Master in Product Design and Development

Design, model, represent and produce innovative products. In the MA in Product Design, you’ll carry out comprehensive product design projects: from the conceptual phase to technical development in real projects with companies.

How to apply

Basic data

Title

Master’s Degree in Product Design and Development. Degree issued by UVic-UCC.

Directors

Josep Puig, Xavier Riudor

ECTS credits

Academic period

September – July
February – February

Language

Spanish

Tuition

February 26: €11,000 (+€500 pre-registration)
September 26: €11,250 (+€500 pre-registration)

Campus

Barcelona

Presentation

What will the products of the future be like? Discover the tools and gain the necessary skills to model, represent and simulate the behaviour of a user-centred product, selecting the most appropriate materials and manufacturing processes.

In the Master in Product Design and Development you’ll learn to represent the initial concepts and develop products technically, advancing through the different phases of the product design and engineering processes. You’ll learn about the current trends in product design and the agents implicated in the process.

One of the key points of this master’s degree is the collaboration with companies in carrying out projects based on real cases; you’ll design and develop innovative products to provide an optimal solution in response to a company’s brief.

Some of the companies we collaborate with include: Play, Hewlett Packard, Cosmic, Roca Sanitario, Santa&Cole, Simon, Figueras, Valira, Lamp Lighting, Educa Borras, Laken, El Naturalista, Teck-Rock, Zobele Group, Esportiva Aksa, Pando, IMC Toys, Taurus, Solac, Crevin, Signes, FujiFilm, Cata Electrodomésticos, Madel, Signes, Pujadas, Total Care, Cestisa, BioSystems, and Vibia, among others.

This master’s degree is aimed at professionals from different sectors, especially in the field of design and product engineering. Students of this master’s degree generally have an inclination towards artistic pursuits, like drawing and composition; they’re interested in learning new ways of creating products and have an analytical capacity for research.

Access and Admission Requirements: Official university degree or equivalent in Design or Industrial Design Engineering.

Elisava counts on a large offer of master and postgraduate programmes. Discover the design master you are looking for.

Objectives

Enhancing the initial phase of the design process using techniques to support creativity, user-centred design resources, and experimental design applications.
Learning about the current state of product design based on the experiences of designers from prestigious agencies and studios in the sector.
Applying the knowledge and skills acquired by carrying out real projects with companies.
Understanding the latest technologies in the industry and the different materials the market has to offer.
Studying the processes involved in a product development project and the different options for industrialization for the company projects.
Mastering different CAD (Computer Aided Design) / CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) tools for use in representing, visualizing and simulating the behaviour of a product.
Managing projects, protecting and registering designs, as well as presenting the final result to the public.

Highlights

Collaboration with companies

The programme includes collaborations with companies on joint projects with real briefs and personalized mentoring sessions so you’ll gain the professional skills that will serve you in the labour market.

Workshops

You’ll participate in various one- to two-week intensive workshops on different topics. Along with generating new ideas, you’ll discover new materials and manufacturing processes, while developing projects collaboratively.

Visits and fieldtrips

You’ll visit the major technological centres and benchmark companies in Barcelona, which will provide direct contact with the professional world. This contact with professionals in the field of product design and development and with collaborating companies generates synergies and collaborations.

Expert teaching team

The teaching community for this master’s degree is made up of professionals with extensive professional experience in their own studios or companies in the field of industrial design and product engineering.

MA in Product Design and Development programme

1 Concept module

Learn to create a people-centred design, visit the Design Museum, work in a workshop and on real conceptualization projects.

1.1 Product. Experience. Service
We work based on a human-centered design approach (discovery and observation, analysis, creation, prototyping and interaction, proposal presentation).

1.2 Design Map
Brief overview of the contemporary history of design in Spain. Visit to the Design Museum. Map of current movements and trends.

1.3 Workshop: Dynamic Materials
Intensive workshop on dynamic materials.

1.4 Company Project
How is a design project approached from the perspective of a professional studio? Working with real projects to achieve viable design concepts.

2 Representation module

Learn the digital tools for communicating creative ideas in the virtual world along with freehand drawing techniques. Make working models and learn to make presentations using graphic design resources for creating reports, panels and projected media.

2.1 Digital Expression
Optimize the ability to communicate any creative idea through representation systems understandable to professional interlocutors, exploiting the possibilities of the virtual 3D world. Understand the current needs and computer resources used in the field of product design.

2.2 Sketching
Basic tools for freehand drawing to represent design concepts.

2.3 Models
Creation of presentation models for the different projects carried out during the course.

2.4 Presentation Methods
Graphic design resources to compose reports, boards, and projections.

3 Management module

Learn how to direct a design process and familiarize yourself with the figure of the design manager. Find out how to protect your creations and discover what resources you can use in your public presentations.

3.1 Design Management
Learn how to effectively manage the design process. A practical map introducing the necessary elements to address the client relationship, understand budget models, contracts and remuneration, the role of the design manager, the services sector…

3.2 Design Protection
Understand the current situation of design protection and registration in the national and international panorama.

3.3 Communication Resources
Oral presentation of the project and resources for public presentations. Planning professional communication.

4 CAD/CAE technologies

Explore the possibilities for modelling products in 3D using advanced CAD techniques and learn to simulate solid structures with CAE tools.

4.1 CAD: Design of Solids, Assemblies, and Mechanisms
Creation of 3D solids, creation of assemblies and constraints in part assembly, strategies for designing complex parts and assemblies, kinematic and dynamic simulation of mechanisms, description and selection criteria for mechanisms, advanced CAD representation techniques, rendering of images and videos, creation of an animated sequence of a product assembly.

