illustrator/ InDesign /Vectorworks/After Effects/video production); printing (printmaking/ photography/ screen and digital printing).
• Communication Skills and Practice: communication design, graphic layout and print production; catalogue design; online publishing.

Through projects, workshops, tutorials, visits and critiques you will receive a creative and flexible learning experience; using multiple platforms, including blogging and social media sites.

Live and collaborative projects, competitions, work-related and off-site learning, blogs, wikis, the use of a variety of research methods including ethnography, working with archives, artefacts and organisations provide opportunities for learning.

In addition, issues of sustainability, ethics and social engagement are treated as important aspects of study throughout the three years and are embedded in all units.

Haven’t found the information you’re looking for or want to ask a question about this course?

Make an enquiry

Monday 24 September – Friday 7 December 2018

Monday 7 January – Friday 15 March 2019

Monday 15 April – Friday 21 June 2019

Course units

In common with all courses at the University of the Arts London, this course is credit rated. Years 1 and 2 must be passed to enter into Year 3. Your degree is attained through full completion of the third year. Your degree classification is determined by the relative level of grades attained in the third year.

Units summary:

• Introduction to Design Management and Cultures (20 credits)
• Contextual and Theoretical Studies 1 (20 credits)
• Creative Industries and Economy 1 (20 credits)
• Design Management 1 (20 credits)
• Projects and Practices 1 (40 credits)

Units summary:

• Collaborative Project (20 credits)
• Contextual and Theoretical Studies 2 (20 credits)
• Marketing Communications and Cultures (20 credits)
• Design Management 2 (20 credits)
• Projects and Practices 2 (40 credits)

Units summary

• Major Project (60 credits)
• Professional Practice (20 credits)
  
• Contextual and Theoretical Studies 3 (40 credits)
  or
• Contextual and Theoretical Studies 3 (20 credits) and
• Global Design Case Study (20 credits)

The information outlined is an indicative structure of the course. Whilst we will aim to deliver the course as described on this page, there may be situations where it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, for example, because of regulatory requirements or operational efficiencies, before or after enrolment. If this occurs, we will communicate all major changes to all applicants and students who have either applied or enrolled on the course.

Please note that due to staff research agreements or availability, not all of the optional modules listed may be available every year.

In addition, the provision of course options which depend upon the availability of specialist teaching, or on a placement at another institution, cannot be guaranteed. Please check this element of the course with the course team before making a decision to apply.

We will update this webpage from time to time with new information as it becomes available. In the meantime, if you have any questions, use our online course enquiry form.

BA Design Management and Cultures Programme Specification 2017/18 (PDF - 107KB)

Staff Course Co-Leaders

Mo-Ling Chui, Maureen Salmon

Danah Abdulla, Dr. Yi Chen, Robert Urquhart