Undergraduate Degree in Design and Innovation

Semester 1

Discover
The languages of representation and expression as a primary tool for analysis and communication in the field of design. Introduction to the tools and concepts of form, volume, colour, image and matter. 

Design Processes
Introduction to the design process based on methods and processes as tools for researching, devising, developing and solving a design project. 

Introduction to Design
Introduction to the world of design with all its aesthetic, functional, technical and cultural complexity. First understanding of the current context to acquire a personal view, based on design concepts.

Fundamentals of Graphic Design
Introduction to the processes and languages of Graphic Design from the knowledge and development of its own codes. Use of the basic and common elements that underpin the principles of design. 

Fundamentals of Product Design
Introduction to the processes and languages of Product Design from the knowledge and development of its own codes. Use of the basic and common elements that underpin the principles of design. 
 

Semester 2 

Constructing
The technical codes and visual elements used by the language of design to communicate according to standardised schemes. Analytical and descriptive drawing incorporating the manipulation of materials, in order to take the plan to the third dimension. Identify and develop a language of their own.

Introduction to the Transversal Project
Development of a transversal project for all subjects, applying the relevant methods and processes to the different phases of design. Incorporate the methodology of the transversal project into each student's own design process. 

Histories of Design
To learn about significant designs that have changed the history of design and our ways of living and being in the world. To learn to articulate critical discourses, taking into account their historical context (art, culture, society, etc.) in order to better understand the present and propose a project for the future. To study the link between design and the main artistic and philosophical currents.

Fundamentals of Space Design
Introduction to the processes and languages specific to the mention of Space Design from the knowledge and development of their own codes. Use of the basic and common elements that underpin the principles of design. 

Fundamentals of the Design of Interactive Experiences
Introduction to the processes and languages proper to the mention of Interactive Experience Design from the knowledge and development of its own codes. Use of the basic and common elements that underpin the principles of design.

Semester 3

Workshop I

• Graphic Design: Workshop I. Typography and Technical Processes

Study and practice of typographic technique, letter drawing, hierarchization of information, analysis of the reading experience, pertinence of the use of typographic fonts. Establishment of the principles and theoretical framework of graphic production.

• Product Design: Workshop I. Craft Materials and Processes. 

Learning of primitive and artisanal processes and materials. First industries. Theoretical and practical exercises to learn and experiment with processes and materials. 

• Design of Spaces: Workshop I. Materials and Constructive Components.

Experimentation with the different families of materials through physical models, study of the constructive components, from the theoretical study to its implementation in the project.

• Design of Interactive Experiences: Workshop I. Creative Code

Basic learning of creative programming from different programming languages such as Processing and Python or the use of algorithms for writing code-based programs capable of producing generative visual results.

Communication I

• Graphic Design: Formats

Practice in the communicative formats of graphic design to master visual languages and develop representational skills through a typographic and an illustration project.

• Product Design: Product Drawing and Representation

Learning the basic communication tools. Decoding an idea: From the mental projection to the three-dimensional vision of what is projected. From drawing on paper to 3D representation with computer tools.

• Space Design: Representation of Space.

Techniques of space representation through analog and digital drawing and the three-dimensional materialization of the physical model. From sketches and conceptual models to plans and scale models.

• Interactive Experience Design: Audiovisual Narratives

Learning the basic techniques for the creation of audiovisual narratives. From storytelling to storyboarding. Basic approach to art direction, from analog to digital still life.

Project I

• Graphic Design

Learning and development of the project methodologies of graphic design. Development of 5 types of projects (book cover, album cover, magazine, label, poster or tote bag), posing different scenarios involving specific requirements for users, formats and printing techniques.

• Product Design: From hand to human.

Conceptualization, design and construction using knowledge of processes and materials. Two projects are developed (breakfast set built in clay and wood, and home furniture design).

• Space Design

Process of analysis and synthesis to create 3 space design projects (approach to the concept and space of the individual with a single material, project of space for collective use and project of more complex multilevel shared living spaces). 

• Design of Interactive Experiences

Critical reflection on digital behavior, technologies and the use of social networks with the aim of developing a project about their impact on the personal and social.

Contemporary Art and Design 

• Graphic Design: Research on the historical references of graphic design.

Analysis of the causes and effects produced by social, economic and political changes in mass communication. Study of the evolution of the techniques developed by the graphic industry and their repercussions on messages.

• Product Design: Research of the historical references of product design.

Analysis of reference pieces in product design, how and why they became referents. Analysis of the economic, political and social context to understand the evolutionary trend of contemporary product design.

• Space Design: Research and analysis of the referents of the culture of the space project.

Practical exercises of interpretation and understanding of space design referents. Film workshop to learn how to look at and narrate space, through photography, editing, sound and the direction of a short film.

• Design of Interactive Experiences: Research on the referents of interactive experience design.

Analysis and exploration of the causes and effects produced by gestures, behaviors, habits, emotions and affections that digital environments produce in our personal and collective life.   

Context and User 

Sociological approach to design, learning methodologies of analysis, ethnographic tools for observation in the urban environment and ethical-political fit of design processes.

