Design+Change, Master Programme
120 creditsThe Master Programme in Design + Change is an advanced-level two-year programme within Design, the main field of study.
Design involves creativity, criticality and transformation. Design calls into question the state of things and makes an impact. Design challenges preconceptions, prejudices, norms, and stereotypes and provokes emotions, thoughts, sensibilities and actions. Design can enhance our lives and our relationships to the world. It can make us attentive and empathic to the ecological and socio-cultural systems in which we live. In a world of many challenges, design can be an agent for sustainable change.
In shaping our futures, designers will face unprecedented challenges compared to what conventional designers faced during the twentieth century. In fact, the role of the designer will and should change. Instead of only designing for mass production, which was important during the first phase of industrialisation, designers of futures must handle multiple roles and increasingly complex issues. As agents for change, designers will play key roles in shaping futures of sustainability.
On the Design+Change Master’s Programme at Linnaeus University we challenge the traditional role of the designer, working across disciplinary and media boundaries to define new roles that meet contemporary and future needs. For design to confront the crises we are now facing, we need to work together with other academic disciplines and cultural practices and in partnerships with professional designers, community organisations, businesses, activists and governmental bodies.
Students on the Design+Change Master’s Programme can choose to extend their existing knowledge in a specific design field or explore new ones. The programme focusses on artistic and experimental processes and creative research, and students will develop their capacity for critical reflection in making well rounded and futures oriented design proposals. Particular attention is paid to contemporary and emerging design disciplines such as critical and speculative design, social design, metadesign and design activism. Furthermore, students are introduced to and practice relevant methods for questioning the current state of things, opening up to ways of thinking and shaping futures creatively and differently.
Career
Our aim is to develop artistic maturity and foster responsible designer roles with a focus on sustainability and design as a change agent. At LNU, you will develop your skills with exploratory work, concept development and implementation, in complex projects.
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (Main field of study: Design)
Program Coordinators
International possibilities
During the course of the programme, you can choose to study abroad through exchange studies to gain international experience. In that case, you will conduct some of your studies at one of our many partner universities around the world. You can also choose to do your internship abroad. What is more, you can do field work abroad as part of your degree project. This involves collecting material abroad for your degree project, for a period of roughly two months. Learn more about what international possibilities are offered at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Linnaeus University.
Application and portfolio
The application process consists of two steps. First you need to apply to the programme online at at www.universityadmissions.se (in English), or www.antagning.se (in Swedish). Then you need to submit your portfolio together with your other documentation regarding eligibility on your pages on www.universityadmissions.se (in English), or www.antagning.se (in Swedish).
You find instructions for the portfolio below.
The application deadline is 17 January 2022, application code LNU-F1536.
The deadline by which portfolio and statement of purpose must be received by LNU is 1 February. To be submitted as documents on universityadmissions.se.
Portfolio Guidelines, Master programme in Design + Change
For your submitted portfolio to be deemed complete, it must consist of two components:
1. Representative work
2. Statement of purpose
1. Representative Work
Your portfolio should include a selection, 10 pieces, of your most creative work, and should represent a variety of design and art approaches and outcomes in relation to sustainability and design as an agent of change. We encourage you to choose work that demonstrate the range of your interests, also outside of your studies. Submit the 10 pieces on your pages on www.universityadmissions.se (in English), or www.antagning.se (in Swedish). You can upload maximum 50 mb total.
In the upload form, enter a brief description of the work you upload.
2. Statement of purpose
Please write a statement of purpose that on one A4 page describes your interest in design focusing on:
- What are you curious about?
- What do you want to change through design?
- How do you want to use your education to reach your goals?
- What sustainability is to you?
The statement of purpose will be evaluated in terms of:
- Your capacity to envision and plan your future as a designer
- Your previous and intended engagement with sustainability and change
- Your proficiency in expressing yourself in English
Submit your statement of purpose on your pages on www.universityadmissions.se (in English), or www.antagning.se (in Swedish).
The application process consists of two steps:
Step 1
Apply to the programme online at www.universityadmissions.se (in English), or www.antagning.se (in Swedish). Submissions of documentation attesting your eligibility for Master's level study must be submitted here.
Step 2
Submit your portfolio and statement of purpose to Linnaeus University (LNU), by uploading on www.universityadmissions.se (in English), or www.antagning.se (in Swedish).
The deadline by which portfolio and statement of purpose must be received by LNU is 1 February. To be submitted as documents on universityadmissions.se.
Acceptance to the programme
If you meet the eligibility criteria, your application will be accepted and
evaluated on the basis of your portfolio. Evaluation of portfolios is conducted by a selection committee consisting of faculty members, external experts, and current students. The portfolio is regarded as a whole and the portfolio is evaluated in terms of the following criteria:
- Artistic quality
- Visualization skills
- Creative approach
- Ability to think critically
- Ability to work with sustainability and change as an intent
After submitting your application and portfolio you'll be contacted if you have been selected for interview. We offer a telephone/online interview.
The university will not disclose the reasons behind the decision to accept or reject any individual application. Approved students will be notified through www.universityadmissions.se or www.antagning.se.
Checklist for Application
- I have submitted my application through antagning.se or universityadmissions.se
- I have prepared my portfolio according to the guidelines provided.
- I have included a statement of purpose with my portfolio.
- I have uploaded my portfolio on my pages on www.universityadmissions.se (in English), or www.antagning.se (in Swedish) and made sure that all my files are included, and that I have submitted written descriptions of my uploaded files.
We accept late applications for special circumstances. Note that applications submitted within deadline will be prioritized.
Questions?
If you have any questions regarding the application or permisson related issue don´t hesitate to inquire by e-mail to Admissions Office: admission@lnu.se
If you have any questions regarding the portfolio or other questions about the programme don't hesitate to inquire by e-mail to programme coordinator: zeenath.hasan@lnu.se
Student portfolio
Look at student projects on designportfoliolnu.se
Student projects
Clara Veneziano-Coen
In odd times of uncertainty, design too can become uncertain. Two Point O: Växjö Crisis Edition is an archiving project shaped in a collaborative process with citizens of Växjö. The archive is a collection of objects relevant in times of crisis called Care Biopics.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/future2pointo/
Daniel Gustafsson
My collaborator Ebba and I have developed a new Paralympic seat for the sport of rowing. As a norm-creative innovation, it is a design that understands and addresses the particularities of the individual body and its specific needs. The project investigates the combination of co-creation, craft and norm-creative methods as a pragmatic and alternative approach to sports equipment.
Karina Zaitceva
My project raises questions about the occupation of urban spaces by motor vehicles. Design activism and urban social movements inform my proposal to reclaim the public space as a pedestrian. I assembled a DIY pedestrian body parking artefact and placed it at on-street car parking spaces. With my artifact I was trying to bring a balance in the use of these shared collective areas.
More about the Department of Design
Växjö – the student city with a living campus
Just south of Växjö’s city centre you will find Linnaeus University’s campus. In Växjö, many students choose to live on campus.
Here you will have five minutes’ walking distance to friends, restaurants, lecture rooms, gym, grocery store, the University Library, nature trails, and student pubs. If you live in another part of Växjö, you can quickly get to the university by bus or bicycle.
With its 90 000 inhabitants, Växjö is one of the fastest growing cities in Sweden. Here you will find the famous Småland entrepreneurship spirit and a lot of companies, for instance within the IT industry – perfect for when you are looking for an internship position or a job. Växjö is also one of Europe’s greenest cities where you have easy access to nature, forest and lakes.