Master's Degree in Data and Design

Unfortunately, that does not mean that our societies are better informed. Data alone masks the reality it describes, blurring its meaning, and dulling emotions. It's hard to figure out what two degrees of average temperature rise means, or a transmission rate of 1.5… or a million deaths, for that matter.

In a world of flat Earthers and alternative facts, transforming data into understandable and honest information is, more than a necessity, a question of survival.

In the Master in Data and Design we explore design practices, data analysis, data visualization and storytelling to create projects beyond the classic formats. We are working to understand how to generate transcendent information, at a time when fake news is used as a political weapon, cryptocurrencies threaten traditional finance and climate change is an opinion.
 

Our role as specialists in information design and data visualization is vital to create tools that allow our societies to orient themselves in this chaotic scenario; in this master's degree in data visualization, we will learn to create understandable and empathetic systems, capable of extracting meaning and communicating messages using a wide variety of tools together with a team of professors, active professionals, passionate about what they do and who enjoy sharing.

In the Master’s Degree in Data & Design we collaborate actively; the creatives, designers, sociologists and other professionals who teach the classes, courses and workshops work hand in hand with the participants of the master's degree. Accompanying them in the process of bringing to light and polishing their ideas, making them grow and materializing them together.

We will work in a practical way through semester and quarter projects and workshops (in addition to theoretical subjects and capsule workshops with active participation in classes) so that your portfolio can grow from the first moment.

Above all, it will be the experience, the way of thinking outside the orthodoxy, pushing the margins of design and discovery what will mark a learning that will focus on very diverse topics; as much as the participants themselves.

We will seek to create real connections between people and information, between design and content, to change how things are being done and to offer new ways of thinking to the world. We will give importance to the stories, the real ones, not those of Instagram, although also.

Studying Big Data in Barcelona represents an opportunity to train in the center of an important activity in the sector and surrounded by top-level companies, entities and professionals.

At Elisava we are aware of the importance of bringing the reality of the sector closer to students who are acquiring the necessary tools to become the professionals required by today's ever-changing situation.

The city of Barcelona will serve as a backdrop for this experience of critical spirit; we will go out into the street and the street will enter the master's degree. A unique opportunity to train and enter the professional world from an experimental perspective within the reality that surrounds data science.

Currently, there is a large offer of masters in big data or masters in data analysis and visualization, as the sector has experienced a growing demand for professionals specialized in data science. Therefore, if you are thinking of pursuing postgraduate studies oriented in this area, it is important to assess a school that has a long history and whose studies are regulated.

Elisava is among the most prominent design schools nationally and internationally. Our training system combines theoretical knowledge with practice in real projects, always in collaboration with relevant companies, entities and professionals in the sector. Our Master’s Degree in Data in Design provides students with an interdisciplinary and well-grounded perspective on data science and information design and data visualization. Therefore, studying Data and Design at Elisava is a wise option for the present and for the future.

Do you want to make sense of this MADD world with us?

By taking our Master’s Degree in Data & Design, you will be part of a committed and motivated group of designers, researchers, thinkers and storytellers in a hands-on collaborative learning experience. You can develop your ideas by working on projects based on real problems.

We will address very different disciplines: from sociology, communication strategy or cartography, to audiovisual research methods and data science. We will mix them critically and always thinking in terms of design.

Together we will answer questions like ...

— How can data influence our perception of the world?

— How can we analyze and work with data productively?

— How flexible is the data and in how many ways can we represent it?

— How can data and design help societies shed some light on their reality and improve it?

The designer of the future will be able to approach symbols as we approach the reality they represent. If you read and speak through data, you will be able to understand and shape part of our world.

Teamwork

Designers, normally and even remotely, work as a team. Big or small, multidisciplinary or not, they are the core of our practice; therefore, a good designer and data analyst must know how to behave and interact with colleagues, clients, or suppliers just as much as designing.

Practical approach

Through a constant and intense practical approach (yes, even in those more theoretical classes), the experts and professionals in charge of the subjects will share their tools and know-how not only to learn, but also and, above all, to understand how and when to put the acquired skills into practice.

Critical thinking

How can we be good designers without questioning the world we live in?

We firmly believe in the value of being critical, not in a destructive way, but always trying to find the whys behind the certainties and endlessly looking for a way to do it better.

From the design

Design is a transversal discipline capable of affecting and influencing very different realities and contexts; that's how we understand it. It is not just a way of doing things, but also a way of thinking with infinite possibilities. This approach will boost your Master's experience; you will see very different methods and forms of design, and you will understand their adaptability and their power to change things.

