MACD: the program
The teachers of the program are designers, artists, scientists and business experts. The majority of them come from the five different design programs of the Faculty of Design. The profile in teaching is expanded by external lecturers: For a differentiated and creatively special design potential, the breadth of experience and one's own horizon is quite essential. An important part of this master is the direct contact with artists, designers and researchers who bring their experience, research and thinking to the curriculum. Multidisciplinary projects, inviting exciting (international) personalities, accompany each master's program. Students thus train and test their newly learned skills and competencies in the project work. This dynamic aspect of the master's program always sets topical priorities and directly shapes the master's capacity for development and agility.
The educational program for MACD students is composed of the teaching areas Creative Competence, Creative Market Competence and Creative Leadership.
Creative Competence
In this teaching area, the creative and methodological resources of the students are deepened and expanded. These include, for example, the ability to change perspectives, the confident handling of complex issues and the ability to critically reflect on their own work. Last but not least, this also includes reflecting on one's own position as a designer and cultivating an adequate view of the phenomenon of design. The application-related examination of complex cultural, design-specific and technical problems also enables students to design successful product and brand identities.
In addition to professional and methodological competence, which includes state-of-the-art knowledge, argumentation skills, conceptual and interdisciplinary thinking, as well as independent further education and a systematic approach, techniques for finding, evaluating and implementing ideas play an important role.
Creative Market Competence
Specific knowledge of markets, trends and developments is an elementary component of a future-oriented design strategy. Innovative and creative top performances require the confident handling of methods and knowledge of different disciplines. Students analyze market and consumer behavior and use the insights gained to develop perspectives for developing or improving forward-looking communication and design products. In the area of New Business, students learn to strategically plan new business areas from the idea to the product to its successful establishment on the market and to manage its implementation. Added to this are skills in building and maintaining successful customer relationships. Through the user and customer orientation inherent in design, students are able to conceive innovative marketing and sales approaches.
Creative Leadership
The Creative Leadership area develops students' leadership skills. Anyone who wants to lead employees in a managerial position under innovative auspices must not only be able to develop ideas and visions, but above all be able to organize creative processes and communicate objectives adequately. In addition to the usual social skills such as the ability to work in a team and engage in dialog, students must also be able to assume a wide range of responsibilities.
Course of studies
The master's program is designed for three semesters. In the first two semesters lectures are held and multidisciplinary practical tasks are worked on, the third semester remains free of compulsory courses for the completion of the thesis. As far as possible, lectures and courses are held on three consecutive days. The resulting free space provides an opportunity for concentrated and effective preparation and follow-up of the courses as well as independent further development of current projects.?
The thesis either takes the form of a theoretical treatise (either in German or English) or is written as a practical paper, e.g. in cooperation with a company. In both cases, the usual rules of scientific work apply. The level of the Master's thesis is significantly higher than that of a Bachelor's thesis. The thesis is supervised by two advisors, at least one of whom must be a full professor at the Faculty of Design at Pforzheim University.
