Throughout the course, students will be assessed for their assignments, which will be proof of their learning path and there will be no tests or formal written exams. Instead, there will be portfolio weeks, during which time they will show their assignments to a jury, who will give them proper feedback. Students are encouraged to exhibit their work, to make oral presentations, to share their ideas. This course prepares students with fundamental skills so they can navigate in the world of design. In this learning process, theory is combined with practical tasks and assignments carried out in workshops. The program includes subjects based on technical and theoretical knowledge, which together ensure that students are proficient users of adequate software and other digital/ technical tools, as well as enabling them to contextualize their work.
| Subject | Description | Year | Semester | ECTS | Taught in english? |
|---|---|---|---|
1º YEAR | |||
| Introduction to Communication Design Project | Introduction to project thinking for communication design. The integration of method and process in the realization ofthe image. Critical and sensitive development to visual syntax. Syntactic foundations of visual literacy. The elements of communication and visual syntax (point, line, shape,direction, tone, color, texture, scale, dimension, movement). The letter with a special focus on its practical uses (natureof typographic forms, selection, manipulation, combinations, relationships, uses, …). The relationship between theimage and the letter. Introduction to the construction of visual narratives (representation, symbolism, and abstraction).Communication techniques and strategies (balance, instability, symmetry, regularity, complexity, unity, exaggeration,spontaneity, neutrality, emphasis, underuse, transparency, variation, stability, distortion, depth, chance, …) The visual field. | 1º year | 1º semester | 10 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Drawing I | At the end of this subject, students will: Evidence kinesthetic mastery in the act of drawing, showing gestural fluency with tonal and directional variations. Properly apply the bases of the drawing using rhythm, hierarchy, abstraction, contrast, framing, movement, andleveling in the practice of communicating the real or the imagined. Model by line and tonal area, through measured drawing, diagrammatic or schematic drawing (sketching), and throughthe experimentation of supports and technical means (abrasive or fluid processes). Display a graphic diary, demonstrating and recognizing the different line typologies and tonal variations. | 1º year | 1º semester | 6 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Processes and Materials for Communication Design | This subject is intended to develop knowledge ranging from the subject to production in design. Between thesetwo poles, it is essential to develop theoretical and practical skills linked to graphic development processes inheritedfrom the past, as well as those linked to the present (which more or less implemented in current practices, can alsohelp us to anticipate the future). It is intended to guarantee a clear knowledge of several fundamental practices for theunderstanding of the graphic legacy and above all for the guarantee of a conscious and judicious realization of thematter for the projects in design. | 1º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Digital Workshop for Communication Design I | Introduction and mastery of software (technology) necessary to meet the curricular unit program requirements for thefirst year of the course.Mastery of several digital tools linked to image adjustment and vector drawing software that allow a wide variety ofdigital solutions for the construction and manipulation of an image, as well as the guarantee of technical knowledgethat allows the fulfillment of any project idea. | 1º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Design Studies | Students will have a basic understanding of how design has developed in relation to the changing world of the 20thand 21st centuries. Students will begin to appreciate the relationships within the design (the various disciplines and areas) and the relationship that design has with other areas. Students will produce a dossier around a specific topic or case study relating to their particular interest in design (graphic and/or industrial). Students will begin to understand how design communicates, both in terms of design practice, and also Industrial design. | 1º year | 1º semester | 3 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Design History I | The first objective of the course is to make the student aware of the relevance of wide-ranging references, motivating them to build personal support of cultural and visual references. Subsidiary objectives are: – Develop and encourage students to study the fundamental references of design and for the designer. – Recognize and identify a set of design works, framing them chronologically and contextualizing them in differentareas. – Interpret and present the objects (material and immaterial) of design, while materialization/embodiment of therespective authors and historical moments. -Recognize the structure and tangible marks of history in design iconography. -Construct a coherent, organized, and intelligible expository articulated discourse, supported/supported by referencesand in a precise and adequate vocabulary. -Develop autonomous criticism directed at self-production and peers. 1. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION | 2. FIRST WORLD WAR, 1914-18 | 3. SECOND WORLD WAR, 1939-45. | 1º year | 1º semester | 3 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
2º SEMESTER | |||
