Product Design
Product design is the discipline that brings objects into existence: it sits between imagination and manufacture, between user need and technical possibility, between aesthetic ambition and commercial reality. Good product designers understand how things are made, how people use them, and how the choices made at the design stage determine whether a product is functional, desirable, sustainable, and economically viable. The field spans everything from mass-produced consumer goods to bespoke, hand-crafted objects.
At York St John University, this three-year full-time degree gives you the technical skills and creative confidence to transform design ideas into real, physical products. You will develop competence across the design process, from initial ideation and prototyping through to production-quality realisation, working with materials, manufacturing techniques, and digital design tools. The programme includes a sandwich year, giving you the chance to gain significant professional experience in the design industry, as well as a year abroad option and supported work placements, both of which add international and professional dimensions to your development as a designer.
The combination of creative thinking, technical making, and professional experience is what the degree is built to provide. The typical entry tariff is 104 UCAS points.
Graduates of product design programmes find careers across the creative industries in roles including product designer, industrial designer, design consultant, packaging designer, furniture and interior product designer, and UX designer. The manufacturing, consumer goods, transport, medical devices, and home products sectors all employ product designers at a range of levels. Many graduates also build freelance or entrepreneurial careers, launching their own product lines or design studios.
Postgraduate study in product design, design innovation, or sustainable design is a natural progression for those who want to develop a specialist practice or pursue academic research.