York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as more than 200,000 alumni worldwide.

The York University Master of Design (MDes) is a two year, full time program for students looking to challenge the conventions of their graphic design experience. Our program accepts talented, highly motivated applicants interested in an experimental and intellectually rigorous approach to the practice of graphic design and engages them in an intense environment where they develop their individual and creative potential. The two-year experience begins with coursework and culminates in a thesis project which reflects each student's personal direction for design practice.

Each year, the MDes program accepts approximately nine students for the two-year program. The majority of these students enter with undergraduate degrees in graphic design but the program does accept a few talented students who have a background in visual work but only limited experience in graphic design.

The Master of Design Degree requires five consecutive terms of full-time enrolment. Currently there is no provision for part-time study.

The students' first year experience is intended to introduce graduate level discourse in graphic design: Using making, reflection and critique, students probe the significance of their work against a larger context of contemporary graphic design practice. Students pursue individual concerns and interests while closely examining qualities already inherent in their own work to inform the process of defining a thesis. A designer's work should be able to consistently inhabit its own field of inquiry. In this sense, the practice-based thesis encompasses an identifiable attitude towards both making and writing — all driven by the student's area of research.

The thesis is understood to be the culmination of the Master of Design curriculum and it is an opportunity for the student to contribute to and advance the practice of graphic design. The MDes design thesis concludes with a final public review, where the project (the design piece and written support paper) is evaluated both on its own merit and within the broader field of contemporary graphic design discourse.