MDes in Integrative Design

Note: the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design MDes program has paused admissions and will not be admitting students for Fall 2024.

This pause will provide us critical time to clarify class and programmatic outcomes to ensure they meet the high expectations of our program. It also allows for the substantive work of building strong community partnerships that are essential to the degree. 

To stay in touch for future opportunities to connect with the Stamps MDes program, please join our interest list.

Through Integrative Design, we have the ability to respond thoughtfully, thoroughly, and with informed intent to the complex, multi-causal challenges the world faces today.

The two-year MDes in Integrative Design graduate program at the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan leads the charge to create and strengthen a new kind of designer able to respond to the creative challenges of the 21^st century.

Alongside industry and non-profit partners, students in the MDes program address real-world wicked problems through hands-on, project-based learning in the context of one of the world’s premier research institutions. Each year, the University of Michigan spends $1.48 billion on research, demonstrating deep and resourced commitment to the advancement of new knowledge.

MDes students analytically interrogate the Social, Technological, Economic, Ecological, Political, Values-based, Aesthetic, and Ethical (STEEPVAE) issues surrounding the wicked problem at hand. STEEPVAE is an effective, human-centered analytical framework for understanding the complex, provocative challenges in our world — and its applications are endless.

MDes Studio

MDes students conduct their creative work and research in the MDes Studio, a new studio space designed to support collaboration — it is flexible and reconfigurable, with spaces and tools for both group and individual work, as well as a broad range of prototyping processes. The MDes studio is located in a 33,000 square-foot building that also houses faculty studios, project spaces, wood shop, metals shop, digital media studio, and large shared working and meeting areas.

All graduate students also have 24/7 access to state-of-the-art metals, fibers, ceramics, sculpture, wood, printmaking, digital media, and digital fabrication studios in the Art & Architecture building. Students can also utilize a wide range of resources and equipment only available at a top research university, including audio engineering studios, robotics labs, virtual reality studios, specialized libraries, institutes, collections, botanical gardens, and much more.

Each cohort comprises graduate students who wish to transform their professional careers through critical thinking and making, and systematic analysis and investigation of complex, real-world problems.

Hand-picked with an eye for diverse global perspectives and knowledge from across the design disciplines and beyond, the MDes cohort is relatively small in size, ensuring optimal collaboration in an environment where all members are seen, heard, and active.

Successful applicants will be:

• Collaborators seeking an integrative design approach to solving complex problems
• Creative Leaders looking to push the design discipline and industry forward
• Experienced Designers wishing to transform their career path or professionals in other fields who want to transition to a design-engaged practice
• Career Changers proficient in specialized, complementary skills they would like to incorporate into an integrative approach
• Researchers prepared to revise and expand their understanding of cross-disciplinary research and design methods
• Innovators with a commitment to social innovation, sustainability, and change for the common good
• Self-Starters excited to bring together people and resources to create sustainable change

We have a strong placement rate for our graduates, who leave the program with a roster of industry contacts, the ability to leverage the power of cross-disciplinary collaboration in unprecedented ways, and expertise in the application of STEEPVAE.

Learn more about the collaborative nature of our MDes program in this video, documenting a design charette that teamed MDes students with faculty, industry leaders, and healthcare professionals.