Graphic Design - Communication Design

College of Communication and Contemporary Arts

"We are global citizens who design the future"

Graphic Design - Communication Design

Degree
Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design
Duration
8 semesters
Teaching Mode
Face to Face Learning (Communicational Design plan of study)
Description

 

The Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design focuses on the study and application of the theoretical, practical, and technological foundations of visual communication and interactivity through research methodologies, project development, and entrepreneurship, in order to propose solutions to problems and social, cultural, and commercial phenomena. The major offers two tracks: Communication Design and Interactive Media.

The Communication Design Track curriculum's purpose is for students to develop a deep understanding of problems and the individuals involved, with the aim of designing disruptive solutions, interventions, products, and services with visual richness, functionality, impact (social, environmental and economic), and environmental and economic sustainability. Communication Design students are experts in visual communication, since their designs dominate color, typography, morphology, materials, branding, web, advertising, and packaging, among other principles of design and visual arts.

The Interactive Media Track curriculum trains professionals with an interdisciplinary profile, both artistic and technical, who are capable of designing, managing, coordinating, and participating in the production of interactive content, using information and communication technologies, and incorporating theories and methodologies of User Experience design to facilitate interaction between digital systems and people. Our students have the knowledge and skills necessary to develop interactive experiences, such as video games, mobile applications, web platforms, and installations, among others.

Advantages

The program:

  • The designer's ability for creativity and synthesis makes them professionals capable of contributing in an innovative way in countless areas and projects of entrepreneurship.
  • A designer in this program understands products and services globally. Today's big companies, such as Apple or Amazon, became what they are today because of the design of their products or the design of their services, supported by product creation strategies and visual communication to promote their brand value.
  • To design is not to decorate or beautify. Design is more than just creativity. It implies looking for objective and effective solutions to contemporary problems in the commercial, cultural, and social fields. It is crucial in large enterprises and is the key to technological and social innovation.
  • Happy, free, and passionate beings are formed. This is reflected in the creativity of the proposals and in the individual discovery that each student and professor has towards design. Networking:
  • The degree program has a wide network of allied universities for exchanges: Politecnico di Milano-Italia, School of Visual Arts- USA, ELISAVA- Spain, Universidad de Palermo- Argentina, Escuela de Nuevas Tecnologías Interactivas- Spain.
  • COCOA is part of the Cumulus network; the world's only network of universities for arts, design, and interactivity.
  • Every semester, international designers visit local events such as talks and workshops. The professors:
  • All professors have Master's and/or Ph.D. experience abroad, which allows design to be conceived with world-class standards by professors trained in the best design schools in the United States, Argentina, England, and Italy.
  • Professors research, publish, and make academic presentations on topics as diverse as fashion, textiles, music, design history, etc. Resources:
  • At DLab, a prototyping laboratory, state-of-the-art technology and machinery are available for creating new products.
  • Availability of multiple opportunities to work on interdisciplinary projects.
  • Modern workspaces equipped with all the necessary resources to create the most ambitious projects.

Professional Field

Entrepreneurship:

  • Students learn to develop their ventures and projects from the conceptual stage, to execution and implementation.
  • Opportunity to work on projects focused on visual communication, advertising, editorial design, interactive media, brand creation, and corporate image. Local industry:
  • Thanks to contacts with the best organizations in the country, students have the opportunity to start working during their third year in the program.
  • The program enables future designers to meet industry challenges from inside and outside the classroom.
  • The Communication Designers are able to insert themselves into any company or organization in the development of products and services, through their strategic and creative abilities.

Professional Profile

The Communicational Design grad is able, from an entrepreneurial and innovative perspective, to develop multifaceted design projects applicable not only to Graphic Design, but in the different elements of both products and services. Within these fields we can include advertising, commercial, editorial design, interactive media, brand and identity development for products and services, corporate identity, and territorial branding. We also venture into fields with infinite potential, such as Strategic Design, Entrepreneurship, Design for Social Innovation, Inclusive Design, and Design and Crafts.

Testimonials

Testimonials from Our Graduates:

"Communicational Design and USFQ's liberal arts methodology allowed me to confirm the social role of Design, which goes far beyond traditional visual and aesthetic conventions. Designers are creators and therefore our responsibility is greater since we work with and for people. The problems are complex and therefore people who can understand these dynamics are required.”

- Rodrigo Muñoz-Valencia, MFA. USFQ Design Coordinator. Andes Materials Co-Founder -

 

Our Students' Testimonials:

"Why Communicational Design? I could sum it up in one word: 'freedom'. For me, communicational design is my tool of freedom because it allows me to express my imagination. It is this freedom to dream, think, create, and transmit ideas about communicational design that fascinates me. I think that you should enjoy life, you should have fun and love what you do every day. And I think of design not as a job or an obligation; but, as something that entertains me and that I enjoy doing. I love to sit and draw and color for hours. I love being able to create things out of nothing and having an end result that I can appreciate and feel satisfied with. I can spend whole nights creating an illustration in Illustrator or retouching a photo in Photoshop. At the end of the day I am happy to see what I have created and what I will be able to do in the future. With Communicational Design I can not only communicate what I feel or think, I can also help other people to communicate what they feel or think and that makes me very happy.”

- Gustavo Jiménez -

 

Our Professors' Comments:

"Being a professor in the Communication Design program has given me great satisfaction. Perhaps what most fulfills me as a professor is that by being able to teach at COCOA, I also learn every day from my students and my colleagues."

- Iván Burbano, professor of Communicational Design -

Academic Faculty

cristina-munoz
Professor of the College of Communications and Contemporary Arts
D.Lab USFQ Director.
(+593 2) 297-1700
1567
Miguel de Santiago Building, MS-206
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