Required Courses Master of Design

Summer Semester:  (early May-August)

Design Intensives MDES6000/6030 9 Credits

Students will be advised about the Modules that they need to take. There will be a combination of Modules given to MDES students that will total 9 Credits. Students will take these modules in addition to Graduate Design Studio 1 during the Fall semester.

Core Module A Design and Rhetoric
This seminar discusses the application of rhetorical theory to problems of visual communication, interface and product design.

Core Module B Graduate Design Seminar I
Students will investigate design case studies and recent historical references to design genres in the context of communication and/or product and/or interface design.

Core Module C Design Issues: [topic]
This seminar addresses the larger as well as the more specific professional concerns in design. Presentations, readings, and discussions may cover philosophical, technological, social, economic or practice-oriented issues.

Core Module D Graduate Design Seminar II
Students will research, develop and present design case studies relevant to their thesis.

Core Module E Research Design and Methodology
This course will examine the nature and purpose of research, and its application to practice. Students review research methodologies and approaches intended to advance research in the field of design and to develop their research proposal.

Module Design Management and Entrepreneurship
This is a course in strategic design planning and the management of innovation. Students will study the application of these principles as they relate to small individual design practices and larger organizations.

Module Typographic Workshop
This course introduces students to the history and technical aspects of western (roman) typography, with an emphasis on western cultural conventions of typography.

AND

MDES6200 Graduate Design Studio 1 6 Credits

This studio focuses upon complex media-related design projects that integrate ideas and material from studies completed during Design Intensive 1.

15 Credits Total SUMMER Term

Fall Semester:

Students will be advised about the courses that they need to take. There will be a combination of courses given to MDES students that will total 12 Credits in the Fall semester.

MDES6600 Graduate Studio 2 6 Credits

Under the guidance of a thesis advisor, this studio focuses upon complex media-related design projects that integrate ideas and material from studies completed during the previous months.

MDES6500/MFAR6100 Pedagogy Seminar 3 Credits

This seminar introduces students to issues related to teaching and research in the university environment. Students develop a syllabus of study for a 3-credit course.

MDES6112 Thesis Project Research Methods 3 Credits

This course prepares students to pursue research towards the thesis project under the guidance of an instructor, by introducing students to research methodologies and techniques. The thesis project itself is an extensive systematic design inquiry into theoretical or practical issues related to the creation and development of visual, tactile or interactive forms.
Prerequisite: program

Total 12 Credits FALL Term

OR

MDES6600 Graduate Studio 2 6 Credits

Under the guidance of a thesis advisor, this studio focuses upon complex media-related design projects that integrate ideas and material from studies completed during the previous months.

MDES6650 Art Direction 3 Credits

This course will examine the role of the advertising art director in current practice. Students will develop skills in strategy building, conceptual process, teams, and the management of design projects.

MDES6112 Thesis Project Research Methods 3 Credits

This course prepares students to pursue research towards the thesis project under the guidance of an instructor, by introducing students to research methodologies and techniques. The thesis project itself is an extensive systematic design inquiry into theoretical or practical issues related to the creation and development of visual, tactile or interactive forms.
Prerequisite: program

12 Credits Total FALL Term

Winter Semester:

MDES6800 Graduate Studio 3 6 Credits

Under the guidance of a thesis advisor, this studio provides the MDES student with the opportunity to complete a design project that complements their thesis study.

MDES6900 Graduate Design Thesis/Review 9 Credits

Under the guidance of a thesis advisor, the student mounts an exhibition of her/his design thesis project. A draft of the written thesis will be provided for review.

15 Credits Total WINTER Term