• Postgraduate

Brand Design and Innovation MA

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Overview

Overview

In this course, you will develop strategic and creative thinking, communication and design research skills, that you will use to create innovative brand design. You will have the opportunity to work on briefs and brand narratives, which could be set by leading companies, and be mentored by industry professionals.

Besides working individually, you will be versatile in team collaboration, which is highly valued in the creative marketplace.

You will have a design, arts or visual communication background, and will be looking to develop a wider range of skills, build a research profile and enhance your capabilities as a brand design practitioner.

This brand design masters course gives you the opportunity to graduate as an independent brand thinker, designer and researcher, prone to challenging the status quo and ready to help brands make a positive impact on the sustainability of life and the planet.

You have the option to graduate with:

This MA course is longer than a standard MA as it gives you the opportunity to undertake an internship or a mentorship, and therefore the chance to build experience that can help with your future career plans. It also gives extended time for sense-making and full dedication to your final piece of work, your Master’s Project or Dissertation.

View some of our students' recent work.

Group working on brand design

Select your desired study option, then pick a start date to see relevant course information:

Study options:
We support flexible study by offering some of our courses part-time or via distance learning. To give you real world experience before you graduate, we also offer some courses with a placement or internship. All available options are listed here. Your choices may affect some details of your course, such as the duration and cost per year. Please re-check the details on this page if you change your selection.

Start date:

If your desired start date is not available, try selecting a different study option.

Why study Brand Design and Innovation with us?

Why study Brand Design and Innovation with us?

A collage of students
A collage of students

What our students say…

The best part of the course is that you can explore topics of your interest and go in-depth with projects that advance your skill set. Finishing the course not only gave me more practical tools, but it also taught me to ask questions that, hopefully, will help me change the world for the better. 

Karoline Lundberg, BYBI Design Executive

I am still as enthusiastic today as I first was when I joined the MA programme. Unlike many universities, UWL warmly welcomes newcomers, providing endless engaging events, trips, support, not to mention the mind-blowing workshops! It amazes me that professional instructors, with high credentials are the ultimate example of the word modest!

Laura Bakalka, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, American University in Dubai, UAE
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Industry focused teaching
Graphic advising on-site Macs and PC Labs
Audio student practices in one of UWL's radio studios
The Digital Print Bureau has state of the art workstations, fully colour calibrated professional screens and cutting-edge software.
Course detail & modules

Course detail & modules

Brands promise quality and a certain level of predictability. To achieve this, innovation and design are needed for the entity behind the brand to gain the desired status in its operating marketplace.

Brand and design

As Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) founder John Hegarty very rightly says: ‘Design is the craft of great branding’. In this course, you will use design as a conscious instrument in the creation, development, implementation and maintenance of a brand. 

Design is the medium through which brands create, structure and crystallise their messages through:

  • visual resources (eg typography, colour, shapes, imagery, space) 
  • other senses’ enhancers, alone or combined
  • broader or surgical methods, informed by research and a human-centred approach.
Today’s brand environment

Our course encourages you to consider the value of designing brands in today's highly competitive global environment, where organisations are now being pushed, by their audiences, toward authentic and purpose-led promises, products and services.

As a student, you will explore how design drives and responds to revolutionary thinking through questioning the norm and speculating on possible futures and alternative presents. Brands need to respond to consumer needs, aspirations and trends in highly innovative, relational and meaningful ways. 

Modules

Through our extremely practical modules you will develop brand strategy skills to an advanced level as a designer and researcher. You will explore the design process of creating clear, engaging brand stories through the development of client-based projects.

Facilities

You will develop your creativity and professional skills in our state-of-the-art facilities which include a film/motion capture studio, photography studios, a digital print studio, a postgraduate student room, and a fantastically well-equipped library.

Compulsory modules

  • Research for the Creative Industries

    This module contains a series of seminars and practical workshops that will engage you with critically analytical tools to interrogate key conceptual frameworks and explore cultural, historical, ethical and methodological perspectives for the fields of advertising, branding and communication.

  • Innovation

    This module focuses on complex societal problems, innovations and creative approaches to guarantee developments in the area of branding and advertising through design thinking.

    During this module you will work on an integrated project that explores a key area through a collaborative and structured brief.

  • Branding

    On this module, you will examine how information is collected, deployed, managed and made meaningful to brands. Additionally, you will study the development and current theories of information and communication underpinning branding strategies.

  • Design

    This module is intended to exercise your ability to create design projects that embody clear and appropriate conceptual frameworks against which the brand-related design outcome will be prototyped and tested.

  • Professional Creative Contexts

    This module considers professionalism in the creative industries looking to the past, present and future, to shape your role within the current creative industries landscape.   

    Study the impact of branding and advertising on people’s lives and gain industry skills through University resources such as 3D modelling, motion graphics, print making, photography, film and research libraries. Receive exposure to London’s world-leading companies through agency and studio visits, and talks by guest speakers. 

