What is it about?
The Master's degree program in Editorial Design at Fachhochschule Dortmund aims to enable students to shape society and its future aesthetically, culturally, economically, socially and politically as independent, responsible and visionary personalities through practice-oriented projects. The course is designed to be inter- and cross-media and integrates digital and analog processes and modes of expression.
Profile of the study program
Editorial design deals with questions such as
- How are books, magazines and newspapers designed for specific media?
- What role does visual research and the question of authorship play in editorial design?
- How can suitable strategies and media applications be discussed and evaluated?
Independent and visionary design
Central questions in the Master's study program in Editorial Design are visual research and research, authorship and media-specific discourse in editorial design. In addition to full-time lecturers, guest lecturers from Germany and abroad, who are among the best in their field, offer alternating courses on these topics. The Faculty of Design's excellently equipped workshops - including various analog and digital printing techniques, virtual reality, photography and film - are integrated into the teaching and can be used by Master's students.
The three-semester study program begins in the summer semester. The first two semesters comprise two extensive design modules and a media-specific science module. In the third semester, work on the Master's projects is accompanied by a practical module. The methods and content of the modules are taught in application-related project work, seminars, seminar-style lectures, excursions and workshops.
Study interviews and portfolio consultations for the Master's study program are already offered in the winter semester. Applications can be submitted to the Office for Student Affairs between December and January.
Master of Arts leading to the design, media or cultural sector
After successfully completing the course, you will be awarded a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree.
Course of study
*This is a thematic overview of the course content. Detailed information on the exact names of the courses, information on ECTS or semester hours per week can be found in the examination regulations and in the module handbook.
| 1st semester | Methods and strategies: Editorial Design |
Editorial design instruments | Media theories |
| 2nd semester | Methods and strategies: Editorial Design |
Editorial design tools | Media and narrative theories |
| 3rd semester | Practical orientation | Thesis & colloquium |
Why study at Fachhochschule Dortmund?
What makes Fachhochschule Dortmund special? What should you know about the city and the region? How is Fachhochschule Dortmund positioned in terms of internationality and what counseling and support do we offer you? Find out more about Fachhochschule Dortmund.
Who is it for?
Desirable subject-specific and interdisciplinary knowledge
If you enjoy developing your media-specific, creative, conceptual and strategic skills, you've come to the right place. Being motivated and able to work independently, as well as enjoying dealing with social and cultural issues, are good prerequisites for the Master's degree program in Editorial Design.
Basic knowledge and practical experience in the areas of communication design, concept development, analysis of images as well as language and structures will help you to successfully complete the course.
Prospects after graduation
Career prospects
Graduates are capable of complex and conceptual penetration of design processes - in professional independence as well as in leadership and management tasks.
Graduates work, for example, in
magazine design
- Creative direction and art direction
- Design agencies for corporate design
- Magazine and publication development
- Photojournalism and picture editing
- Video and multimedia design
- Managerial functions in publishing (design/authorship/publisher etc.)
- Freelance illustration and graphics
- Responsible art buyer (advertising agencies, content marketing agencies)
- Teaching activity
of book design
- Book design analog/digital
- Magazine design analog/digital
- Creative direction, art direction, publisher
- Video and multimedia design
- Managerial functions in publishing (design, authorship, editor, etc.)
interaction design
- Management positions in design studios with a focus on interaction design
- Interactive storytelling, information design or exhibition design
- Online editorial offices
- Textbook publishers (design, authorship, editors, etc.)
- Museums, galleries, collections (conception, design, possibly implementation)
- Teaching
Cooperative doctorate
The Master's degree is the basis for a doctorate. Graduates who wish to gain further academic qualifications have the opportunity to study for a doctorate at a university. This is possible via a cooperative doctorate, in which the university of applied sciences is a cooperation partner of a university.
Stay abroad possible during your studies
What do I need?
1. required degree
The prerequisite for admission to the course is proof of
- a completed Diploma or Bachelor's degree in Communication Design or a study program with significant content-related proximity to one of these study programs at a university of applied sciences, art college or university or the completion of a corresponding accredited Bachelor's degree program at a vocational academy with an overall grade of at least "good" (2.3 or better).
Study programs with significant content-related proximity are study programs whose curriculum includes coursework and examinations in the study areas with design elements amounting to at least 75% of the total volume.
Furthermore, the study programs must contain 210 credit points according to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). Degrees that do not have an ECTS system must be converted accordingly. Study programs pursuant to subsection 1 sentence 1 number 1 at foreign universities must also provide for a final thesis (Diplom or Bachelor thesis) comparable to study programs at German universities with regard to the minimum quality requirements.
If the above-mentioned study programs only comprise 180 credit points according to the ECTS (degrees that do not have an ECTS system must be converted accordingly), applicants can prove the missing 30 credit points by successfully completing an internship or several internships or practical projects with a total duration of 20 weeks. Further details are regulated by the regulations for the internship/practical project for the Master's study program in Editorial Design in the currently valid version of the Faculty of Design. Evidence of a relevant internship can be provided before, during or when applying for admission to the degree program.
2. aptitude test
The prerequisite for admission to the course is proof of artistic and creative aptitude for the course.
The artistic and creative aptitude is determined in a separate procedure upon application and on the basis of the evaluation of the applicant's work samples by a commission appointed by the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Design.
Admission to this procedure requires an application, which must be submitted to the Dean of the Faculty of Design at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts by January 15 of each year. The application is made exclusively online on the Fachhochschule Dortmund website using a form to be completed by the applicant with personal details and information about their first degree.
To strengthen the opinion-forming process, the committee may invite the applicant to a colloquium to review and deepen the impressions gained so far. In justified exceptional cases, the colloquium can also be held in the form of a video conference.
Applicants who receive an overall average grade of at least sufficient (4.0) will be awarded the course-related artistic and creative aptitude.
3. register now!
The study program starts annually in the summer semester and is admission-free. However, enrolment for the study program is only possible after recognition of aptitude and fulfilment of the other admission requirements!
Who can help me?
We will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the study program and Fachhochschule Dortmund.
Central Student Advisory Services (ZSB)
Head of degree program
Student advisory service
Admissions Office for Student Affairs
Registration office team
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