Data analysis is one of the main engines in the world; society will increasingly need designers who know how to work with them and treat them honestly and aesthetically.

1 Fundamentals

Three modules (statistics, cartography and networks) will provide a foundation and a shared perspective on Information Design and Data Visualization, as we think about what kinds of images we produce and put them into practice.

1.1 Data as raw material - Statistics
1.2 Space as data - Cartography
1.3 The missing link - Networks
1.4 Data Representation

2 Semi-annual projects

During a whole semester, you will have the opportunity to make your ideas come true, put into practice what you have learned during the course and use the city of Barcelona as a field for experimentation, data collection and laboratory.

2.1 Data Visualization
2.2 Information systems

3 Perspectives

Things don't just happen. The information that we live surrounded by has been mediated and selected, it has context and purpose. We will study the information design through a critical lens, with the certainty that it can be read in many ways and that affects us in many others. Sociology, philosophy, and cultural analysis will help us shed some inquiring light on a world made of information.

3.1 Media Studies
3.2 Data for the Common Good
3.3 Audiovisual
3.4 Storytelling

4 Quarterly projects

Information design is like a Russian doll; within each problem there are smaller individual problems. We will work on some of them with the help of experts in tutored projects that address specific topics.

4.1 Visual explanation
4.2 New visual narratives
4.3 Data beyond screens
4.4 Symbolic alphabet / Iconography
4.5 Guerrilla Data

5 Workshops

Learning by doing: workshops where we will talk about intensive and practical design experiences on central problems of information design.

5.1 Who is afraid of technology?
5.2 Data journalism
5.3 Critical design
5.4 Degree Show

6 Capsules

Data is everywhere; in how we move and in what we listen to. We will explore different fields in which data and information are present and, also, how they configure their environment.

6.1 Data & Drawing
6.2 Data & Processing
6.3 Data & Sound
6.4 Data & Performance

7 Events

Listening is learning. Above all, when professionals, emerging or consolidated, share their life experience through their professional career. Inspiration should find you working, but also listening.

7.1 International conferences
7.2 Master’s Talks

Due to our interest in constantly improving the program and the professional reality of our teachers, we reserve the right to make changes to the content and the professor staff of the master's degree.

Students work hand-in-hand under the guidance of leading experts and professors to put their ideas into action.

Pablo Aragón 

Aleix Artigal, Familia 

Benjamin Barber, achos! 

Andreu Belsunces 

Rafa Castañer 

María Fabuel, Domestic Data Streamers 

Eduard Frigola, Playmodes 

Pau Garcia, Domestic Data Streamers 

Raúl Goñi, Goñi Studio 

Ane Guerra García de Albéniz 

Gerald Kogler 

Eloi Maduell, Playmodes 

Alex Martí, Codea 

Mònica Molins Duran 

Carla Molins Pitarch 

Matteo Moretti, Sheldon.studio 

David Ortega, achos! 

Esteban Piacentino, Domestic Data Streamers 

Edgar Pons Forn 

Jose Rosales, Codea 

Olga Subirós, Olga Subirós Studio 

Ricard Sunyol, Codea 

Santi Vilanova, Playmodes

A 4-day trip to a hackathon

The Master’s Degree in Data & Design offers the possibility of seeking inspiration in a 4-day hackathon trip* to a European city where you will have the possibility to work day and night hand in hand with your classmates and your teachers. We will develop a real project and put into practice everything you have been learning during the previous months.

*Not included in the registration fee.

Barcelona: urban lab

Barcelona is an amazing place to live and work; The rents may be a bit expensive, but that doesn't stop you from enjoying creative people, lots of studios, different cultures and ideas. It is open minded and understands the design. Barcelona will be our laboratory, the place to research, create, develop and design.

Work on real projects creating a real impact between communities

Design is an applied discipline. One of the main objectives of MADD is to work through active learning based mainly on simulations inspired by real projects. This will allow us to understand and assess the tricks and real possibilities of the discipline and apply, from day one, everything you learn to your work.

A city by and for design

Barcelona is known for its passion for design (and for the bad sangria on the Rambla, but we'll talk about that another day). It is a city with a great diversity of nuances in gastronomy, culture and events, which is perfectly complemented with the master's degree. Barcelona will inspire you and make your learning a complete experience.

“The MADD has been a demanding and continuous challenge with a very clear result: understanding, visualizing and narrating a changing world that dances to the sound of data. Through theoretical-practical classes taught by exceptional teachers, the MADD is an experience that marks and changes the way of perceiving reality." Jordi Farreras, MADD 20