Design for Play (MA)

Name: Kolding School of Design
Price range: $

Semester start: August / September
Registration deadline: 1st of March at 12.00 PM (CET)
Duration: 2 years (120 ECTS)
Admission requirements: Application
Downloads: Course Descriptions Play 2024/2025
Curriculum Master's 2023
Location: Kolding School of Design
Instruction language: English

Admission

Design for Play
Future of play
Skills
Teaching
Courses
Career
Graduation 2024
Admission

Design for Play

Why should I choose Design for Play?

Design for Play is for students who like to explore new paths and challenge themselves and others through playful experiences.

You will become a frontrunner for new ways of designing in a society and job market that is increasingly requiring more and better creative competences, and where more than half the jobs needed in the future are not even invented yet.

The programme was established with the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group and is the world’s first, exclusive two-year international Master’s Degree programme within Design for Play.

Students from all of the school's own bachelor programmes as well as students from other disciplines will be accepted provided they meet the admission criteria by showing design understanding and technical/creative design skills equivalent to the level of a bachelor’s degree in design.

Future of play

Why is Design for Play important?

Design for Play puts play on the agenda and educates ambassadors who can help open the eyes of the world to the value design.

Play supports creativity and innovation, and therefore at Design School Kolding we design play, we design for play and we design with play.

Play helps release human potentials, which contributes to the artistic dimensions of design. Along with technical skills and user and business understanding this makes us able to produce better solutions and meaningful products, services and systems.

At Design School Kolding we design through play, and we design possibilities for people and communities to unfold.

Skills

What will I learn?

The Design for Play programme introduces you to the concept of play in relation to design.

You will experience play as a motivational factor in design and development processes and get to design meaningful play experiences for people of all ages.

The programme enables you to build on your basic design discipline and design for play using current and relevant knowledge and various tools, methods and approaches.

You will have the opportunity to learn to:

analyse, identify and design specific play experiences
use play to support development, learning and experiences
design relevant play as seen from a children’s and user perspective
be aware of different play cultures
develop and intervene in processes using a playful approach
work with play systematically and through research and theory

You will learn to work in cross-disciplinary groups and on various levels with external partners, companies, organisations and the public sector to ensure a high degree of relevance.

The Design for Play curriculum is qualified with the help of leading international institutions such as Stanford, MIT and Cambridge.

Teaching

How will I learn?

The instructors at Design for Play are highly qualified Danish and foreign personalities with experience from research and practice and with a broad professional spectrum and substantial interest in and knowledge about play.

The instruction comprises class teaching, lectures, group work, workshop instruction, supervision and project work. You will learn alongside fellow students of different design backgrounds, languages, cultures and nationalities, which reflects the world you will engage with after your studies.

The courses are completed in close relation with organisations and companies, including The LEGO Foundation and The LEGO Group, in various forms of collaborations.

The instruction focuses on play, development, engagement and co-creation with different users and stakeholders to support the playful human being throughout the process as well as the final design.

The programme is one of a kind. It is based on Scandinavian design and an international outlook. We regularly invite national and international researchers, play heroes and design practitioners in to teach to make sure the programme is relevant and diverse.

Courses

Courses you will meet at Design for Play

Design Play Fundamentals

Explores play design practices in chosen domains through development of prototypes informed by domain specific play theory and design principles. The course provides the ability to connect play theory and play design practice.

Child-centered Design for Play

Play Design Fundamentals addresses the field of play as a catalyst for acquiring specific knowledge, skills or new behaviours.

Playing with Futures

Proposes play as a mode of speculating and applies critical design and speculative design to create prototypes that make us reconsider our current world and the futures we want to design for.

Exploring Design Profession

An introduction to the design practices in the job market while exploring different ways of working within the design profession with the perspective of sustainability, co-creation or play aiming to develop contemporary design practices.

Empowering Change

In collaboration with chosen companies, the course identifies relevant problems and focuses on process facilitation from idea to creation of ideas in real scenarios.

Design Methodology

An introduction to design methodology in a historic as well as contemporary context making you able to understand and put theories, discussions and main directions in the field into perspective as well as reflect on your own practice.

Design Practice and Prototyping

The course will expand your professional repertoire within prototyping and encourage you to form a strategy for the future acquisition of skills.

Exploring Design Perspectives

An exploration of your motivation and goals and competences in relation to the content of the Master's education.

Career

What jobs can I get?

As a Play designer you can get jobs in many types of industries and organisations depending on your interests and competence profile.

You can design children's products, for instance at LEGO, HABA, Kompan, Ikea and Toca Boca.

Or you can design playful experiences in museums, experience parks, schools and hospitals.

You will be able to contribute with playful approaches in design companies and design agencies at product, process and strategy levels.

Your experiences with play for all ages will make you a suited ambassador for play within NGOs such as The LEGO Foundation, UNICEF, etc.

The programme also qualifies you to pursue an academic career in universities and design schools, and to become a facilitator, teacher or communicator in design and play.