Degree in Design

ELISAVA’s design education thus becomes a model connected with users, techniques, social arts and sciences. It does so at a time when the design discipline is becoming increasingly complex due to the growing importance of technology, market scope and the variety of services that a designer can offer society.

Studies focus on rigorous, in-depth examination of knowledge areas related to the design process, ranging from creativity in communication to technology, and dealing carefully with all issues related to the social and cultural context, as well as the means necessary for developing a design project.

ELISAVA design students are designers in the areas of graphic arts, product design, spatial design and digital interaction. They are trained to work with initiative, excellence and social responsibility in an international context.

Active methodology

ELISAVA’s teaching methodology is active and is rooted in a cross-cutting process which prepares students for ongoing, learning throughout their careers. On the one hand, it is based on the vocational school concept where students learn by manipulating materials and putting in practice the technologies they learn. And on the other hand, it draws from the need to constantly foster reflection and discussion about what is done.

User experience

Modern designers must be able to give shape to new products and services that stem from users’ real needs and desires. It is vital for them to be able to tune into the logic of the industry and the economy, putting users at the very core of the process. ELISAVA designers thus receive the necessary information which will prepare them to engage at a cognitive and emotional level with users in a specific market.

These studies allow students to:

• Learn to design (analyse, conceptualise, represent, formalise, develop and produce)
• Understand the context of design, its humanist component, its global character and international dimension.
• Foster design aligned to users’ real needs.
• Understand the business world and learn to prepare proposals within a global and ever-changing framework.

New means of communication

Design professionals must have a global view of what communication means.

The presence of interactive narratives, virtual environments in real-life objects and media solutions will only gain prevalence in the design of the future.

Given these new ways of conveying information, ELISAVA designers are prepared to leverage the potential which these new means have to establish new professional opportunities.

Design technologies

In a moment such as now, in a state of constant flux, the development of new materials and new additive layer manufacturing technologies are forging a new paradigm of design. This new reality affects graphic design as well as product design, spatial design and digital interaction.

For this reason, ELISAVA design students are equipped to learn how to learn the new, constantly emerging technologies. The combination of creative design and technological innovation that takes place at the School allows us to fully exploit the possibilities of these new realities.

Based on this foundation, during the first and second year students learn the basic tools for supporting the project, focused on expression and rendering, instrumental sciences, technology and social sciences. During the second year, students can start taking on two courses, “Projects” and “Techniques”, in the design area they wish to pursue, either Graphic Communication or Product, Spatial and Digital Interaction.

The third and fourth year include compulsory subjects related to projects and other multidisciplinary subjects dealing with business, sociology and foreign languages, designed to provide the necessary know-how for applying strategies for innovation and management in the area of design. Moreover, students may select 60 ECTS of electives in order to tailor a substantial part of their studies to their personal interests. The types of electives selected will determine the specialisation on the university diploma (Graphic Design, Product Design and Spatial Design or Digital Interaction Design).

The Final Degree Projects (FDP) is completed during the fourth year. This is the most strictly academic project and most closely related to actual professional practice. The FDP is carried out according to the selected training profile, and it takes into account all the skills acquired by students throughout their studies.

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Editorial
Identity and brand
Advertising
Graphic experimentation

 

DIGITAL INTERACTION
Editorial
Visual narratives
Interaction
Digital experimentation

 

PRODUCT DESIGN
Interior equipment
Tools and personal complements
Interaction and product
Product experimentation
Urban facilities
Mobility and transport
Packaging

 

SPATIAL DESIGN
Habitat
Spatial narratives
Contract
Spatial experimentation

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Graphic communicacion I
Graphic communicacion II
Graphic communicacion III
Graphic techniques I
Graphic techniques II
Graphic techniques III
 

 

DIGITAL INTERACTION
Interactive digital communication I
Interactive digital communication II
Interactive digital communication III
Interactive digital technology I
Interactive digital technology II
Interactive digital technology III


 

PRODUCT DESIGN
Product communicacion I
Product communicacion II
Product communicacion III
Product technology I
Product technology II
Product technology III


 

SPATIAL DESIGN
Spatial communication I
Spatial communication II
Spatial communication III
Spatial design techniques I
Spatial design techniques II
Spatial design techniques III

Thanks to their interdisciplinary approach, ELISAVA design studies offer students a great array of professional opportunities in various business areas. Some of the professional areas available for our graduates include: Graphic design, Product design, Spatial design, Design and strategy, Digital animation, Application of new materials, Audiovisual, Branding, Coolhunting, Creativity, Design Thinking, Direct Manufacturing, Art direction, Advanced design, Information design, Housing design, Corporate, retail, workplace or public environment design, Design of services and experiences, Publishing, Furnishings and tools, Scenography, Studies of trends, innovation and business strategy, Design of exhibitions, stands and ephemeral elements, Corporate identity, Lighting, Illustration, Innovation, Interaction, Furniture, Multimedia, Packaging, Consumer products, Functional, leisure and therapeutic products, etc. Advertising, Refurbishment, Retail Design, Sustainability, Stands, Transport and mobility, Graphic and production technology, Typography, Web design.

Graduates can be involved in these professional areas in various contexts, including design companies and studios, creative and art departments in advertising agencies, graphic departments in the publishing industry (newspapers, magazines, books, etc.), design, image and marketing departments in corporations and organisations, freelance designers in any capacity, architecture studios and companies dedicated to innovation and strategy.

In a discipline such as design — increasingly complex and where the boundaries between traditional specialities are blurred — ELISAVA designers are prepared to address the full scope of the market and are aware of the various services they can offer.

Throughout their studies, ELISAVA students acquire the comprehensive skills to coordinate, integrate and shape all the factors involved in creating a project. Beginning with the third year, students may configure their professional future with four possible specialisations (Graphic Design, Digital Interaction, Product Design and Spatial Design). These optional pathways comprise various course modules tailored for each specialisation.

Innovation

Innovation is a core value for our society. ELISAVA is able to train future designers who are highly qualified to ensure high added value for products, thanks to our direct experience with the business world, our focus on fostering creative skills, our full knowledge of the possibilities of new technologies and our hallmark international outlook. As a result, our professionals can address these new challenges and contribute to building the foundation for the future.

Creativity

Creativity is an essential quality in the world of design, and ELISAVA cultivates it extensively. The School provides the best atmosphere for developing creativity and ensuring that designers can look at a project from various points of view, thus finding new answers to existing problems. In other words, it builds the capacity to transform a project into innovative concepts, products, services and environments.