    You may have the opportunity to increase professional engagement by embarking on a mentorship or 80-hour internship.  

  • Masters Project or Dissertation

    The Masters project or Dissertation module will provide you with the opportunity to develop a personally relevant topic that demonstrates the research ideas and concepts you have developed throughout the MA course.

    You will come up with a resolution to your proposal and answer key research questions by demonstrating evidence of advanced conceptual and theoretical capability over an extended period of self-directed study. You will be introduced to combined and alternative approaches in your field of interest.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

You should have an honours degree (2:2 or above) from a UK university or equivalent. You must also have a portfolio of work.

We may also offer you a place based on relevant experience or training, normally from within the work environment. All applications are considered individually.

Portfolio: All applicants must submit a link to their online portfolio of brand-related or design work. These must provide evidence of problem solving, creative thinking and how applicants can evidence their design journeys, and both development and completion of independent projects.

Interview or Extended Personal Statement Form: All applicants, who fulfil the above criteria, will be either invited to an interview (in person or via video conference), or to complete an extended personal statement form.

Find out more about our processes for recognising previous experience.

 

We look for students who show enthusiasm and a passion for the subject through previous study or professional experience.

If you have any questions about the relevance of your qualifications or experience please contact the course leader shown in the teaching staff.

6.5 IELTS or above

You need to meet our English language requirement of 6.5 overall score for IELTS, with a minimum of 5.5 for each of the 4 individual components (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening). Visit our English language requirements page for information on other English language tests we accept.

You also need academic qualifications at the same level as UK applicants. In some countries where teaching is in English, we may accept local qualifications. Check for local equivalents.

We offer pre-sessional English language courses if you do not meet these requirements. Find out more about our English Language courses.

We look for students who show enthusiasm and a passion for the subject through previous study or professional experience.

If you have any questions about the relevance of your qualifications or experience please contact the course leader shown in the teaching staff.

Fees & funding

Fees & funding

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Additional costs

There are additional costs for this course that are not included in the tuition fees. See the links below to get a better idea of what to expect:

If your course runs for two years or more, you will need to pay the fee for each academic year at the start of that year. If your course runs for less than two years, the cost above is for your full course and you will need to pay the full fee upfront. Government regulation does affect your fees, so what you pay may go up in future. For example, government regulation around future inflation may increase your course fees.

If no fee is shown above then the fees for this course are not available yet. Please check again later for updates.

Funding your studies

If you are studying a Masters course you may be eligible to apply for a Postgraduate Loan, this may help contribute towards your course fees and living costs.

Additional funding is available to some types of students, such as disabled students or those with dependants.

We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries, including awards for specific subjects.

Awards for students of film, media and design are also on offer.

View full details, including conditions and eligibility.

Help with funding
{{ formatCurrencyValue(currentVariantData.field_p_cv_int_main_fee.name) }} per year*
Additional costs

There are additional costs for this course that are not included in the tuition fees. See the links below to get a better idea of what to expect:

If your course runs for two years or more, you will need to pay the fee for each academic year at the start of that year. If your course runs for less than two years, the cost above is for your full course and you will need to pay the full fee upfront. Government regulation does affect your fees, so what you pay may go up in future. For example, government regulation around future inflation may increase your course fees.

If no fee is shown above then the fees for this course are not available yet. Please check again later for updates.

International students - funding your studies

We offer scholarships for international students including International Ambassador Scholarships. 

Further information about funding and financial support for international students is available from the UK Council for International Student Affairs.

 

Financial support for international students
Teaching staff

Teaching staff

Study & career progression

Study & career progression

Student working on brand design

There is a wide range of potential careers and jobs for brand design graduates including:

  • communication design
  • brand interaction and experience  
  • service design
  • product innovation
  • art direction
  • design direction
  • data visualisation
  • design research
  • advertising
  • creative management.

You may also choose to study for a PhD specialising in an area of communications or design. Previous and current doctoral research areas include: 

  • design
  • creative management
  • film
  • advertising
  • photography.
     
How to apply

How to apply

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Important notes for applicants

Disclaimer

*Modern universities - defined as higher education institutions that were granted university status in, and subsequent to, 1992.

**The National Student Survey 2023 and 2024 - Average of answers to all questions by registered student population. Excludes specialist institutions.

Testimonials - our students or former students provided all of our testimonials - often a student from the course but sometimes another student. For example, the testimonial often comes from another UWL student when the course is new.

Optional modules - where optional modules are offered they will run subject to staff availability and viable student numbers opting to take the module.

Videos - all videos on our course pages were accurate at the time of filming. In some cases a new Course Leader has joined the University since the video was filmed.

Availability of placements - if you choose a course with placement/internship route we would like to advise you that if a placement/internship opportunity does not arise when you are expected to undertake the placement then the University will automatically transfer you to the non-internship route, this is to ensure you are still successful in being awarded a degree.