Master Digital Design
Programme
Our 1-year full-time programme is based in bustling Amsterdam - home to several of the world's leading design agencies. During your study, you'll work on exciting real-life design briefs in a studio setting within an international and multidisciplinary team.
The Master's programme in Digital Design is centred around 4 main areas of expertise: Literacy, Research, Creation, and Strategy. It also involves 3 projects, as well as a closing exhibition. In addition, the programme often invites established names of the design world for guest-lectures and workshops, and organises after-school events such as meetups.
Courses, projects and events partially overlap during the academic year, enabling you to establish your own connections between topics and to apply your competences in a studio setting. Each area of expertise is linked to a track, attendance to all of which is compulsory.
Four tracks of expertise
Literacy
The Literacy track focuses on methodologies for understanding, communicating, and critiquing a variety of design solutions, their uses and their socio-economical contexts. Its foundational course is Design Thinking. Intensive workshops will touch on topics such as Interaction Design, Experience Design and Interactive Storytelling, and other workshops may be organised to follow on from students’ needs and requests.
Research
The Research track focuses on users and their needs, experiences, habits, and desires. It synthesises models, best practices, and general ‘Design Knowledge’. Its foundational course is Design Research. Intensive workshops will touch on topics such as User Research and Field Research, and other workshops may be organised to follow on from students’ needs and requests.
Creation
The Creation track deals with prototyping, making and crafting digital artefacts, as well as programming how they interact with users, society and other objects. Its foundational course is Interaction Engineering. Intensive workshops will touch on specific techniques.
Strategy
The Strategy track examines the ‘social life’ of design artefacts, their relation to the market and consumers, as well as their impact on future scenarios. Its foundational course is Design Ethics. Intensive workshops will touch on topics such as Business Modelling, Digital Disruption, and Future Service Design, and other workshops may be organised to follow on from students’ needs and requests.
Project
The Project track deals with practical real-world assignments co-created with a network of industry partners. This track constitutes the backbone of the programme, and connects all the previous ones. The 3 projects are fast-paced, interactive design challenges of 6, 12 and 20 weeks respectively. They differ in duration, complexity and coaching intensity, as well as in the number of stakeholders involved. Project briefs reflect societal challenges, which you will work on under the supervision of the ‘client’ (project partner).
Assessments
You are evaluated in 2 summative assessments (midterm and end), for 30 ECTs each. The 2 summative assessments consider all the tracks of the programme, with deliverables and indicators specified in the course catalogue. Other formative assessments are provided by each lecturer through feedback given throughout the tracks.
For detailed information about the courses for this programme, please refer to the course catalogue (opens in new window).
Title and Diploma
After successfully completing the Digital Design programme, you will be awarded the title of Master of Science (M.Sc.), at the Postgraduate Level 7 of the Dutch Qualification Framework (NLQF).