Complex challenges require many design disciplines—not just one. The SVA Products of Design is a STEM-Certified masters program that provides the tools and methodologies from all the key design fields. We empower graduates with the leadership abilities they need to solve global problems and create lasting social change. Here’s how:

1. We train “multilingual designers”

We teach both trained designers and people who want to be designers. And we teach the most vital disciplines of design—from product to interaction design, social impact, service, experience, public policy, and design for justice. In addition, students learn the language of business, entrepreneurship, leadership, sustainability, branding, supply chain, and labor practices while earning their master’s degree in design.
→ View the curriculum

2. We don’t have Grades

Here’s why: First, one of the reasons that education can fail is that it spends more time measuring people than mentoring them. Second, we want maximum risk from our students, and a no grade policy lets them spread their wings without fear. Third, and above all, we want to build trust between students and faculty. And that’s hard to nurture when you are constantly being evaluated.
→ Read alumni reflections

3. We teach in real studios

In addition to our campus location, students enrolled in our MFA design program take classes in professional studios around New York City—from Frog Design and IDEO to Johnson & Johnson, Material ConneXion, Robin Hood Foundation, and Atlasson. Plus, they attend workshops and meet with the leadership at ground-breaking organizations from Google Creative Lab, Lyft, Kickstarter, Etsy, and the New York Times.
→ See a day in the life!

5. WE PROTOTYPE EVERYTHING (EVEN WITH MoMA!)

Beyond scholarship and research, we are devoted to the prototype. We believe in making—whether it’s a systems map, a user journey map, a physical working prototype, or an animation for a mobile app. Everything we do is about creating convincing prototypes—to work with users, to evaluate what needs to come next, and to use design to drive positive, lasting change. We also work with the Museum of Modern Art every year.
→ Check out our students’ designs for MoMa’s Wholesale Catalog

4. Our FACULTY ARE ALl WORKING PROFESSIONALS

Our MFA design program faculty list reads like a who’s who of Design Industry champions. From MoMA curator Paola Antonelli to Antenna Design's Masamichi Udagawa, our faculty are experts in their field, deeply involved in local and international design worlds. They bring both their hands-on methodologies, as well as their unique perspectives on the future of design into the curriculum, and into their classrooms.
→ Meet the faculty

6. Everything we do has a moral center

Evidenced by the thesis topics, the course work, and partnered projects, the beating heart of the program centers on social impact, design for justice, systems change, and the drive towards a more fair and equitable world. If you want to be a positive force, here’s where you’ll get fortified. We place moral integrity, empathy, and generosity over all other design skills as part of our master design program.
→ Check out our thesis projects

7. OUR students get hired

Graduates of our MFA design program go on to work in top design organizations. Just some of the places where our students are now working include Johnson & Johnson, IDEO, IDEO.org, Frog Design, Google, Microsoft, IBM, R/GA, Lyft, Vice Media, MoMA, JP Morgan, Pinterest, Method, Ziba, Bark & Co., SYPartners, 2X4, Pentagram, Local Projects, Deloitte, Arup, 18F, Code & Theory, American Express, Mythbusters, Tiffany, Argodesign, Madwell, Landor.
→ Learn about our job fairs

All Design Disciplines in One Degree

If you choose the opportunities offered at MFA Products of Design, you'll enjoy the broadest reaching MFA design program imaginable. We offer a multi-disciplinary education, meaning you do not have to choose between physical or digital product design. We feel that it is a better investment to be exposed to all areas and flavors of design in a brief two-year master's degree, as the world is changing rapidly, and expertise in these fields makes for easily employable graduates.

In addition, the master's program at MFA Products of Design builds your knowledge and experience in classes typically offered to students on a trajectory to an MBA degree, as well as a plethora of fields such as:

• Service Design
• Social Innovation Design
• Interaction Design
• Industrial Design
• Graphic Design and Branding
• Futuring and Strategic Foresight

We Train Exceptional Practitioners for Leadership in the Shifting Terrain of Design

MFA in Products of Design trains head, heart, and hands, and every one of our teachers are at the top of their professional game. While earning your master’s degree in design, you will meet and work with some of the most creative and bold designers in the world—faculty members who are international, industry-diverse, and cross-disciplinary. 

You'll also be experiencing lectures and workshops from renowned artists, thought-leaders, guest critics, job fair interviewers, and designers throughout the two-year design program. Plus, you'll enjoy the peace of mind and confidence that comes with enrolling in an MFA design program that embraces a changing future.

PoD lets you earn a master's in product design from one campus location, as well as in professional studios around New York City—from Frog Design and IDEO to Johnson & Johnson, Atlason, and Material ConneXion. 

Why Get a Master's Degree in Design? 

The needs of society inspire designers to innovate. Good design can make the world a better place.

While the creativity and imagination of product designers touch almost every object in our lives, the work of designers can inspire, entertain, educate, inform, and engage people. These professionals devise leading-edge designs and concepts, translating them into visual form through models, sketches, and computer software. 

A master's degree in design can take you to unimaginable heights. You will learn to create design concepts built upon strategic, aesthetic, financial, functional, environmental, and social aspects while completing your master’s degree in design. You will also develop digital skills including web design, multimedia, packaging, and branding.

Learn More About Our MFA Design Programs 

At MFA Products of Design, we are looking for trained designers as well as people who oiut to be designers.

Ready to learn more about our programs and mission? Watch our 2020 Virtual Open House Videos or look at A Day in the Life at Products of Design! 

See for yourself how our MFA design program can transform your future and apply online today.