A graduate program in Product Design is for extremely creative individuals who need to know more about the appropriate business skills in order to make their ideas commercially viable. If you've got an aptitude for innovation and think you could design a product that could take the world by storm then sign yourself up or a graduate course in product design. Product Design covers a wide and varied range of activities which integrate form, function and lifestyle. You will learn a range of flexible skills and accrue design experiences that will enable you to uniquely blend creative talent and business acumen. Sound interesting? Read on to discover how a graduate product design course can benefit you.

A program in product design at graduate level will require students come prepared with a self-generated idea that they wish to pursue or an area of interest that has the potential for a product to be part of the solution. Your idea or area of interest will form the basis for study throughout the course.

What Will I Learn?

Upon graduating from your product design course you will be able to understand and apply the appropriate technologies and techniques required to support your ventures through to an economically sound and sustainable outcome. You will also be able to understand how to finance, equip and manage a new business opportunity. A graduate program in product design will allow for you to gain experience of developing a product or venture concept to a high professional level. Your interpersonal and presentation skills will become more prevalent.

Where Can it Take Me?

The aim of a graduate course in product design is to teach you the skills and experiences that will enable you to either:

• Start up your own design or manufacturing business
• Champion innovative design within an existing company

The underlying thread permeating throughout the program is that of developing an idea into a commercial reality. This is by no means an easy feat; during the course you will learn the necessary stages to go through to result in a successful, marketable product. Firstly, you will have to identify the problem, then research and quantify the opportunity. Next you will develop concepts, analyse and select concept solutions and design and develop these solutions. Your graduate product design program will provide you with the knowledge of management processes and techniques, marketing branding and communication. Similarly, it is important for commercial success and globalisation that ethical considerations are made.

A typical graduate product design course will teach you the following:

• Design and Development,
• Web presence, Branding and Marketing
• Project Planning and Management
• Ethical and legal considerations
• Business processes
• Implementation and commercialisation

If you study a product design course at Master's level, you will be expected to do a dissertation. This will be both a written and practical submission based on the skills and knowledge gained. It can encompass a mixture of design, technical research and prototyping skills as well as analysis of current and future design and culture trends. This creates a vehicle for students with a diversity of backgrounds to progress their research interests and goals related to their work.

What Do I Need?

To gain admission to a graduate product design course, you will need a good first degree with honours (or international equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. International students who hold qualifications gained from recognised overseas universities and colleges are also eligible for entry. Interviews may also be requested.

Whilst on your graduate program in product design, you will have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and areas of interest. Each project you pursue in product design will be guided and assessed on its own merits allowing the fullest scope of your creative talents to flow. Good luck!

With thanks to:
Mr B Wood
Director
Centre for Creative Industries
School of Engineering Science and Design
Glasgow Caledonian University