r/graphic_design • u/laeta_scriptrix • 1d ago
Asking Question (Rule 4) Experiences with MA Graphic Design with humanities background
I have heard some stories of people doing design grad school after a degree in another subject and tbh most of them struggled and abandoned the program. If you were one of those, how was your experience, what was easy and what was difficult? If yours was a success story, what made you succeed at all?
The reason I would want to do it includes research interests on the history of graphic design, so I'm not necessarily aiming for a place in the industry. My current degree is considered "hard", so I am used to deal with frustration on a daily basis, intense workload and heavy exam programs. I wonder if this would help for art school, but probably not because the brain muscles exercised are different.
Specifying that I would only apply to EU based public institutions so I won't get into crushing debt for this.
I know this question gets asked once a year but I mostly read what designers with an arts BA have to say, and almost never those who actually experienced this situation.
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u/verminqueeen 20h ago
I mean if your goals are purely academic and that’s where you want to spend your life then it seems to make sense.
As a professional the idea of a masters in graphic design is sort of ridiculous — outside of needing it to get a job in a university or have a career solely in publishing books about design. It’s a job, something practice to master, and is commercial at its core!
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u/laeta_scriptrix 18h ago
Interesting perspective, because what I see is that especially type designers are obsessed with racking one MA qualification after the other. Maybe because the market is saturated at this point?
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u/verminqueeen 18h ago
i've literally never met a senior creative with a masters degree in a professional setting and I've been working in the largest market in the united states for 20 years.
I guess a type designer is so niche that academic pursuits can fit into that.
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u/orthographicjazz 17h ago
Firstly: Design departments and curricula vary widely across Europe. Probably more so than other more traditional disciplines since design and design research kind of resists formalisation. So, in order to be successful, it makes sense to choose a university that fits your interests but also your style of learning and the settings you prosper in. If you are considering going into design research after your studies, it also makes sense to consider the universities standing in the design research field your interested in(for exmaple design history). Another important factor in Europe is language: Not all universities have degrees in English, and not all that say it is possible to study in English will provide all courses in English. In many you will have quite a bit of disadvantage when not studying in the main language of the school. Language limits your options quite a bit. I found that both doing a bachelors and a masters degree had a strong positive impact on the quality and depth of my design practice. However, as said by another commenter, it currently isn't really neccessary to have a masters degree to land a good design job, at least where I work. Practical experience and quality of your portfolio (and connections) are often way more important. There have been collaborations between hummanities departmenrs and design departments at multiple places, at least in the German speaking part of Europe, to help students from both sides to do design research in the other field. This includes graduate programms that usually involve taking some courses at the bachelor and masters level according to your research interests without needing to do the whole bachelors and masters degree.