| Communication Design Project I | In Project I and in the projects that will be developed here, it is intended to the student apply the technical knowledgeacquired in other UCs in a context close to the labor market. Bearing this in mind, the student will therefore bechallenged to build and deconstruct project/ design thinking, and in the way, conceptual and graphic thinking arecrossed. Regarding the technical aspect, students should develop skills related to image manipulation, vector drawing,and the identification and correct use of elements such as color and shape, be it figurative or abstract. Looking atskills, students should begin to develop management skills for a design project, namely research, ideation, layout, and presentation. To be able to take part in this subject, foreign students need to send proofs that they are able to address all the technical issues implied. In order to do so, each student should contact Prof. Marta Fernandes – martafernandes@esmad.ipp.pt. | 1º year | 2º semester | 10 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Drawing II | At the end of the subbject, students will:Demonstrate mastery of freehand drawing techniques and the communication of concepts through the exploration of aset of elements of graphic representation, through observation and synthesis of ideas;Develop a set of drawings that explore the abrasive and fluid potential of the design media in different contexts,showing, in their presentations or projects, their own graphic style, appropriate to a multidisciplinary dynamic relatedto communication design;Represent the human figure: morphological, ergonomic, and anthropometric principles, canons, proportion, andmovement.Understand the three-dimensionality of shapes and spaces, using: graphic marks; the central or conical perspectivewith one, two, and three vanishing points; the aerial perspective. Display a graphic diary, demonstrating and recognizing the improvement in the UC learning outcomes. | 1º year | 2º semester | 6 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Digital Workshop for Communication Design II | Introduction and mastery of Indesign software as an essential tool for editorial design (print and digital); Knowledge of the principles and technical digital tools of the software, which allow its use in a project context for thecreation of content, graphic and typographic solutions; Apply work methodologies (planning, decomposition, and management) | 1º year | 2º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Design History II | The first objective of the subject is to make the student aware of the relevance of wide-ranging references, motivatingthem to build personal support of cultural and visual references. Subsidiary objectives are:-Develop and encourage students to study the fundamental references of design and for the designer.-Recognize and identify a set of design works, framing them chronologically and contextualizing them in differentareas.- Interpret and present the objects (material and immaterial) of design, while materialization/embodiment of therespective authors and historical moments.- Recognize the structure and tangible marks of history in design iconography.-Construct a coherent, organized, and intelligible expository articulated discourse, supported/supported by referencesand in a precise and adequate vocabulary.-Develop autonomous criticism directed at self-production and peers. 1. MODERNISM | 2- POST-MODERNISM | 3- THE DESIGN MANIFESTOS | 4- PORTUGUESE DESIGN | 1º year | 2º semester | 3 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Photography | 1- Understand the basic principles of photography.2- Know the basic principles of lighting.3- Apply the basic principles of photography and lighting in the execution of photographic records adapted tocommunication and industrial design. | 1º year | 2º semester | 3 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Art and Contemporary Culture | The general objectives are for the student to get to know a wide range of contextual, authorial, and material references,which constitute the corpus of Culture; be able to use a set of tools for and interpretation of the constitutivephenomenology of Culture; acquire and use a lexicon (articulated), rigorous, adequate/specific, for a self-referencedcritical discourse, about your own production and that of your peers; has the ability to investigate, question andquestion photographic, cinematographic, design and multimedia production, and cultural production phenomena.Specific objectives are that the student: Identify trends and trends in contemporary art and culture from 1970 to thepresent; get to know the authors and fundamental works; know the texts that theoretically support the various trendsand trends; identify cases of a radical break with modernist values as well as cases of permanence or transformationof these values. | 1º year | 2º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
2º YEAR | |||
| Communication Design Project II | The primary objective of this subject is to develop and stimulate the ability to think about the design project.This must be done through exercises that allow this same exploration and in which the design focus should be on the definition of graphic objects for an event (cultural, social, political, corporate, …). Define information hierarchy by ordering elements in a coherent visual unit.Critically analyze and evaluate the different contemporary discourses of graphic design, developing original visualexpressions in the universes of the poster, editorial, identity, infographic language, communication in the public space.Manage time, materials, and instruments used in the execution of models, in an autonomous, rigorous, and efficientway, aiming at qualitative improvements in the different phases of project development. | 2º year | 1º semester | 10 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Illustration I | Upon completion of the course, students should be able to: Identify genres, practices, and authors in the field ofillustration by acquiring subsidiary knowledge of experimental practice; explore the symbolic, narrative, and creativeaspects, establishing pertinent links between intention, statement, context, and formal solution; explore, quantitativelyand qualitatively, media, materials, and media; demonstrate autonomous work skills, deepening the techniques andprocesses addressed; apply the assimilated knowledge, adapting the criteria to new contexts of realization; clearlystate the process used and defending with appropriate arguments the results obtained; master strategies in meetingdeadlines, adjusting means and time of production, in specific contexts and circumstances; produce work withtechnical and critical autonomy, in the optimization of practices and in the consolidation of aesthetic