2024/25 Taught Postgraduate Programme Catalogue

MA Advertising and Design

Total credits: 180

Entry requirements:

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

School/Unit responsible for the parenting of students and programme:

School of Design

Examination board through which the programme will be considered:

Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups:

Art and Design

Programme specification:

The MA Advertising and Design programme gives students the opportunity to prepare for careers in advertising and well as correlated fields in communication design. Based on an interdisciplinary approach, the programme is supported by three pillars: Design, Business, and Research.

The Design pillar approaches the elaboration of communication campaigns as a design process, providing a framework for its development, as well as equipping students with an understanding of design principles across specialised areas such as graphic, typographic and digital design.

The Business pillar is offered in collaboration with the Leeds University Business School --- a top 100 business schools worldwide --- and introduces students to essential knowledge in consumer behaviour and media planning, enabling them to develop effective communication strategies based on market insights and brand positioning.

Finally, the Research pillar focuses on skills that are valuable to both academia and industry. Students will explore primary and secondary research methods, seamlessly integrating those into the design process, informing and evaluating their production using both quantitative and qualitative data. Moreover, students will have the option to expand those skills further by working on dissertations or research papers.

Assessment employs diverse approaches tailored to evaluate academic, professional, and digital literacies. Assessment components in design modules reflect authentic professional practices, incorporating industry briefs and student competitions. Criteria for assessments are flexible, accommodating individual skills and career choices. Exams and reflective reports evaluate theoretical comprehension and critical thinking applied to design processes. Students have the option to pursue an academic-focused dissertation or an industry-focused final project, both supported by a research-led approach.

Upon completion of the program, students will have acquired a wide range of skills, including evaluating market trends, analysing brand positioning, and formulating objectives and strategies to address communication challenges. They also develop the ability to generate creative concepts, design effective solutions, and conduct research to inform and reflect on design outcomes.


Programme details

Within the School of Design, across Semesters 1 and 2, students will undertake two compulsory modules that will allow them to develop their skills and expertise in Design process and principles within advertising, as well as in research. On the one hand, a design-oriented module will frame the elaboration of advertising campaigns as a design process, providing theoretical knowledge and practical experience that reflects the structure of creative agencies. As such, students will work throughout all stages of the design process – discovery, definition, development and delivery - from initial research to concept generation and campaign execution, while being introduced principles from various design specialist areas, such as graphic design and user experience design, and their application in advertising to support design outcomes for different. On the other hand, a research-oriented module will provide students with an understanding and insight into research processes that can be applied to both design and academic research. It introduces a broad range of advanced research methods, focused on techniques and issues appropriate to academia, design, enterprise, management and marketing. Students will develop essential skills and competencies to enable them to become critical, reflective and creative researchers, able to problem-solve and contextualise research for a range of real-world contexts and applications.

Within the Leeds University Business School, students will build, in Semester 1, a critical understanding of consumer behaviour concepts that are capable of informing, evaluating, and improving marketing strategie s. In Semester 2, students will learn a business-oriented perspective on creative advertising and media planning, which will provide them with relevant practical skills to better devise strategies in contemporary advertising and marketing scenarios.

In Semester 3, students will develop either an integrated communication campaign or a scholarly piece of work on topics connected to the programme’s areas of interest, reflecting design and research skills exercised throughout the programme. Students will be expected to work independently, assisted by supervision sessions, achieving professional level standards in creative problem solving, critical thinking, independent working, and persuasive verbal and visual presentation in either academic or industry-related contexts.

Year1 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Last updated: 02/05/2024 11:03:52

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