Design Management Program (Postgraduate) (G401)

The postgraduate program in Design Management builds the skills needed to lead a multidisciplinary design team. Students will learn how to develop design strategies for products and services based on business objectives. This program teaches practical tools and interpersonal facilitative skills, as well as the business knowledge required to manage a consultancy or corporate design division.

Who should take this program:

• Design professionals with a global perspective who want to become active partners in helping firms develop and grow through expanded participation in strategic management.
• Designers looking to enhance their career opportunities in supervisory or management positions.
• Designers seeking to integrate strategic design into the workplace.
• Designers with an entrepreneurial spirit looking to start their own company.

Courses in design process and strategy, project management, finance, team management, design research, contracts, business planning, communications and intellectual property protection complement a major studio course featuring real-world design projects. The courses cover the essential elements of a business strategy and how design contributes to the definition and realization of the strategy.

We also offer an evening course in Studio Management. See the Continuing Education Course Guide at coned.georgebrown.ca

You can select, register and pay for Continuing Education courses online.

A mandatory Design Management Internship (DESN1031) course is taken in Semester 2. An external field placement role is not guaranteed in this course; students who are not placed externally will be given a design management role within the School of Design or as part of George Brown College.

The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:

1. Manage multi-disciplinary design groups using practical working models of management systems.
2. Analyze evolving market needs to identify design strategies required for the development of new products and services.
3. Plan, implement and control project plans that are flexible and reflect the evolutionary environment of the design process.
4. Enhance leadership skills, management skills and design expertise through the development of personal professional development strategies and plans.
5. Establish working relationships with clients, customers, and designers which maintain and strengthen their loyalty to their organization, as well as recognize design discipline protocols.
6. Develop and implement business strategies to recruit clients and new business opportunities.
7. Design and deliver sales presentations persuasively and accurately in oral, written, graphic and digital form.
8. Formulate and present comprehensive business plans for design projects.
9. Develop design strategies based on perceived value, competitive pressures and corporate objectives.
10. Evaluate results of design activities using criteria relating to application of best practices, costs, and profits.

* Amounts listed are the total of tuition, materials(non-refundable), student service and ancillary fees for the first two semesters of programs starting in fall 2017. Fees are subject to change for programs starting in fall 2018 and at later dates.

International students: Visit the International Fees and Related Costs page for more information.