In today’s world, design is more visible than ever. It is an integral part of companies’ decision-making processes and has been incorporated into the economic sphere, the business world and the institutional realm in how products and services are defined.

Designers are a common presence on the teams responsible for developing new activities and initiatives. They are responsible for creating integrating strategies, of giving any new proposal of conceptual, formal and functional coherence.

From verbal and visual identities to audiovisual and digital applications, designers contribute coherence through their editorial design, packaging or signage, setting each project apart on the path from concept to implementation.

Methodology
The Master draws on a holistic perspective to help students shift their practice toward that of a creative director: a professional capable of engaging in comprehensive project management, moving comfortably between the different disciplines of graphic design, coordinating and supervising teams.

The practice of design needs decisive professionals with a mind of their own and a broad perspective on contemporary design. We want our Master’s programme to prepare students to meet those requirements through active experimentation and practical learning, with the support of quality professionals.

The Master develops a comprehensive project that brings together seven disciplines of graphic design: verbal identity, visual identity, editorial, packaging, signage, digital and audiovisual. Students will receive constant support from teachers throughout the process so that they can develop their projects’ full potential while maintaining a balance between reflection, planning and action.

Teamwork

Design today is practiced collectively, and we want this transformation to be reflected in our Master’s programme. Working smart and effectively to produce quality implies contrasting, collaborating and sharing. Therefore, during the Master, each student will form a team with one other student in the pursuit of a meaningful and fruitful collaboration.

Practice makes perfect
The Master’s programme is based on an eminently practical perspective: experience offers us most of the keys to design.

Real-world applications
This Master’s course is intended to orchestrate a fluid transition between the academic and professional worlds. We want students to develop the best parts of themselves, to fuel their motivation and generate a working environment that closely mirrors the professional world.

Students and professors:
a collaboration
The programme faculty includes prestigious design professionals who play an active role in student development. Their experience and knowledge will serve as the source of constant advice in the search for solutions, to guide students in making their own decisions and developing their own perspectives.

Program

The master's degree addresses the practice of graphic design from multiple perspectives through different formats.
We believe and look for the versatility of the graphic designer with the ability to adapt in a changing profession in which he must assume more capabilities in different professional environments.

The course is structured around the following projects and class formats:

1
Starting point

Each course revolves around a current topic proposed by the directors with which students can explore and experience how graphic design can be a tool for change and progress in society.
Students will work on the Master Project in pairs, and each team will define their own brief around the theme of the course.

— Team building
Before stepping into the program, students will have the time to get to know each other well through dynamics and practical exercises.
It's an essential phase to choose the working partner for the Master Project.
Teamwork is one of the values of the program. The goal is to provide the students with co-creation and collaboration techniques and tools that they can use along the year.

— Strategic Thinking
The graphic designer is first and foremost a thinker, an agent of change and progress. First think, then design.
The Master project starts by establishing a solid conceptual base through critical and strategic thinking. Starting from the logic of the contrabrief and the deep analysis of the context, an insight will be elaborated and the key concepts will be defined. These will guide the whole design process .

2
Master project

With a dynamic of problem-solving close to the professional world, in the Master Project we work in parallel 6 areas or disciplines of graphic design: the integral project. While we delve into the versatility that the designer must face in front of different needs, environments, processes and languages, we develop a global vision and a multidisciplinary approach to the design practice.

— Verbal identity
Create coherence and brand strength through the development of texts in tune with the graphic identity. From the naming himself as a first communication concept, the baseline, which will help us communicate what is the raison d'etre of the brand, the tone of voice, that will help us to define the personality of the brand and other communication texts that will allow us to explain, inform and represent the brand in a clear and synthetic way.

— Visual Identity
Define a language (conceptual / verbal / graphic) that can materialize in a brand and expand through all its expressions.
Define a recognizable and versatile solution. Develop an ownable and appropriate language.
Maintain coherence without hindering expressivity.
Develop a notion of adequacy in the concept-form relationship.

— Editorial
Learn to conceive and design publications exploring all its communicative facets: from editing and art direction (content creation) to typography and design.
Learn to structure and hierarchize content in a logical and clear way for the reader.
Learn to design editorial objects that make sense in the present context and that respond to the needs of the project.