awareness. | 2º year | 1º semester | 5 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Typography I | Understand what typography is and understand its relevance in relation to the language and context ofcommunication.Know the History of Typography and its authors, from the antecedents to the present, in a diachronic analysis of thesocial, technological, and cultural contexts. Know how to distinguish and master terminology, letter anatomy, and typographic classifications. Identify formal and functional attributes in typefaces. Recognize and classify typefaces. Acquire practical, technical, and procedural skills in the use of typography for various media and purposes. Develop skills in terms of micro typographic composition. Acquire typographic culture, stimulating sensitivity, as well as a critical and informed view. | 2º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Digital Workshop for Communication Design III | Introduction and mastery of Animation and Video Editing software as an essential tool for treating the various elementsthat make up the different dimensions of multimedia: audio, image, moving image, and animation. This subject will provide knowledge of digital technical principles and tools; Apply work methodologies (planning, decomposition, and management) | 2º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Design Critique | The subject aims to provide students with an interpretative framework of the criticism of the design. This way itis expected of the student to know the approaches and history of design criticism, as well as its methodologies,managing to apply this knowledge in a dynamic way as a designer, researcher, editor, and author.Create a timeframe discourse on the development of criticism in the consolidation of the design discipline, as ananalyzed term in project reality and thought process.Recognize the convergence of disciplinary knowledge of the transversal origin of the design, for reasoned criticalthinking.Establish a comparative analysis of the repercussions of history and its weight in critical composition, developingautonomous learning skills. | 2º year | 1º semester | 3 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
2º SEMESTER | |||
| Communication Design Project III | The student must develop technical and cognitive skills that allow him to respond to all phases of creating a designproject – research, concept development, materialization, production, and validation. Within each of these phases, itwill be essential to assimilate the specificities of each one so that you can interconnect them, both from the point ofview of the software domain and from the critical point of view. Knowledge – Hierarchies of information, scales ofgraphic elements, formats, supports, and production. Mastery of the various software tools as well as their technicalspecificities in solving different types of projects – chromatic values, grid, vector design, image editing, among others.They should also develop competence in what concerns the management of a project using the use of mood boards,graphic diaries, schedule, and organization charts, as well as their defense and presentation, using visual andlinguistic narratives. To be able to take part in this subject, foreign students need to send proofs that they are able to address all the technical issues implied. In order to do so, each student should contact Prof. Marta Fernandes – martafernandes@esmad.ipp.pt. | 2º year | 2º semester | 10 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Illustration II | The Illustration UC II stems from a sequential perspective (Illustration I) regarding the thematic contents and laboratorymethodologies to be addressed in illustrative practice. Developing in a TP regime, it privileges experimentation andreflection, seeking to develop in the student skills in representation, expression and visual communication. Throughwork in analog and digital media, it provides a panoramic experience, in the diversity of means and techniques such asdrawing, painting, photography or collage, reinforcing the graphic, plastic and iconic translation of concepts, facts andemotions. In an informed practice, attentive to contemporary production, both national and international, workingmethods are developed that foster an authorial sense. This UC seeks to gather conditions to dynamically respond todiverse professional needs in the universe of illustration in the context of the Design project. | 2º year | 2º semester | 5 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Typography II | Understand typography in the context of the various aspects and applications of Communication Design.Develop skills in terms of microtypographic composition.Acquire skills at the level of macrotypography;Understand and distinguish simple and complex typographic hierarchies.Master the page structure (text, paratext, image, grid system, and morphology), as well as the relationship between theelements.Explore the relationships between form and content, thought and expression.Apply and develop the knowledge acquired in order to find graphic solutions according to the context and conditionsof the project.Deepen the typographic culture. | 2º year | 2º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Digital Workshop for Communication Design IV | Introduction and mastery of Web Prototyping software and the concept of Wireframing as essential tools that willprovide students with the ability to analyze design, and project information systems accessible through the web.Understand the concepts, laws, and principles inherent in user-centered design and the digital technical principles ofGraphical Interface Design (web, applications, and other platforms). Apply work methodologies (planning,decomposition, and management). | 2º year | 2º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Design Seminars | This subject challenges students to understand and reflect on some of the main issues that designers and the designprofession face. Contact with a range of design and other professionals including non-faculty specialists. Students willdevelop a broader and deeper understanding of the historical and contemporary context of concern through research,discussion, and presentation. The issues transversal to the design disciplines are critically examined through theory,the problems of professional activity, and the practice of design. The specific themes covered each year will beselected by the teachers and will count on the collaboration of guest speakers and design professionals. | 2º year | 2º semester | 3 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
