Master of Design (M. Des.) in Transdisciplinary Design

Key Features

Designers for the Future

As India emerges as a global player across industries, the need for versatile designers who can navigate multiple disciplines is increasing. This M. Des. programme addresses that need by promoting a transdisciplinary approach, fostering collaboration and innovation across design fields. The programme encourages creativity and social responsibility, preparing students to create aesthetically pleasing and socially impactful solutions.

Social Design and Innovation (SDI) offers a powerful avenue to create meaningful impact in India. By developing inclusive solutions that tackle inequality, urbanisation, and sustainability, designers can shape public services, improve healthcare, and empower communities—making them key drivers of social change and helping India grow as a global leader in addressing complex and pressing societal issues through creativity and innovation.

Sustainable Design presents an opportunity to engage with the urgent environmental crises shaping our world. It demands a critical approach to rethinking consumption, production, and urbanisation. This field challenges designers to balance innovation with responsibility, creating long-term, impactful solutions that address both ecological and social imperatives.

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is a dynamic field for designers, offering the chance to shape intuitive, user-centered digital experiences. With technology deeply embedded in everyday life, HCI enables you to design systems that enhance human interactions, drive innovation, and improve accessibility, making it a vital design specialisation.

Strategic Design and Management (SDM) empowers designers to move beyond creativity, integrating business strategy with design thinking. This field equips you to drive innovation, solve complex problems, and align design solutions with organisational goals. It offers a pivotal role in shaping sustainable, competitive futures, making it an essential path for forward-thinking designers.

Career Prospects

Graduates of the Master of Design in Transdisciplinary Design can pursue a variety of roles, such as:

• Design Strategist – Helping organisations develop design-driven strategies.
• Social Innovation Consultant – Developing solutions for societal challenges.
• Sustainability Design Specialist – Creating eco-friendly products and systems.
• User Interface & Experience (UI/UX) Designer – Designing intuitive digital interfaces.
• Design Leader / Manager – Leading design teams, and aligning projects with business objectives.
• Design Educator – Teaching in universities or design schools.
• Freelance Designer – Offering expertise across various design disciplines.
• Design Researcher – Providing research & development insights across domains.

Our M. Des. graduates can find opportunities in diverse sectors within design or at its intersection with many other fields, transversing opportunities and functions that relate to thought leadership, critical thinking, sense-making, problem solving and innovation.

Our transdisciplinary designer could be anchored in any of the traditional design fields or forge their path in non-design sectors, or even take up entrepreneurial aspirations. Thus, while their domain or profession may vary the locus of their practice shall be embedded in technology, sustainability, social impact and/or strategy.

This transdisciplinary programme prepares graduates to lead the future of design in India and beyond, combining specialized critical knowledge with a deep understanding of design principles to anticipate, envision and create for a viable, desirable future.

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