— Signage
Consider signage not only as wayfinding, but also as an element providing visual identity to the space.
Learn to identify the communicative needs of the environment that can be solved through signage.
Understand the relationship between signage, architecture, product design and space design.

— Packaging
We will create a product, a packaging for it and an ephemeral installation to present it. The student must think about the product as a tangible part of the brand, as an expression of the brand. The packaging must enhance this objective, complement it, even merge with the product. The product and its packaging have to generate excitement, emotion, building a personal bond with the recipient.

— Digital
Reflect on how to bring value from the digital environment to the whole project from strategy, content and design. Generate ideas, graphic discourses, detect and enhance values discovering unique solutions. A passionate vision of what we are capable of deciding on digital projects and how the first steps are basic to define identity, strategy, content, and connection with the audience.

— Audiovisual
We focus on how to develop and direct an animated film, based on graphic design concepts. We begin by creating a visual treatment built around the concept. Starting with visual references, we move to script and storyboard. Then we learn how to design the style frames. Later, an animatic is developed to see how the timing and space fit within the chosen soundtrack. Students will be closely guided through the production and post-production processes.

3
Consultancies

They are a transversal format of support and assistance to the different projects that are developed during the course.
Students have the opportunity to pose their doubts and questions to experts who will help them consolidate the Master Project both conceptually and formally.

— Typography
Typography is present in all expressions of a brand.
The objective is to use typography correctly to obtain the desired results. Look for quality and excellence in the choice and the typographic execution of the project.
Develop your own criteria and typographic use, suited to conceptual, functional, technical and aesthetic characteristics of the project.

— Graphic Systems
Systems are part of our lives and especially in design, in areas such as the communication of an identity or the navigation in a user interface. The subject approaches the student to some of the multiple representations of graphic systems to understand their functioning and become aware of the dynamic and global possibilities as a tool, and to lay the foundations to create their own methodology of work.

— Global Vision
The aim is to establish a transversal vision that complements the vertical vision of the six disciplines we work on the Master Project. First, we will focus on the conceptual and strategic strength to establish the foundations that will guide the project throughout the course. As we move forward with the six projects in parallel, we will work for coherence and cohesion in all expressions of the Master Project strengthening the connections between them.

4
Workshops

To complement and deepen knowledge in other skills and disciplines of graphic design Workshops are held.
Immersive experiences by the hand of specialists and renowned professionals.
The workshops, usually, are from Monday to Friday.

Look in Agenda who has visited us recently and who will do it shortly.

— Data Visualization
A theoretical-practical workshop to get started in the use of infographics as a tool of communication and expression.
At the end of the workshop, the designer will have the theoretical framework and the basic practical perspective to incorporate the infographic language in his work.

— Beyond tools
Introduce the students to programming for graphic design, showing all its power with real case-studies and simple coding practise. Propose a design process with a different approach and embrace a parametric approach to design.

— Campaign
In this workshop students will explore the blurred frontier between graphic design and advertising. They will learn how to approach and develop a graphic campaign from a design point of view. The importance of unite concept, message and shape.

— Experience
To share and learn for a week with a guest professor. A renowned figure in the international scene that has developed a distinctive and recognizable visual language.
The goal is to develop unexpected skills. Research, experimentation, observation and discovery are essential ingredients to nourish talent.

— Exhibition
In the last workshop of the year the students create an exhibition that summarizes the experience and the master projects. The student faces the physical space and the storytelling of a content. A complete process, from idea to production. An intense process in a very tight time that culminates with the production and assembly of the Degree Show.

5
Capsules

Graphic design is not only about ideas, concepts, shapes, colors and fonts... Graphic design is about presenting well to a client, human relationships, good teamwork, seeking opportunites, timesheets ans excel sheets, invoicing jobs, making projects profitable... The capsules are about duties that gravitate around graphic design you will have to face them if you have decided that design will be your means of life.

— Design Management
Provide students with the necessary knowledge to coordinate, analyze and maximize human and financial resources of a creative team. Knowing how to approach a project or client from a 'macro' and strategic point of view but without forgetting the 'micro' details, beyond the design, which are fundamental and are the day to day of project management.

