This programme’s curriculum is student-led with an emphasis on independent learning. With tutorial guidance, you will negotiate and develop a programme of study based on personal areas of research and practice, alongside set projects - particularly in the first 2 semesters - to support and inform your line of enquiry. You will initially focus on the research and development of a study proposal.

What will I learn?

With support from our team of experienced tutors (all industry practitioners or researchers), you will be encouraged to expand on your preconceived ideas and let your findings dictate future development.

We expect you to engage in sophisticated design dialogue to push your ideas to their full potential. There will be a lot of debate and prototyping before any designs are taken into production.

Assessment and progression

The written component of the programme helps amplify and contextualise your understanding of process and this wider awareness of design feeds back into your practice-based work. You will produce written contextual assignments alongside studio-based work.

Programme structure

We are committed to providing you with enhanced career prospects and the ability to achieve at the highest level.

Our graduates are professionally vital and well-informed, and are able to enter the design industry with a freshness of approach and the flexibility and adaptability to respond to change.

A contributory factor in this is the programme’s Design Agency project, which won the employability initiative category in the Guardian University Awards 2013.

This flagship initiative enables our graphic design students to form their own design agencies, create their own brand and work collectively towards a common objective based on ability, regardless of age or experience.

Edinburgh-based design agencies act as mentor partners to these student agencies, developing long-term relationships that allow our students to show, over an extended period rather than just a few weeks on placement, what they can contribute to potential employers.

Our graduates work in a wide range of creative career paths. The variety of projects, approaches and opportunities we offer enable you to apply your knowledge and experience of the design process and your considerable skills to many disciplines. Typically, our graduates leave to become members of a graphic design agency.

Our extensive links with industry, built through industry-led projects and staff research, and our range of visiting speakers, ensure you will be aware of the full range of career possibilities and have a strong footing from which to develop your career.

Previous career paths have included:

• experiential design
• packaging
• advertising
• digital design
• interaction design
• exhibition design
• design research
• marketing
• retail design
• multimedia
• design management
• education.

If you'd like to study on a postgraduate programme at Edinburgh College of Art, you must apply through EUCLID, our online application system. You can find out how to do this on the University of Edinburgh website, where you'll also be able to:

• see detailed entrance requirements for each programme on the Degree Finder
• get information on what to expect after you apply
• find out about study modes, start dates and fees
• find out if, and how, you need to submit a portfolio, showreel or research proposal
• find out where to go for further advice and guidance.