MFA in Design with Specialisation in Embedded Design
Summary
The Embedded Design master’s programme offers a unique opportunity to explore the role of design in diverse and complex organisational contexts. Focusing on sustainability, innovation and critical thinking, it equips you to become a proactive agent of change. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and questioning conventions, you’ll emerge as a dynamic force in the design field. This program empowers you to shape the future of design with confidence and impact.
About
At Embedded Design, you will immerse yourself in diverse organisational contexts, building deep connections with collaborators to fully understand their needs and challenges. This systemic approach considers the relationship of the aesthetics with social, environmental, and economic impacts. Embedded Designers act as catalysts for organisational and societal change, driving innovation and sustainable practices through empathy, collaboration, and the ability to navigate various systems.
Vision and Programme Focus
Our vision for Embedded Design is to foster a vibrant community of practice that emphasises the designer’s role in shaping material forms and relational systems for making change within organisations. Specialising in design within complex organisational contexts, we equip you to be both a collaborative partner and a critical thinker. Embedded Design means to situate design practice within organisational settings, not to be misunderstood as embedded software/hardware design. Therefore, you will explore design’s potential at both micro and macro levels. This offers ample opportunities for experimentation and intervention in real-world contexts. As part of an international cohort, you will engage deeply with sustainability challenges, delving into the transformative potential of design, and creating change.
Focus on Sustainability
As part of GU’s Sustainablity-Focused programmes, the programme uses interdisciplinary collaboration to address today’s pressing societal challenges. We develop design skills that apply to corporations, institutions, public and nonprofit organisations, and society at large. A core focus is on crafting sustainable and lasting solutions in the form of artefacts, services, social interventions, or organisational redesigns.
Read more about GU’s Sustainablity-Focused programmes
Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Learning Environment
The learning environment is dynamic and collaborative, with workshops, seminars, and lecturesoften involving external partners. Our partnerships with public, private and notprofitorganisations such as Volvo, Afry, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Kraften Hus (meeting place for those affected by cancer) and the City of Gothenburg enrich the programme through real-world projects and collaborations. Each student contributes to a vibrant learning environment, where open dialogue and collaborative work in the studio are central. You will work hands-on with external partners, learning to balance collaboration with critical thinking. Using design methods such as visualisation, interventions, form-giving, speculative probes, and experience design, we challenge the status quo to propose sustainable solutions.
Learn more about the program
In the publication Positionings of Embedded Design, you’ll find examples of the students’ projects and texts.
Get to know the teachers at Embedded Design; Britta Teleman, Ulises Navarro Aguiar, Helena Kraff, and Luka Murovec.
The program also has a strong bond with Business & Design Lab, a research centre in the intersection of design, art, technology and economy.
Program director Helena Kraff and Alumni Haymanot Fozzati presents the program Nov 10 nov at 3PM.
Programme structure and content
The programme combines theory and practice. In the first year, you will explore embedded design through experiential learning, collaborating with partners and peers. Critical perspectives such as ethics, intersectionality, and sustainability are integrated throughout.
The second year is focused on long-term explorative projects with external partners, allowing you to set up and execute your own design interventions. The thesis project in the final term involves conducting and disseminating a comprehensive design project, paired with a written component.
Who should apply?
Do you have a background in design or related areas and want to apply your interests to create within organisational settings? Do you envision a dynamic and unconventional career in design?
If you are passionate about designing for change and wish to collaborate and challenge the status quo by tackling global, social, and organisational issues, the master’s programme in Embedded Design is for you.
If you don't meet the formal entry requirements, you may be considered eligible through the following: other relevant educational qualifications; relevant work or practical experience; relevant artistic skills.
Prerequisites and selection
Entry requirements
Bachelor's Degree in Design of at least 180 credits or equivalent. Applicants must prove their knowledge of English: English 6/English B from Swedish Upper Secondary School or the equivalent level of an internationally recognised test, for example TOEFL, IELTS. In addition, approved work samples are required.
Portfolio
Portfolio guidelines for the MFA Programme in Design with Specialisation in Embedded Design.
Selection
The selection is based on an assessment of submitted work samples.
After graduation
Upon graduating, you receive a Master of Fine Arts in Design with specialisation in Embedded Design. The programme prepares you for roles as design consultant or in-house designer in private, public and nonprofit organizations, with titles such as Strategic Designer, Service Designer, Eco-Social Designer and Innovation Lead. Your skills apply in unconventional design fields, where you drive organisational and societal change.
Alumni work at design consultancies (e.g. FOG innovation, Point Design and Simma Lugnt, ) and in public institutions (e.g Aarhus municipality, OsloMet Makers Space). Alumni Chris Matts was awarded GUSTA with his project Eco Social Design Camps (Gothenburg University Sustainability Thesis Award, 2022). Daniela Toledo Escarate and Matteo Guzzos received the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies thesis award with Living Archive: Designing Less – Embeddedness as Restraint in Cultural Mediation.
Facilities
The Embedded Design programme is housed at HDK-Valand’s facilities on Kristinelundsgatan, right in the heart of Gothenburg, within the same building complex as the Röhsska Museum of Design and Crafts. You’ll be studying in an international environment with access to well-equipped workshops, located near the vibrant arts scene.
More information about facilities
Exchange opportunities
Exchange studies are possible in the third semester of the programme, providing the opportunity to study at several interesting universities around the world.
