Design and develop performance sports equipment and apparel for the sports and leisure market.
Develop skills and knowledge to become a versatile, industry-focused designer.
Gain experience from live projects and links with the sports and outdoor industries.
Form ties with design, sport, health, wellbeing, manufacturing and lifestyle sectors.
Engage with physiological, psychological and ergonomic factors to propose solutions that deliver performance benefits.

The course is for students who’ve previously studied Fashion Design or Product/Industrial Design at undergraduate level. You’ll learn about the main business, ethical and technical contexts for developing innovative products and services. You’ll also have opportunities to experience real-world projects, gaining the specialist knowledge and skills required to work in this sector.

Live projects

Through our extensive connections with the sports and outdoor industries, you’ll be able to undertake real-world projects – building your confidence and enhancing your specialist knowledge and skills.

Field trips

There are opportunities to go on study trips and visits in the UK and abroad. These could include workshops, design exhibitions or visits to practitioners’ studios and industry events. 

Networking opportunities

You’ll benefit from being part of a vibrant, interdisciplinary, postgraduate environment – with extensive links to international networks in the broader design-for-sport community.

There are also opportunities to learn from both colleagues working in the industry, and the broader academic research community at Hallam. Design Futures is our own award-winning, in-house design consultancy – and you can also visit specialists from a range of sports and outdoor sectors.

 

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

Through a series of creative research and design projects, you’ll develop your individual practice – in a framework of manufacturing, production, cultural, ethical and environmental contexts.

You learn through

• immersive studio environments
• practice-based research
• project work
• individual and group tutorials
• lectures
• seminars
• constructive critical debates

During the early stages of the course, you’ll cover the key concepts, theories and debates in both contemporary and future sports-industry practice. By utilising the expertise of specialist academic staff and industry specialists, you’ll build your knowledge through a series of lectures, seminars and workshops.

You’ll also have specialist staff support to build on the skills and knowledge you gain from the initial modules. You’ll then apply your learning in an independently-planned research project – positioning your professional, creative practice within the design-for-sports industry. 

 

This course prepares you for a career in

• design
• design management
• making or manufacturing
• company-employed design
• independent design practice
• postgraduate study at PhD level
• education
• retail and marketing
• design research
• academia
• social enterprise

 

Normally an undergraduate degree at 2:2 or above, in a related field.

If English is not your first language, you will need an IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills, or equivalent

Important notice:

The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

Final Year Compulsory modules
Module	Credits	Assessment
Design For Sport	60	Coursework
Performance Sports Context	60	Coursework
Sports Industry Project	60	Coursework