MA Data Visualisation

at University of the Arts London

In 2019 UAL declared a Climate Emergency and pledged to ‘make sustainability a required part of the student learning experience’. In response to the climate and ecological crisis the Design School set in place an ambitious Sustainability Action Plan to fully embed responsible practices within the curriculum and in everything we do. As part of this initiative we have updated our course handbooks against a set of social and environmental sustainability principles to ensure that learning outcomes reflect the urgent need to equip students with the understanding, skills and values to foster a more sustainable planet. Our aim is to change the way students think and to empower them to work towards a sustainable future.  

MA Data Visualisation is in Full Time mode which runs for 45 weeks over 15 months. You will be expected to commit 40 hours per week to study.

The course units include:

Term 1
 

• Unit One: Data visualisation research and practices
• Unit Two: Visualisation tools, datasets and data stories

In this term, through a series of workshops, you will develop your specialist information design and data visualisation practice.Pairing key areas from mapping to complex chart-making with a focus on fundamental design principles such as colour, visual language and typography, you’ll develop your expertise in both explorative, and explanatory data visualisation as well as structure, narrative and story-telling.

Alongside this you’ll engage with key texts, data visualisation practitioners and specialists from related disciplines through a series of lectures and seminars. This will support you engaging with the critical and theoretical context in which you are work and informing your approach to research methods and critical practice.

Term Two and Three
 

• Unit Three: Final major project proposal and critical reflection
• Unit Four: Collaborative unit

During these terms you’ll define your major project focus through research-oriented workshops and group and individual seminars and tutorials.

You’ll also work on the Collaborative unit – responding to a brief defined and delivered with industry-leading practitioners working at the forefront of the discipline of data visualisation.

You’ll continue to participate in workshops designed to support you interrogating your own practice, defining methodologies and identifying interesting ways to integrate technical data visualisation tools and software into your research-led practice. 

Through additional external briefs you’ll also work with your peers on group projects responding to provocations defined by domain experts working with data.

Term Four
 

• Unit Five: Final major project critical visual report. 

In your final term, you will realise your research-led final major project, supported with lectures, seminars and tutorials as well as engagement with the wider community of practice at LCC.

You’ll produce a design outcome for this piece of work as well as critical and reflective report, evidencing your engagement with advanced theoretical and critical positions within the field and related disciplines.

The MA Data Visualisation course team welcomes applicants from a broad range of backgrounds, from all over the world, who have achieved a Hons degree qualification that evidences their aptitude, skill and engagement in the field of graphic design/communication or a related design practice. Applicants from non-traditional backgrounds, as well as those already within employment, are also welcome on the course.

Educational level may be demonstrated by:
 

• Honours degree (named above);

• Possession of equivalent qualifications;

• Prior experiential learning, the outcome of which can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required;

• Or a combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning which, taken together, can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required.

APEL (Accreditation of Prior Learning)

Applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered in exceptional cases. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:
 

• Related academic or work experience

• The quality of the personal statement

• A strong academic or other professional reference

• OR a combination of these factors

Each application will be considered on its own merit but we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

Language requirements

All classes are conducted in English. If English is not your first language, we strongly recommend you let us know your English language test score in your application. If you have booked a test or are awaiting your results, please indicate this in your application. When asked to upload a CV as part of your application, please include any information about your English test score.
 

• IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent) is required, with a minimum of 5.5 in each of the four skills.

Home fee
£11,550

International fee
£23,610

Upon completion of the MA Data Visualisation course, graduates will be equipped with a keen critical understanding of the field of data visualisation and will have acquired a diverse set of technical and project management skills represented in a portfolio of data visualisation work.

We expect graduates to have the skills, experience and confidence to address a range of academic or professionally focused problems within this field; drawing on specialist knowledge and experience and a familiarity with related areas such as information design, user experience design and design thinking.

Graduates will have acquired leadership skills, an entrepreneurial mind-set and the ability to tackle complex problems with insight and determination.

Career options include:
 

• Design Consultancy
• Exhibition Design
• Editorial
• Data Journalism
• Data Visualisation
• Self-employment/freelance
• Integration of design skills into other disciplinary areas