— Creative Business
Creative thinking is becoming a key tool to find business opportunities in saturated markets. We, as designers, have the chance to lever our skills and bring our creative thinking into new industries. It is key to understand though that a great idea is just the first step of the process and needs to be followed by a well thought out execution.
Over this course, we will go from the conception of an idea to its implementation through a business plan.

— Process Design & Facilitation
In many organisations, the designer is considered an agent of change. With the right tools, we can co-create and facilitate processes that lead to meaningful improvements.
To achieve this position, it's essential to understand the challenges that society and the design industry are facing. Along the different sessions, the students will learn to observe, analyse and build from the insights gained.

— Public Presentation Techniques Train the student in different technical and content aspects, from how to structure the information using storytelling, how to capture the attention of the listener using pitching techniques, how to go through the different phases of the presentation itself, the body language to use while presenting or the subsequent monitoring of the project and its results.

6
Showcases & Case studies

Regularly, we organize talks with local designers that allow us to observe, through their experiences, current phenomena, obtain new visions, reflections and references that extend our knowledge of the practice of the profession.

Look in Agenda who has visited us recently and who will do it shortly.

.

7
International Lectures

We invite relevant international designers of renowned prestige and career to lecture and give the students the opportunity to learn first-hand about experiences, projects and case studies in different fields of graphic design.

Look in Agenda who has visited us recently and who will do it shortly.

Wide your vision
We think the Master in Graphic Design should be the start of something new, not the destination. This course will prepare you for finding your path in the industry. We'll encourage you to build your independence and courage to explore the different sides of the editorial design discipline.

Find your potential
You'll learn to make connections between ideas and perspectives, opening possibilities for your future. Whenever you want to work on design, strategy, content, managing or leading the process, you'll receive the right tools and experience.

Build a strong portfolio
During the course, you'll work on projects that will allow you to apply your learnings and build a high-quality portfolio. We consider this crucial to facilitating a better introduction to the real world, as it will open doors for the next step in your career.

Unique experience
The mix of projects, workshops, showcases, case studies and our reputed faculty and visiting professors and lecturers creates a unique environment where you can expand your knowledge and experience.

A city surrounded by design
Barcelona is well-known for its passion for design. It's a city with a broad diversity of nuances in gastronomy, cultures and events, which complements perfectly with the masters. Barcelona will inspire you and make your journey a complete experience.

Multicultural and diverse environment 
Our students come from all places around the world, which creates a vibrant atmosphere where cultural and ideas exchange reaches its full potential.

Editions

Two editions of the master's course are held each academic year, one in Spanish and one in English.

MGD, Master in Graphic Design
is the English edition.

MDG, Master en Diseño Gráfico
is the Spanish edition.

Click here if you are looking for the course information in Spanish.

Number of Students

A maximum of 20 students will be selected in each edition of the program.

Once the registration period is open, the candidate selection process is ongoing as the pre-registrations become effective.

Who can apply
Preferably students with a graduate degree in graphic design and professional practitioners with experience.
Exceptionally, depending on their portfolio and accomplishments, graduates in fine arts, communication and adverstising will be accepted.
Applicants must be proactive and autonomous when using design software.

Leading team
Thais Caballero, Coordinator
Pablo Juncadella, Co-director
Marc Panero, Director

Start date 
Month of September 
ETCS credits 
60 
Course length 
400 hours 
Schedule* 
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 
From 5pm to 9.15pm.
Workshops from Monday to Friday.

*For academic reasons, exceptionally sessions may be scheduled outside these hours.

Languages

One edition in Spanish (MDG)
and one edition in English (MGD). 

In both editions, most workshops use English as a vehicular language, with support in Spanish if required or necessary.

Almost all the lectures and some showcases or case studies are done in English.

Price
Academic Year 2019-2020
English edition — 11,000 €
(plus 400 € in concept of registration fee)

Degree

Master’s Degree in Graphic Design, degree awarded by Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering

Due to our interest in the continuous improvement of the program and the professional reality of our teachers, we reserve the right to make changes in the contents and faculty of the Master.