Mastering design

When a Monash University art and design graduate decided to enhance his knowledge of design, he looked no further than Monash's new Master of Design by research course. KAREN STICHTENOTH reports.

Expanding horizons: Mr André Elista is designing a futuristic concept car. Photo: Melissa Di Ciero

After finishing his studies in 1995, André Elista (BTech(Des) 1996) spent a number of years working for various design companies, lecturing in drawing and travelling around Europe. In 2003 he decided to return to study and explore his lifelong love of automotive design.

"The Master of Design was a way of furthering my academic and professional design career," he says. "It was something I wanted to do. I had an idea for a product and saw the course as a way of seeing it come to fruition.

"I also knew first-hand about the high standards at Monash and the calibre of staff who taught design at the Caulfield campus, having studied there in the mid-1990s."

Mr Elista's research project is centred on the design of a futuristic concept car that compacts itself when parked and expands when moved, to more comfortably accommodate passengers.

He says his 'vehicle transformer' is the solution for city parking problems that are set to worsen as more people converge on the city for work, entertainment and living.

"The idea for this car came from my experiences in Europe and Singapore and the rules that drivers are governed by in terms of parking and driving. Australia is still lucky in terms of space but eventually this will become a factor as more people move into the CBD."

Mr Elista is hopeful a major car company will one day be interested in his concept, but in the meantime the Master of Design by research course, introduced by the Faculty of Art and Design in 2002, is enabling him to explore his design in detail.

By the time he concludes his studies in 2006, he will have prepared an essay of between 10,000 to 20,000 words outlining his project, detailed visual documentation and a model of his car, and put together an exhibition of his work.

Head of the Art and Design faculty's Department of Design Associate Professor Arthur de Bono believes there is a growing trend for designers to undertake masters studies as an extension of their professional careers. "Many designers want to work in different fields, and others want to specialise. A masters program allows them to pick up this specialisation and develop an in-depth understanding and make a significant contribution to that area."

Industrial design senior lecturer Dr Jonathon Allen says that those who apply to do the course are enthused by designing and like the idea of exploring.

"I think it is really an exciting opportunity for students -- being able to explore an area they wouldn't have had the opportunity to explore at undergraduate level or in industry. A masters can bring a blue sky project into reality and give students the opportunity to explore something they are very passionate about, or a real-world problem they want to have the luxury of addressing through designing or making," says Dr Allen.

"The other luxury at the end of it is gaining the greater qualification and entry level to becoming a PhD or potentially the world's expert in a particular field of design."

Associate Professor Robert Nelson, who is also associate dean of research and graduate studies at Caulfield's Art and Design faculty, says the studio degree is unique.

"Monash can claim uniqueness in the criteria by which our masters program functions. The studio degree is highly structured and requires candidates to submit substantial written work, however it is based on the motif of contributing substantially to culture as opposed to knowledge," he says.

"Studio-based research has a tangible outcome that is supported by written evidence of where their imagination has been and where their inquiries have led. The examiners, chosen from a field of design with academic standing, ask, 'Is this decent design, does it make a contribution to culture, and does it contribute to knowledge?'

"Of course, the most powerful research tool in the field is the activity of designing. That's how you find out new designs. Designers look for solutions which are found through designing."

Associate Professor de Bono says the Master of Design by research degree was developed to interconnect with undergraduate honours programs in design available within the faculty. It also provides Monash with a clear opportunity to maintain its position in design education and research in Australia.

"Caulfield is probably the only place in the country where you can study towards a studio-based research degree in an environment that offers both art and design studies. Many other institutions offer research in either a fine art faculty or a solely design research environment," he says. "If you do a research masters here, you are exposed to both art and design, which is important to a multidisciplinary activity."

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For more information about masters programs within Monash University's Faculty of Art and Design, telephone +61 3 9903 1962 or visit the Art and Design website.