This course is aimed at entrepreneurs in the design industry with ambitions to apply their creative and analytical skills to business and social contexts. Your studies will explore and analyse business models, spanning from small and local to multinational corporations and social enterprises, preparing you to respond to the demands and contemporary challenges of the global design industry. The course is designed for students with a good working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite applications, such as Photoshop, Acrobat and InDesign, and will develop these technical skills to an advanced level.

Our extensive choice of optional modules mean that this course can be tailored to suit you. Explore areas ranging from communication and commerce in global fashion markets, to the display, interpretation, and conservation aspects of museum and exhibition design.

With us, you will discover design management and design thinking, and gain a thorough understanding of brand management. We will teach you to examine the role of design in service industries, and develop your business planning skills with an awareness of international markets. You can also further your understanding of marketing, web presence and in-store retail design and explore creative solutions to the major sustainability issues within the industry.

Throughout the course we will empower and support you to challenge conventions, experiment boldly, and take risks. We will help you to develop new ways of thinking about design, and prepare you to embrace a high level of executive responsibility in any design, creative or digital media technology business.

Key features

• You will develop the design skills and innovative approach required to become a successful and impactful entrepreneur in the creative industries.
• With our flexible curriculum, you can choose from an extensive choice of specialisms and tailor your study to your personal and career aspirations.
• Join a community that is working together to co-design new ways of thinking to redefine the future of creative practice.
• With an optional year-long work placement you can gain valuable experience to further enhance your practical and professional skills.
• Benefit from an expert teaching team who are active researchers and maintain strong links with the commercial sector to ensure their teaching is influenced by contemporary industry trends and real-world skills.
• Benefit from our extensive links with key international partners, including Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation.
• The award-winning Vijay Patel Building provides both the space to foster creative thinking as well as top-class facilities, giving you access to a range of dedicated workshops and a host of specialist equipment.

Structure and assessment

Modules

Term one core modules:

Research Methods (Compulsory)
Teaches you a range of conceptual and practical research skills, such as questionnaire design and interview techniques. As part of this module, you will formulate your major project proposal, specifying your aims, objectives, research methods and expected outcomes. You will also learn how to undertake the literature review for your major project.

Design as a Strategic Business Tool
Looks at how design itself can be the driving force behind the strategic management and development of digital design and creative businesses. You will audit the use of design, design management and design thinking in the creative industries and business.

Integrated Brand Management
Provides a practical exploration of branding from both a business and design perspective. You will investigate brand management with an emphasis on brand narrative and explore the holistic approach to brands by examining sensory branding, emotional branding, spiritual branding and experience design. You will learn how brands are used to promote business both internally and externally and how to apply the principles of a design audit to a brand of your choice in order to explore how it supports the business objective.

Optional modules:

Marketing for the Creative Entrepreneur
Examines the key marketing and corporate strategy issues that affect a designer. You will develop your own marketing strategy and carry out an analysis of the competitive environment.

Fashion Promotion and Marketing
The module reviews both theoretical concepts and current approaches to communication and commerce in global fashion markets. Exploring key aspects of fashion marketing and promotion via case studies of retailers, brands and designers, to enable you to develop creative strategies and commercial solutions to real-life industry challenges.

Term two core modules:

Business Planning for the Creative Entrepreneur
Develops your business knowledge and planning skills enabling you to identify the potential for a new product or service. You will study the key issues in starting a business and covers topics such as business plans, leadership, investment and risk management.

Global Markets: Designing businesses for international growth
Examines the key issues involved in developing new international markets and the role of the design manager and entrepreneur in enabling design and creative businesses to compete effectively in the global economy.

Service Design
Examines the role of design in the service industries. You will pay particular attention to ethical, political, social and ecological concerns, all of which require approaches that focus on design and the designers’ role in maintaining sustainability.

Optional modules:

Critical Perspectives in Ethical and Sustainable Fashion
Investigates the impact of ethical and environmental considerations on designed products, garment production and business ideology. It will enable those looking to work in fashion manufacturing or retail to provide future designers and buyers with a clear overview of the major sustainability issues within the industry.

Managing Business Web Presence
Teaches you how to critically appraise website designs, social media activity and wider networking channels while learning about creative production and management processes. You will learn how best to evaluate the role of website design in business, marketing and the creative industries, while examining advances in web architecture, technology, interface and management.

Museum and Exhibition Design
Examines innovative designs and strategies specifically for museums and exhibitions. It focuses on display, interpretation, conservation, marketing, management and funding, cultural identity, heritage, inclusive design, sustainability, education and audience.

Design for Retail
Covers all aspects of in-store retail design, including product, environment, technology, communication and service. You will also examine brand perception, buyer behaviour and engagement with the retail experience.

Term three:

The final module will either be a dissertation on your major research project or an assessed work based research project.

Facilities and features