Master Programme
Designers, curators and theorists work in a world in flux. They are faced with complex themes that cannot be reduced to readily solvable design problems. More and more often, they stray beyond the boundaries of their disciplines, and the themes they focus on merit the critical view of well-informed creative minds.
Developing authorship and critical practice
During a DAE Master course, the authorship of the designer or design theorist will be reinforced. Students strengthen and focus their positions, learn to reflect on the profession and its limits, develop their imagery and signature, and research topical questions to come up with designs, presentations or text proposals. The guiding principle for the Academy’s approach to education at this level is a focus on the cultural context in which designers and their products ‘function’, though the domains the students will research may be socially, technically or economically oriented as well.
Entry requirements
The minimum requirement for new Master students is a completed qualification at Bachelor level. This should preferably be in: design, design history, curatorial studies, or an equivalent discipline.
Applicants with a Bachelor degree in: art, architecture, art history, or the humanities and with a demonstrable affinity with design, can also apply.
Exceptional students from other academic background will also be considered.
Programme structure
The Master programmes at Design Academy Eindhoven consist of a pre-master course and five departments:
The Pre-Master is a part-time programme that aims to support prospective students from diverse educational backgrounds to develop a practical understanding of design as a research practice, in preparation for one of five master’s departments at Design Academy Eindhoven.
The Pre-Master programme bridges the gap between the practical focus of art academies and the research and writing skills required in the master’s departments. Participants will deepen their knowledge and design skills, while preparing a portfolio for admission to the master’s programme at Design Academy Eindhoven.
The Critical Inquiry Lab is a two-year, transdisciplinary Master study committed to research-based design as a vehicle for public activation. The programme explores the potential of design in relation to analyses of social, environmental, technological, and (material) cultural ecologies that shape our world. Students are empowered to craft practices as a synthesis of thinking by making, in independent and collaborative forms that serve as a vital means for reimagining alternative futures. Working across scales, mediums, and discourses, we interrogate the intersections of the personal with the systemic, providing skills for students to create accessible inroads into the complex entanglements that characterize our planetary condition.
Founded in 2020, Geo—Design is the youngest master programme at the DAE. Geo—Design, or “designing with the Earth,” interweaves the classical definition of design—the composition of self-contained objects and systems that answer to singular problems—with the expanded context of feedback loops and complexity that uproot the cognitive, ecological, and ethical foundations of design.
The Geo—Design MA investigates how design can interface with phenomena in the physical and material world by means of research, new objects, new prototypes and actions, graphic design, and cinema.
At Contextual Design we consider design as a way to make sense of the world, as a practice of cultural critique. Design is an intrinsic part of the cultural, social, ecological and technological reality. It creates new relations, transformations and ways of experiencing the world.
The Social Design Master’s programme envisions itself as an incubator for radical hope—a resilient, committed hope that dares to imagine new possibilities. Unlike traditional design approaches that often prioritise aesthetic innovation or market-driven outcomes, this programme positions design as a deeply ethical and political practice, one that materialises the not-yet through a lens of social responsibility. True transformation arises not from passive optimism or an unreflective ‘do-good’ approach, but from a deep, intentional effort to expand the boundaries of what is possible, coupled with the willingness to roll up our sleeves and do what needs to be done.
MA Information Design is a programme dedicated to the exploration of the politics and agency of information and its modes and contexts of production. It operates as an outpost for research and an arena for the interrogation of ideas and practices within and beyond the field of design. By rejecting pre-defined professional roles, the programme foster the development of individual and collaborative trajectories that empower the designer to become an intellectual figure, who can decode and re-code complexity within a fluid landscape of possible engagements—from autonomous artistic practices to strategic roles within small collectives or large institutions.
Students
The Master’s programmes are aimed at professionals working within the domains of design, curatorial practices, design theory, critical studies, and related fields. Designers with an analytical writing talent gain additional skills and knowledge, enabling them to better relate their design process to reflecting, curating, and writing. Theorists with an academic background gain more insight into the practical, creative, and hands-on aspects of the design process, either to deepen their analytical skills and/or to develop expertise in designing curatorial plans. .
Diploma
Completing a Master’s programme at Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) leads to the title Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design. DAE adheres to the principle that a Master’s programme is a two-year course and that completion of a Bachelor’s programme is a requirement for admission, except in highly exceptional cases. Students who believe they may be eligible for certain exemptions can submit a request to the General Masters’ Coordinator via masters@designacademy.nl.
Master Programme Overview
The Master’s programme at Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) provides students with the tools needed to research and analyse complex situations and to develop personal perspectives on possible interventions. These skills support both the improvement of individual design or design theory practices and the creation of (multidisciplinary) collaborations with others.
Learning Outcomes and Focus
During the Master’s programme, the authorship of the designer or design theorist is reinforced. Students strengthen and clarify their positions, learn to reflect on the profession and its boundaries, develop their personal imagery and signature, and research topical questions in order to produce valid design, presentation, or text proposals.
The cultural context in which designers and their work function is the guiding principle. However, the domains students research may also be socially, technically, or economically oriented.
Curriculum Structure
The two-year curriculum is structured around research and design assignments provided by design and workshop tutors, writing and thesis supervisors, as well as lectures and workshops led by guest lecturers.
In the second year, students work on individual research themes that they formulate themselves. The Master’s department collaborates closely with external institutions, governments, companies, and leading experts, as well as with researchers from the DAE Readerships, to help identify and develop topical research subjects.
Lecture and Events
In addition to the regular teaching programme, each department organises lectures by visiting critics and guests, as well as theory sessions, workshops, and discussion events. These activities are often open to all Master's students.