3º YEAR | |||
| Real and Collaborative Project in Communication Design | Develop projects responding to specific graphic design briefings; Apply theoretical knowledge in design critically in itsmethodology; Communicate ideas e concepts, oral and written way, to all players through all project stages; Developand justify research approach to design with the critical, analytical, systematic and historical, theoretical, ethical andprofessional context of graphic design field arguments; Apply knowledge, skill, and methodologies – creative,conceptual, theoretical, analytical, technical and organizational – to propose, research, develop and complete self-employment that includes originality, critical analysis and evaluation, and academic rigor. Manage design projects as ateam and individually. Analyze and identify project methodologies applied in industry and/or in a graphic productionenvironment. | 3º year | 1º semester | 10 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Specialized Graphics | Interpret the identity values expressed in brands, places, and events, adapting the graphic components to objects thatemotionally relate to defined audiences; Apply knowledge related to psychomotor skills, apprehension, and visualacuity by adjusting the visual communication according to the socio mentalities, economic, cultural andintergenerational contexts systematizing procedures related to inclusive design; Create and apply to specific pieces ofmerchandising visual concepts adjusted to the realities of brands and institutions; Make promotional objectstransposing concepts related to the immaterial values of brands. Managing the time, materials, and means used in theexecution of the mock-ups in a rigorous manner and demonstrating the ability to interpret cultural trends in the editingand communication of consumer products, envisaging qualitative improvements in design practice. | 3º year | 1º semester | 5 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Interaction Design for Communication Design | Understand Interaction Design (IxD), the methods and techniques that circumscribe the process of conceptualizationand development of interactive artifacts and the experience they provide to users.Promote the application of knowledge from the interdisciplinary area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) as well asnotions of User Experience (UX) and User-Centered Interface Design (UI), framed by Communication Design.Reflect on mediated experiences and contemporary digital paradigms.Encourage the construction of a critical perspective on interactive artifacts and technologies in a technologicallymediated society.Develop interactive exploratory and experimental artifacts that integrate aesthetic, functional, and communicativeconcerns, always in line with emerging technologies and platforms. | 3º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Image and Advertising | Students will learn how advertising works and how advertising studios operate (roles, responsibilities, strategies).Students will learn how to employ type, photography, illustration, and other forms of visual communication, within avariety of advertising formats and contexts.Students will look at the history and context of advertising, using case studies, examples, and contemporarypractitioners. Students will also look at how advertising is regulated.Students will learn how to produce a creative/effective campaign, working with specific dimensions and formats (print,broadcast, new media). | 3º year | 1º semester | 5 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Design Managment | This subject aims to bring students closer to the real world of the communication project, from the general organization ofthe work phases to the importance of specific communication for each phase and the realization that a project to beexecuted must be detailed, measured, and budgeted. Through a series of real examples and practical applications, themain objective of UC is to make students aware of the need for rigor in the organization of projects, from theembryonic phase, through development, to the finalization phase. Such examples will describe the methodologies tobe adopted from the first contact with the client, the relationship that the designer must build with him, as well as withthe different stakeholders of the multidisciplinary team that participates in the project. This UC is linked to the practicalwork developed by the discipline of Real and Collaborative Project. | 3º year | 1º semester | 3 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
| Research Methodologies in Design | The subject will allow each student to: Distinguish between empirical knowledge and scientific knowledge. Know the fundamentals of research: for design, through design, and about design. Select synthesis and analysis techniques: databases, bibliography, primary and secondary sources, direct and indirectcitations, and reference standards. Use research methodologies, applied to design practice. Conduct a systematic search for scientific research information in design and cross-cutting areas. Structure, systematize and produce a text that supports and justifies the practical work developed in the Project UCs. | 3º year | 1º semester | 3 ECTS | NO A personalized pedagogical strategy is defined for foreign students, which includes: compensation with attendance sessions, summaries in English at the end of classes, pedagogical documentation in English, etc. Classes will be taught in English only if the percentage of foreign students justifies it. |
2º SEMESTER | |||
| Final Project/Internship | To be able to take part in this subject, foreign students need to send proofs that they are able to address all the technical and narrative issues implied. In order to do so, each student should contact Prof. Marta Fernandes – martafernandes@esmad.ipp.pt | 3º year | 2º semester | 30 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |