Master's Degree in Design and Communication

The University Master's Degree in Design and Communication is an advanced, specialized and multidisciplinary training aimed at professional specialization and initiation into research activities about design and from a design point of view. Also, since it is a University Master's Degree, provides access to a doctoral programme in a related area.

The design is understood as a tool for reflection, for generating knowledge and for transforming the world around us. The programme trains professionals and researchers with the necessary skills to carry out design projects in all kinds of contexts, enabling the communicator and the designer in the conception of design strategies, in their formalization in concrete shapes and in the analysis and reflection on the own practice of design.

The focus of learning lies in the development and acquisition of creative, critical and methodological skills to develop their profession in research and innovation. Upon completion of the University Master's Degree in Design and Communication, the student will have obtained a deep understanding of current design, communication and visual and material culture, as well as the challenges presented in these areas.

Our graduates acquire analytical and instrumental skills that allow them to complement their professional profile obtained after their university degree. Thanks to the acquisition of advanced research techniques (focused on research through design and speculative design, as well as in the generation of knowledge and critical thinking), University Master's Degree graduates can aspire to qualified professional positions, managing teams, directing projects or teaching in areas related to design and communication.

Official university Master's Degree in Communication and Design 

The University Master's Degree in Design and Communication is part of the offer of official postgraduate courses at Universitat de Vic - Central de Catalunya (UVic - UCC). Therefore, it is an official university master's degree that allows subsequent access to a doctoral programme in the field of communication and design. It is structured in 60 ECTS credits (European credit transfer system), in which a credit is equivalent to about 25-30 hours of the work carried out by the student. The teaching activity usually takes place in the afternoons, from Monday to Friday, from the end of September to the middle of June.

Student profile for a Master's Degree in Communication and Design

The group of students is very varied in terms of previous training and is usually composed of graduates in design, architecture, communication, sociology or advertising. The geographical origin also is diverse, University Master's Degree in Design and Communication students usually come from Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Portugal, China and from many parts of Spain such as Galicia, Andalusia and, of course, from Catalonia. Due to its other university character, the MUDIC complies with the official requirement that it allows to apply for scholarships in Spain and in different Latin American and European countries.

Study Communication in Barcelona

If you are a creative, analytical, critical and passionate person, our Master's Degree in Design and Communication is the graduate degree you are looking for. It will qualify you as the communicator and designer you have always dreamed of being. Through our master's degree you will be able to acquire the necessary tools for the conception of design and communication strategies and for the development and application of all kinds of projects. 

Our Master's Degree in Communication and Design aims to transfer theoretical, methodological and practical knowledge in order to train communication and design specialists who are effective, critical and able to adapt to new trends and changes in the sector. 

If you are interested in this field but you still do not know where to study communication and design, you should know that Elisava is among the most nationally and internationally recognized design schools. We are backed by our years of experience and the quality of our educational system, supported by the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia. 

The programme is structured in two semesters. For each subject, a theoretical and/or practical project work is carried out and is presented according to the premises defined in the teaching plan of the subject.

*Study plan in the process of verification by AQU Catalunya.
 

MODULE 1 Narrative in design and communication

Explore the new contents that generate the narrative between two complementary disciplines, design and communication:

Subjects:

• Artifacts and Visual Language
• Design and Communication Strategy
• Media and Environments of Design and Communication

MODULE 2 Theory and Practice of research in design

The aim is to raise a critical reflection on how to approach a design project, and its different points of view, with the different types of research in design:

• Research on design which has as the object of study the design activity itself or its results.
• The historiography of design or the methodology of design as examples of disciplines that deal with this type of research.
• Research (through design) refers to research activities, in which it is designed to investigate.

Subjects:

• Interdisciplinary Critical Perspectives based on practice
• Social design. Care and the Common Good
• Scientific Academic Methodology for Design Research

MODULE 3 Optional (to choose two)

This module raises the possibility of directing the training towards a professional aspect or towards academic research to continue with the research work.

Subjects:

• Advanced Aspects in Research about and through Design
• Philosophy and Ethics of Design and Communication
• Projection of the Professional and Research Career
• Professional Internships

MODULE 4 Master's Final Thesis

The Master's Final Thesis (TFM) module consists of the development of a research project in design and communication. The TFM is the latest academic project, in which the knowledge acquired during the master's degree is put into practice and revalidated.

The MUDIC combines the following training activities: master classes, seminars, theoretical-practical work, experimental workshops, supervised work and independent work. The projects are developed in groups or individually. For each subject, a theoretical and/or practical project work is carried out and is presented according to the premises defined in the teaching plan of the subject.

The University Master's Degree in Design and Communication has been evaluated and is accredited by the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia (AQU Catalunya) within the Accreditation Programme of university centers, which affects all the degrees, university master's degrees and doctoral programmes taught by the universities that make up the Catalan university system.

This evaluation was carried out by an external evaluation commission that has determined that the MUDIC complies with all the standards. In this evaluation, completed in July 2018, six dimensions of the programme have been evaluated:

• quality of the training programme,
• relevance of public information,
• effectiveness of the internal quality management system,
• adequacy of the teaching staff,
• effectiveness of learning support systems,
• quality of the results.

The commission has determined that the MUDIC reaches very first-rate levels (and its heading towards excellence) in various relevant aspects such as:

• teacher coordination
• dedication of the teaching staff,
• academic results.

During the accreditation process of the University Master's Degree in Design and Communication, an external committee made up of academics, employers and students from the field of design and communication from other universities, visited the facilities of Elisava and made different face-to-face interviews with representatives of the different groups of interest around to this degree (students, ex-students, professors, industry employers and management team). The commission also reviewed documentary evidence (teaching plans, internal statistics, Master's Thesis and subjects, etc.) that show the quality of the master's degree.

Finally, in his report he highlighted several strengths of our training system:

• The high satisfaction of all the groups of interest: students and graduates with the received training, and both professors and employers with students.
• The good assessment of multidisciplinarity by different groups of interest.
• Close contact between professors and students.
• The personal tutoring.
• Infrastructure, resources and equipment.
• The results of the main rates: efficiency (100%), graduation (100%), abandonment (0%), and high labor insertion.

The indicators that emerge from the surveys we do regularly show that 9 out of 10 students of our the last editions recommend the programme.

Elisava places great emphasis on the application of an Internal Quality Assurance System (SGIQ_ELISAVA) that facilitates compliance with all the obligations deriving from the Framework for the Verification, Follow-up, Modification and Accreditation of its Official Titles (VSMA, according to its initials in Spanish) ; System that links these processes of quality assessment to the management of the entire life cycle of the degrees. This System is always under revision and continuous improvement in order to adapt it to the changing reality of the School. In this space, then, all the information related to Elisava's quality policy and the most important measures related to the improvement of its management and services, as well as information on the operational development of the degree, satisfaction indicators and all the activities linked to this degree.