Furniture and Product Design

Furniture and product design sits at the intersection of craft, engineering, and commercial creativity, asking how objects can be made that are both functionally effective and aesthetically compelling. The discipline ranges from domestic furniture and everyday goods to specialist equipment and conceptual objects, and it requires its practitioners to think simultaneously about materials, manufacturing processes, user experience, and the cultural meanings that designed objects carry. The balance between commercial viability and creative ambition is central to professional practice.

At Nottingham Trent University, this four-year full-time programme immerses you in a hands-on, empirical approach that emphasises designing through making. You will explore crafting innovative products for diverse markets, experimenting with materials and processes in a studio environment that values both conceptual exploration and practical resolution. You will develop skills in design thinking, prototyping, material knowledge, and production processes, supported by a curriculum that connects creative ambition to the realities of the contemporary design industry.

Graduates of furniture and product design programmes work as product designers, furniture designers, exhibition designers, set designers, and design consultants across commercial, residential, and cultural contexts. Many also develop independent design practices, producing work for galleries, commissions, and the contract market. The combination of making skills and design thinking the degree develops is valued in manufacturing, retail, and creative industries.

Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in design, or move into related roles in design management, interior design, or design education.