Interior Design (Taught)

Our Interior Design course aims to support you to experiment boldly, meaningfully challenge conventions, and consider innovative approaches to the future of interior design. It challenges the integration of spaces, whether that be the old with the new, the digital with the physical, engineered with nature or the integration of communities with their surroundings.

You will develop, research and practice design thinking to an advanced level, integrating strong research methods into the creative process. You will be encouraged to think sustainably, as well as develop your understanding of professional and commercial practice by considering the viability of your design proposals. Our stunning and sophisticated facilities offer an inspiring place for you to foster and refine your talents, and where you will collaborate across disciplines within our close-knit design community.

The course culminates in the detailed development of a major design brief or work-based project in industry. This will enable you to hone your skills as an independent researcher or gain first-hand experience of professional skills. Your individual interests are at the heart of the course and we will support you to develop your skills and expertise towards your career aspirations.

Key features

• Have the freedom to tailor your studies with modules such Technology for Design, where you will discover emerging digital technologies and use them to envision daring and innovative design strategies of the future.

• An optional year-long work placement will enable you to gain valuable experience to further enhance your practical and professional skills.

• Become part of a community working together to co-design new ways of thinking to redefine the future of creative practice.

• Our teaching team keeps the curriculum current, with expertise across the interior design spectrum and an ethos of supporting you to take risks with your work.

• Our award-winning Vijay Patel building has been designed to provide the space and facilities where all of our art and design students can develop their ideas and flourish. IT facilities include PC, CAD, graphics, and multimedia labs, with software for drawing, multimedia, painting/DTP, 3D modelling, animation and video.

• Study in a lively multidisciplinary environment alongside working and upcoming designers, where you will benefit from both collaborative and individual learning experiences.

• You will graduate with the skills to forge a successful professional career in your chosen specialism, or to continue on the academic pathway to PhD level study.

Modules

Block 1: Creative Interior Design Studio

This studio-based module immerses you in the world of higher-level design thinking and problem solving. Through a short and contemporary interior design project, the emphasis will be on how design should be informed by research and the interpretation of the found data or insight. The importance of quality secondary research from a range of appropriate resources will be discussed and practised, to form cohesive understanding of the area of focus and the construction of valuable ‘design insight.’

Block 2: Research and Design Methodology

In this module you will engage with current design research, professional practices, and advanced scholarship in your discipline. Throughout the module, you will create new hypotheses, form independent judgements in complex and unpredictable design situations, and learn to communicate them appropriately to professional and non-specialist audiences.

Block 3: Select one from the following:

• Narrative Spaces

This module will explore how the design of spaces can tell a story. You will consider the interaction between objects, space and stories, in order to better understand complex ideas, messages or emotional connections and empathy. The interpretation of ‘space’ will be stretched beyond physical space and you will also explore how digital platforms can play a significant role in enhancing and immersing people in the built environment.

• Technology for Design

Technological advancement in design and manufacturing techniques are growing exponentially. Designers of all specialisms are curious about how technology can help them create and innovate in order to develop new practice, effect change things and affect the way we live.

• UX and UI

This module is designed to prepare you for a career in UX/UI design. You will develop the skills to design a user interface that enhances the user experience using tools and techniques used in industry.

The content of the module will include conducting research to devise a UX Strategy and you will develop an understanding of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Human Interface guidelines and best practice.

Block 4: Strategic Interior Design Proposal

This module builds your individual ‘Major Design Project.’ You will be supported to undertake strategic, rigorous, and valuable primary research, which requires ethical approval before data can be collected.

Blocks 5 and 6: Select one from the following:

• Major Design Project

In this module you will be supported to demonstrate a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the techniques applicable to your own research and advanced scholarship in their completion of the project you have set yourself in the earlier modules.

• Work-based Project

This module provides the opportunity to develop and demonstrate skills acquired from the course in a practical context - for example working with a design company on the development of a specific innovation which adds value to the company or the wider practice of interior design. You will bring together all aspects of the course ranging from research methodologies to discipline-specific modules.

https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate-courses/interior-design-ma-degree/interior-design-ma-degree.aspx

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, studios and tutorials. Studio culture is a key part of the course, and you will work in a multidisciplinary environment with students across our design community.

There is a varied mix of assessments including individual and group project work, individual and group presentations, report writing, academic poster development, reflective practice and design proposals.