Student experiences

MA Design - Critical Practice

 Nic Hughes
“I’m a graphic designer with 11 years of experience - designing for clubs, music, magazines, fashion, art, corporate and retail. I have always maintained a level of ambivalence towards my chosen career. No matter how interesting your client is, inevitably you’re in the game of shifting units. Basically, certain expressions of design cannot be explored within a commercial context. No client is going to fund an all-out attack on themselves, their product, or their culture!

Last year I packed it all in to pursue a full-time MA - the time split between this and childcare. The MA at Goldsmiths explores the relationships between theory and practice and how one informs the other. Yet more importantly it is about design’s ability to generate questions and stimulate critical debate. For me, the programme offers a space to explore through design many of the areas that commercially lie off-limits.”

 Haroon Mirza
"Design: Critical Theory and Practice is an interdisciplinary Masters programme that gives you a comprehensive theoretical foundation to create a context in which practical outcomes are produced. These outcomes are constantly evaluated and re-evaluated, preparing the individual for a professional critical practice.

My experience so far has altered any preconceived notion I had about entering a Masters programme. The Design Department is a comfortable and relaxed environment with friendly staff who treat you on a par with themselves. The facilities are wide-ranging and accessible with plenty of support from technicians to help you solve practical problems quickly and with ease."