MBA in Design Management Vs Work Experience
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- conorcronin
Hello,
This year I have decided to do a "Self taught masters" which involves three different internships across Europe's finest design studios. Each internship is a four month period. Starting in October (Oct 08 - Jan 09) I worked at Albert Folch Studio, Barcelona, Spain and am currently at Base Design Barcelona, Spain (Feb - May 09). Currently I am researching and applying for my third internship which I am available to take on from May - Sep 09.
My future plans and objectives are not only to develop as a designer, but also to develop my managment and marketing skills. In order to achieve this I am planning on studying a MBA in Design Management part-time while continuing to work.
I believe the combination of design and business savvy is extremely lucrative and essential in the creative industry. Please feel free to contact me should you have any suggestions or thoughts. Furthermore I have not found any universities that cater for an MBA in Design Management- well nothing that really impresses me yet anyways.
Thanks for your time, looking forward to your thoughts...
- identity0
your work is pretty incredible.
Ive thought about doing something similar myself (combining the management side of things with creative; who says there cant be both? after all, the only way we're going to make any money at what we love to do is to be our own boss)I dont have it handy, but I have a list of good design management programs you might be interested in. I'll shoot you an email later on.
Cheers and goodluck!
- erikjonsson0
design and business? sounds like something a school out of touch with reality would put in their ads. can you put this in to an example for me?
- example? sure;
design = 1k logo
design + business = 65k logoLIoyd
- example? sure;
- dajaniel0
I only know of two courses:
- This looks interesting.kgvs72
- Thanks for the heads up, I am currently doing some research myself i will keep you posted. I am kinda more interested in studying in the EUconorcronin
- Audria0
I think thats a really interesting idea.
and your work is great.
- Juan_Dumplo0
do MBA is soo 90 and gay
- version30
ej,
design and business are what they teach at full sail. that school has it's feet planted firmly in reality, and hollywood
- rzrffglyr0
Sounds good to me. I know that an alternate method may sometimes be working your way up from a design position, ultimately to a position similar to what you have in mind. This could potentially take many years, though, so if you have an MBA maybe you're half-way there?
- Juan_Dumplo0
do MBA is soo 90 and gay
- kaonashi0
Maybe someone can show me conorcronin's 'pretty incredible' work.
All I see is a portfolio so dry even Harsh Partel would be bored.
- monNom0
MBA is probably a great degree if you want to stop designing and start managing designers.
- kaonashi0
"design and business? sounds like something a school out of touch with reality would put in their ads. "
That is absolutely silly, Erik Jonsson. I mean, design is often known as "Commercial Art". What do you think "commercial" means? Doing it for free?
- i think the person that said that should be shoterikjonsson
- I think you sound like a complete newbie to this industry.kaonashi
- SimpleIrony0
I don't know. The MBA, as its taught in most major programs, is an on-going evolution of courses meant to satisfy the needs of large, structured corporations. Most of them can barely handle teaching applicable lessons for start-ups (beyond writing a business plan) let alone anything creative.
In your case, the school probably tried adjusting a core curriculum to fit into the demands of the design community, which could introduce some questions about how effective it really is in preparing you to manage a firm.
Also, remember not to discount the benefit of working alongside others in your pursuits.
- cannonball0
"Design management degree"?
"Hmm, how can I not work at a job... and somehow be the big cheese design guy later on.... "
- conorcronin0
Thanks all for your responses, the reason i asked this question is because I have noticed the natural progression or maturity of designers as they go from Junior, middle weight to Senior Designer is to do less designing and more managing. In many cases these individuals would not come from a management background or they would have not received any formal management training. In other words they would learn from there mistakes. This system or hierarchy is somewhat traditional in the sense of an apprenticeship, or "working your way up the ladder" which there is lot to be said about. However this system of falling into a leadership role is not very efficient or professional compared to other industries.
I dont understand why design is so mystified when it comes to management and marketing, because essentially we are in the service industry. I am not suggesting an MBA in Design managment is the correct answer or as someone pointed out it would be the fast track to becoming "The big cheese". However I feel the correct tutoring and direction in conjunction with the correct University degree would mold a well rounded designer who could lead a design team far better that someone who took the traditional "working your way up the ladder" approach.
As always please let me know your thoughts and take all this with a pinch of salt.... looking forward to your responses.
- tkmeister0
I don't know if I would do an MBA in design management. I would rather do an MBA in marketing or brand management if I want to compliment my design experience. You don't need an MBA degree to become a CD/GCD or ECD. Even if you have it, I don't know how much of it actually helps to jump start on your career path because I think the industry values more hands on experience and reputations than a proper university education.