4.2 CAE: Structural and Thermal Simulation
Structural simulation of solid parts, analysis, and interpretation of results, introduction to finite elements (mesh and convergence), mechanical properties of materials. Criteria for material failures, idealizations: shells, beams, advanced simulations (fatigue analysis, composite materials, redesign of parts. Shape optimization and thermal simulation).

5 Materials and manufacturing processes

Analyse and select different types of mechanical, thermal, electrical, and optical materials, among others, and work on the current applications of technical ceramics, metals, composite materials, polymers, adaptive materials, and smart materials.

5.1 Material Selection
Classification and properties of materials, consultation databases, tools for material selection, recyclability of materials, sustainable materials, material selection criteria based on design and functionality, applications of smart materials.

5.2 Transformation and Design of Plastic and Metal Parts
Characteristics of the different transformation processes and the process itself, basic characteristics of plastic part design, common defects in plastic parts and how to avoid them, joining systems between parts, selection of manufacturing technologies, trends in advanced production technologies, rapid prototyping: rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing.

6 Projects with companies

Develop a product design process based on the briefing of a real company. Analyze the company’s needs, understand the importance of the counter-briefing, select the technical solutions, and present the project to the company.

Presentation of the companies and the project briefing, analysis of the different needs of the company and the market, market studies, counter-briefing, product development phases and technical considerations, study and selection of technical solutions, presentation of the project to the company.

7 Master’s Final Project

The Master’s Final Project consists of a research project in product design.

7.1 Conceptual Workshop
Formal exercises based on relating literary texts, poetry, and art to generate object-based concepts.

7.2 Research Project in Product Design
Individual exercise to answer a research question through experimental designs.

7.3 Lectures
Participation of various professionals and personalities from the design field related to the topics of the projects being developed or current issues of interest.

If you want to know more about the Master in Product Design and Development download the brochure here or check the master’s website:

Download brochure Web Master Product

“What I value the most about my time at the school is having been able to learn from companies such as HP, VIBIA, IMCTOYS, ADDITION3D… as this lets you meet and work first-hand with professionals from different sectors to develop projects on current topics such as 3D printing or artificial intelligence”

Emili Taixés, Athos

“The completion of the master has meant enrichment both professionally and personally. Topics such as the selection of materials, use of CAD programmes, sketching, UX, CAE tools, manufacturing processes and workshops with professionals in the sector, have been very interesting subjects”

Aina Morell, VIBIA

“The master gives you the tools and knowledge to develop an initial concept with a great level of detail. The quality of the content and the teaching staff add value to a super complete master. Direct contact with companies allows us a real vision of the sector”

Sergio López, SEAT

“What I value the most about this experience is the commitment and dedication of the directors, Josep Puig and Xavi Riudor, who care at all times, so that the learning experiences, both of the different modules and of the projects with companies, add value and allow us to grow professionally”

Patricia Trincado, Universidad Pública de Navarra

“This programme gives you the necessary tools to carry out an engineering project without neglecting the design”

Guillem Marquès, Cero Design

“Studying the master in product design has allowed me to participate in a wide variety of projects and workshops with different companies and public organizations, offering experience and knowledge that is very close to the world of work. Thanks to Elisava and its research projects, I have had the opportunity to do an internship in a design agency in Vienna”

Javier Carracedo, Integral Design & Development

“My experience has been extremely enriching and positive. I have really enjoyed the different projects, at the same time that I have incorporated new technical, creative and procedural notions. I believe that working for real companies is a very important and differentiating factor, since this makes a product development, a real project and applied to specific and real needs of a client”

Beatriz María Palacio, TACADI

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Do you want to know more about the Masters’ School?

Each academic year, students with very diverse professional and cultural profiles of more than 80 nationalities from all over the world attend their master’s or postgraduate training at Elisava. We want to promote connections and networks among students beyond the context of each master’s degree to promote the exchange of knowledge through very diverse projects: we organize interdisciplinary workshops and conferences; transdisciplinary projects with students from several master’s degrees; collaborations with companies, institutions and NGOs…

Faculty

Directors

Josep Puig Xavi Riudor

Faculty

Joanma Baqués, Ànima Barcelona Diego Casín, Nacar Design David Chevalier, Becreative Bernat Faura, Plumartis Ariel Guersenzvaig, Elisava Jose F. López-Aguilar, OiKO Design Raimon Monsarro, Estudi Manel Molina Francesc Ribot, Elisava Jordi Romaní, Asociación Internacional Propiedad Industrial Isaac Salom, Salomstudio Cristina Taverner, Elisava Jordi Vilà, Koakura Guillem Virgili, Virgili Francesc Mestres, Mes3design Salva Fàbregas, Elisava Javier Peña, Elisava Lluís Trench, Taurus Group Miguel Angel Fernández Pol Fantoba, Lúcid Design Agency Jordi Arasanz, Lamp Ismael Almazan, Fyla Ruben Saldaña, Arkoslight Sl Marta González, Elisava Felip Fenollosa, Cim UPC Ricard Izquierdo, Centro Español De Plásticos Laura Garcia, Vibia Lighting

Masters’ Scholarships

Do you want to study the MA in Product Design and Development at Elisava? In this section you will be able to check all the information on the annual call for scholarships, which recognize, reward and disseminate the talent and excellence of future master’s students.

Elisava Masters’ Scholarships