Semester 4 

Workshop II

• Graphic Design: Typographic Composition and Materials

Advanced text composition, kerning control, tracking and P&J, design and use of complex grids and typographic font design. Knowledge and recognition of materials, supports for graphic production and their relationship with production systems.

• Product Design: Industrial Processes and Digital Fabrication.

Learning through theoretical and practical exercises to learn and experience new industrial processes and materials, digital fabrication technologies and new materials.  

• Design of Spaces: Details and Construction Systems 

Workshop to learn details and constructive systems, and to carry out the sustainability control of a project (environmental and welfare impact in the context of space).

• Design of Interactive Experiences: Design of Tangible Interfaces

Conceptualization, design and construction of a prototype that, from its different components, allows to acquire knowledge about creative programming with Arduino, electronic circuits, and the manufacture of interactive objects to relate the physical world with the digital world.

Communication II

• Graphic Design: Strategies 

Exploration of communicative formats of graphic design: photographic art direction and audiovisual art direction.

• Product Design: Product Photography and Art Direction

Learning the communication tools to express an idea. Aesthetic positioning. Creative tools to communicate a project through photography and art direction.

• Space Design: Space Narratives.

Knowing the different ways of communicating a space project: its values, its formal aspects and its strategic positioning. Memory, synthesis images (3D layout and rendering) and video.

• Designing Interactive Experiences: Interactive Environments

Creation of audiovisual pieces to communicate a project of interactive experiences, taking into account the art direction, to reflect the aesthetic load of the stories in relation to the concepts to be communicated.

Project II

• Graphic Design

Learning the structure of the phases of a project: from the research and analysis of a specific assignment, to the study of graphic systems, the application on different supports, and finally the phase of standardization and production.

• Product Design: From human to machine.

Approach to speculative and technological product design. Specific project methodologies to design prospective proposals. New Realities: Rethinking Post-COVID 2025 and Global Warming 2030 scenarios. Technology and well-being: Design of products through the monitoring of health data to improve people's lives.

• Space Design

Development of methodologies that allow defining the project of spaces for public use in its different phases, from the relationship with the place at a physical, cultural and social level, to the distribution of spaces and construction details.

• Design of Interactive Experiences

Theoretical and practical approach to the design of objects and interactive physical interfaces. Review of concepts and theoretical perspectives and tour of interactive projects in the field of design, digital arts and electronic arts. Ideation and construction of a physical interface that responds to possible future scenarios.

Design and Technology
Critical reflection on technology based on the reading of texts and case studies. Main lines of thought on technology, science and epistemology in relation to four axes: nature-culture, feminist perspectives, postcolonial location and environmentalist theories.

New Social and Economic Models
Basic concepts of the global economy: market economy; traditional-artisanal versus capitalist systems; supply and demand and economic liberalism; Marxism and planned economies; ethical and social implications of models and systems; economics and sustainable development. Production and economic models: analysis of geopolitical conditioning factors. Consumption models from the concrete study of global cases: from the tracing of raw materials to their placement on the market, including the location of production centers.

Semester 5

Material Experimentation 
Material experimentation to foster creative design processes. Emerging methodologies for the exploration of materials, technologies and processes, from craft, industry or digital fabrication for the conceptualization of proposals.

Personal Identity 
Personal exploration of interests and concerns to formulate a project from its inception, with the aim of conducting personal research and develop a personal identity applied to the portfolio.

Personal Project 
Development of personal projects from their initial formulation to their final result. Introduction to techniques for defining a project proposal, contemplating personal identity and the area of impact of the proposal. 

Critical Theories
Theory is project and every project is also theory. Reflection on the need to understand technology in a different way in order to learn or recover those other technologies that, because they are distant in time or because they are alien to the Western tradition, have been too long despised. 

Semester 6

Visual Experimentation 
Space for visual experimentation through formats, techniques, materials and supports, both for the creation of a personal language in the design process, as well as for the communication of projects in an innovative way.

Crossover Project 
Development of cross-cutting projects: working with teams with different design specialties and interpretation of knowledge from different fields. Communication strategies using different media.

Context Project
Design of projects with companies and institutions to deepen a professional field of design. Methods and tools for decision making and time management.

Semester 7

Transversal Project
Projects with multidisciplinary teams to address complex challenges, collaborating with context agents to design possible futures.

Research and Design 
Beginning of the Final Degree Project research, exploration of one's own skills and interests and of current and future trends for the definition of a final project proposal.

New Trends
Experimental methods to investigate the past, analyze the present and project the future: speculative design, sociological impact, dynamics and trends. Detection of indicators, weak signals, opportunities, scale, resources, scenarios.

Design Management
Overview of design studios and departments: typologies in business terms, professional profiles and roles. Team organization models: organization chart and flexible models, field work, interviews to studios or design departments.

Semester 8 

External internships
Internships in companies and institutions performing design tasks through teamwork, while gaining experience in the work environment.

Final Degree Project
Development of the Final Degree Project based on the student's own proposal or in collaboration with institutions, companies or research centers. The project must have a theoretical foundation, a research methodology and a final presentation.

Communication and Academic Writing
Tools and strategies for visual, oral and written communication of a project, aimed at the scientific community and society in general.