Master Industrial Design

Our current global situation asks for a generation of designers that are able to question the social and ecological relevance of their projects and understand the contexts in which they (want to) operate. We believe our time demands for contemporary designers who are equipped to reflect on and make incisive transformations to our cultural, socio-ecological or material landscapes. The course focuses on educating designers to show great awareness of the world around them, and equip them with the tools to act on their awareness.

We aim to educate designers who celebrate interdisciplinary cross-pollination. The curriculum is built on collaborative projects with partners outside the institute to connect to ‘the real world’, to urgent topics, recent insights, other kinds of knowledge and ways of working. The content of the programme each semester is developed in close teamwork with partners outside the institute.

Ethics and Aesthetics form the two dual pillars upon which an ethical and responsible design practice stands. Designers wield a significant influence over society through the products, structures, spaces, services, systems, narratives and experiences they create. By studying ethics, designers learn to navigate complex socio-political and moral dilemmas they may confront in their professional practices.

Aesthetics pertain to the study of sensory experience, which are often culturally, historically and politically formed. Engaging with aesthetics from a holistic lens allows designers to craft compelling stories that are culturally sensitive and empathetic.

At Master Industrial Design, designers are trained to be sensitive to the narrative power of design. To be mindful of the ideological underpinnings and social boundaries of design practice as it takes shape in different worlds. In a time of immense material and digital saturation, we try to imagine what roles stories can play. We believe in the impact, reach, and transformative potential of great stories—of stories told through design.

Central to every class in the programme is the practice of curating work through individual and group presentations. Curation plays an important role in every step of the design process - from ideation, narration to prototyping and product communication. We look at curation as the visual practice (of communication) of ideas, stories and narratives.

Furthermore, we aim to educate designers who are critical, interesting and respectful partners in dialogue with their colleagues, their public and clients alike.

We believe designers today require the ability to work with and navigate a wide range of discourses, reflect critically on the developments in the design field, reflect on the ethical framework from which they operate, and communicate their work to a wide audience. The course offers an issue-based curriculum, with texts from the fields of humanities including political philosophy, philosophy of technology, archaeology, science fiction, social design and digital cultures. The aim of engaging with texts is to cultivate a culture of reflexive thinking, reasoning, questioning and articulation.

We aim to educate designers who show openness, resilience and persistence in the face of friction, resistance, (conceptual) challenges and critique. There is often no growth without such experiences. We set out to design an educational context in which designers feel safe and challenged to develop themselves (professionally). Offering a learning community in which we perceive students as well as tutoring staff as equal in their learning (ad)venture and openness to share expertise and experience.