Program Overview

Master of Design

Overview

The Master of Design caters for learners who are eager to become design leaders of the future through either a practice or leadership-oriented pathway, or a combination of both.

Course Essentials

• Qualification: Master of Design
• Duration: 2 years full-time or equivalent part-time study
• Credit: 400 credits (approximately 16 units)
• CRICOS: B

Admission Criteria

Applicants are required to have either:

• Work experience in Design or cognate areas
• A Bachelor degree in Design or cognate areas

Applicants with work experience or a Bachelor degree in non-cognate areas, or other pathways, should contact the Course Coordinator.

English Requirements

Curtin requires all applicants to demonstrate proficiency in English. Specific English requirements for this course are outlined in the IELTS table below.

• Writing: 6.0
• Speaking: 6.0
• Reading: 6.0
• Listening: 6.0
• Overall band score: 6.5

Fees and Scholarships

• Domestic fee paying postgraduate: $21,350* (2025 Fee year)
• Fees are indicative only.

Location

• Curtin Perth: On campus

How to Apply

Please review information on how to apply for the campus of your choice.

• Curtin Perth: Apply now

Course Outline

The course will deepen your understanding of design practice through theory-based and practical units that draw on contemporary and emerging design fields including experience design, social design, and speculative design.

For professionals looking to develop leadership capabilities in design, units focusing on entrepreneurship, design-led innovation, and design strategy will prepare you for senior or executive design roles.

Throughout your study, you will have the opportunity to learn from experts across a range of design disciplines to inform your practice. You will engage with a community of fellow industry professionals and enterprises beyond the design industry to see how design can fuel innovation.

The course offers three levels of study, with completion of one level providing credit to the next. You can choose to exit the degree at the graduate certificate or graduate diploma level.

What You'll Learn

• Develop an in-depth knowledge of their field of design practice articulated through the creation of new artefacts, services, products, or processes
• Apply specialized knowledge, theories, frameworks, and practices relevant to design leadership to inform design-led innovation
• Demonstrate a theoretical knowledge of design and reflect critically on design theory, practice, and history in multiple cultural settings through space and time
• Apply advanced cognitive, technical, and creative skills to the framing and interrogation of design problems to develop innovative design solutions
• Professionally communicate concepts, proposals, ideas, and final designs to the target audience in a highly accomplished (and persuasive) manner
• Synthesize complex, contextual, and critical information drawn from global perspectives to inform design
• Apply emerging technologies effectively to their design practice and process to develop design innovations that fulfill individual, collective, or societal needs
• Develop leadership ability, in the context of the design industry, to manage and work in interdisciplinary project teams and contexts
• Develop a lifelong commitment to the value of design and their design practice and be able to inform, advocate, and communicate this value to communities, enterprises, and public

Deadlines for Applying Direct to Curtin

• Semester 1, 2025: Applications now closed!
• Semester 2, 2025: Applications now open!
• Semester 1, 2026: Applications now open!
• Semester 2, 2026: Applications open on 6 April 2026

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Specialisations

• Actuarial Financial Mathematics Specialisation
• Advertising Design Specialisation
• Animation and Game Design Specialisation
• Anthropology and Sociology Specialisation
• Asian Studies Specialisation
• Chinese Language Specialisation
• Construction Management Specialisation
• Creative Writing Specialisation
• Design Thinking and Visual Communication Specialisation
• Designing Fashion Specialisation
• Digital Design Specialisation
• Digital and Social Media Specialisation
• English and Cultural Studies Specialisation
• Environmental Planning Specialisation
• Fashion Design Specialisation
• Fine Art Specialisation
• Geography Specialisation
• Graphic Design Specialisation
• Graphics Specialisation
• History Specialisation
• Illustration Specialisation
• Interior Architecture – Applied Interior Design Specialisation
• Interior Architecture Specialisation
• International Development Specialisation
• Journalism Specialisation
• Landscape and Natural Resource Management Specialisation
• Photography Specialisation
• Principles of Planning Specialisation
• Professional Writing Specialisation
• Screen Production Specialisation
• Social Inclusion and Equity Specialisation
• Social Justice Specialisation
• Surveying and Spatial Sciences Specialisation
• Theatre Arts Specialisation
• Urban Design and Planning Specialisation
• Web Media Specialisation
• Web Presence Specialisation

Bachelor of Commerce Specialisations

• Actuarial Financial Mathematics Specialisation
• Advertising Design Specialisation
• Animation and Game Design Specialisation
• Anthropology and Sociology Specialisation
• Asian Studies Specialisation
• Chinese Language Specialisation
• Construction Management Specialisation
• Corporate Screen Production Specialisation
• Creative Writing Specialisation
• Design Thinking and Visual Communication Specialisation
• Designing Fashion Specialisation
• Digital Design Specialisation
• Digital and Social Media Specialisation
• English and Cultural Studies Specialisation
• Environmental Planning Specialisation
• Fashion Design Specialisation
• Fine Art Specialisation
• Geography Specialisation
• Graphic Design Specialisation
• Graphics Specialisation
• History Specialisation
• Illustration Specialisation
• Interior Architecture – Applied Interior Design Specialisation
• Interior Architecture Specialisation
• International Development Specialisation
• Journalism Specialisation
• Landscape and Natural Resource Management Specialisation
• Photography Specialisation
• Principles of Planning Specialisation
• Professional Writing Specialisation
• Screen Production Specialisation
• Social Inclusion and Equity Specialisation
• Social Justice Specialisation
• Surveying and Spatial Sciences Specialisation
• Theatre Arts Specialisation
• Urban Design and Planning Specialisation
• Web Media Specialisation
• Web Presence Specialisation

Bachelor of Innovation Specialisations

• Advertising Design Specialisation
• Animation and Game Design Specialisation
• Asian Studies Specialisation
• Biological Diversity Minor
• Climate Change Science Minor
• Construction Management Specialisation
• Corporate Screen Production Specialisation
• Creative Writing Specialisation
• Design Thinking and Visual Communication Specialisation
• Designing Fashion Specialisation
• Digital and Social Media Specialisation
• Environmental Management Minor
• Environmental Planning Specialisation
• Fashion Design Specialisation
• Fine Art Specialisation
• Food Science Minor
• Forensic Studies Minor
• Geophysics Minor
• Geospatial Technology Minor
• Go Global – Internship Specialisation 1
• Go Practice – Internship Specialisation 1
• Graphic Design Specialisation
• Graphics Specialisation
• Illustration Specialisation
• Indigenous Australian Cultural Studies Specialisation
• Interior Architecture – Applied Interior Design Specialisation
• Interior Architecture Specialisation
• International Development Specialisation
• Landscape Restoration Minor
• Landscape and Natural Resource Management Specialisation
• Mapping and Land Planning Minor
• Metallurgy Minor
• Mining Minor
• Optimisation Minor
• Photography Specialisation
• Principles of Planning Specialisation
• Screen Production Specialisation
• Social Inclusion and Equity Specialisation
• Social Justice Specialisation
• Strategic Studies Specialisation
• Theatre Arts Specialisation
• Urban Design and Planning Specialisation
• Web Media Specialisation
• Web Presence Specialisation