Program Overview

MA Designer/Maker

The MA Designer/Maker course at UWE Bristol has a wide appeal to experienced or aspiring practitioners from across creative disciplines. Our interdisciplinary outlook supports you, as the next generation of makers, to pioneer innovative material-led approaches in design practice.

Why study this course?

The MA Designer/Maker at UWE Bristol re-asserts the role of craft and making in design, industry, and artistic contexts. The course supports the next generation of makers as they pioneer innovative material-led approaches in design practice. You'll be encouraged to develop pivotal alternatives to urgent issues in design, responding to contemporary narratives and global discourse.

Why UWE Bristol?

As a Designer/Maker, you'll benefit from the School of Arts' outstanding interdisciplinary expertise and technical resources. Our City Campus facilities provide access to various physical fabrication and advanced digital technologies. You can also take advantage of the specialist research expertise at our Centres for Print Research and Digital Cultures Research.

Entry

Entry requirements

We're seeking highly motivated students from any background, committed to creative growth in our supportive School of Arts community. Most applicants would have an honours degree in the arts, but those with qualifications in other disciplines or prior professional experience are also encouraged to apply.

International applicants

For country-specific entry requirements, please find your country on our country information pages.

Selection process

Applicants will be asked to provide a portfolio of practical or project-based work and a personal statement for review.

• In your portfolio, you may want to include your most recent or ambitious works alongside developmental or process-based details.
• The work you include can be in media from outside or beyond your chosen discipline, and may include personal or professional outcomes.
• We are looking for applicants with the potential to connect creatively with contemporary practice; the motivation to excel; and the capacity to contribute to our dynamic campus.
• Your personal statement should communicate confidently and coherently your rationale for application: what you hope Master's study will help you achieve in your future.
• You may want to include detail of the influences that have led you to application, and the attributes you think will be important for success as a postgraduate.
• We would like to know more about you, and your understanding of what we do.

English Language Requirement

International and EU applicants are required to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 with 5.5 in each component (or approved equivalent).

Structure

Content

You'll study a course carefully sequenced to deliver a dynamic student journey over three intensive terms.

• In the first term, you'll focus on thinking through making.
• You'll develop your understanding of design's societal and ecological impact, and your approach to creative problem-solving and practice-based experimental research.
• At the end of the first term, you'll explore and connect arts research and discourse across a community of postgraduate peers.
• This will result in the presentation of bold, change-making creative proposals.
• In the second term, you'll have the opportunity to ask critical questions of different actors and stakeholders in the design process.
• You'll create artefacts in response to and in pursuit of improving a context of your choice.
• This leads into the third term, where you'll have the opportunity to realise your ideas within a supportive community of interdisciplinary practice, technical expertise, and academic criticality when completing your final project.

Learning and Teaching

You'll be based in the School of Arts design studios at one of our city centre locations. You will study through a combination of lectures from industry experts and researchers, technical workshops, seminars, one-to-one tutorials, and consultation with academic colleagues in the Library.

Fees

Full-time course

• Home Award Fee: ｣10,250
• Home Module Fee (15 Credit): ｣854
• International Award Fee: ｣16,250
• International Module Fee (15 Credit): ｣1,354

Features

Study facilities

Bower Ashton houses the main library supporting the creative and cultural industries, student support services, and the extensive resource base that make up the facilities and resources.

Careers

Careers / Further study

You will be taught by practising designers, makers, and researchers, bringing their skills and expertise exclusively to you studying at postgraduate level.

• You will have the opportunity to enter or continue employment in the creative industries in professional studios, as a self-employed designer/maker, as a designer running your own businesses, or in teaching in both formal and community education programmes.
• You may also choose to progress to PhD study at UWE Bristol or elsewhere.