Degree
Digital Design
Design that gets used: product, interface, motion and brand.
Digital Design forms designers who understand the medium they work in. You study typography and colour with the rigour of an art school, and HTML, CSS and accessibility with the rigour of an engineering course, because a design that cannot be built is not a design: it is a picture.
The studio is the centre of the programme. There is an open crit every week, and every year ends with a portfolio review before a panel that includes outside professionals. The graduate leaves with twenty pieces they have defended, not with a certificate.
20
pieces in the final portfolio
Weekly
of studio crit
4
reviews with an outside panel
01Graduate profile
By the time you graduate, you will be able to:
Designs coherent, accessible interfaces and design systems.
Builds a complete visual identity and documents it.
Commands typography, composition and colour with professional judgement.
Produces animation and motion graphics for digital media.
Implements their own designs in HTML, CSS and components.
Researches users and evaluates usability with established methods.
02Study plan
39 modules · 179 credit units
Organised into 8 terms. Eight academic terms.
Term I
Year one- Design Fundamentals5 UV
- Drawing and Representation4 UV
- History of Design3 UV
- Typography I5 UV
- Digital Tools3 UV
Term II
Year one- Colour and Composition5 UV
- Typography II5 UV
- Photography4 UV
- Introduction to Code4 UV
- Professional Communication3 UV
Term III
Year two- Brand Identity6 UV
- Interface Design I6 UV
- Web Layout5 UV
- Digital Illustration4 UV
- Theory of the Image3 UV
Term IV
Year two- Interface Design II6 UV
- Design Systems5 UV
- User Research4 UV
- Digital Animation5 UV
- Digital Accessibility4 UV
Term V
Year three- Product Studio I6 UV
- Editorial Design5 UV
- Front-End for Designers5 UV
- Advanced Prototyping4 UV
- Design Ethics2 UV
Term VI
Year three- Product Studio II6 UV
- Motion Graphics5 UV
- Service Design4 UV
- Creative Project Management4 UV
- Specialist Elective I4 UV
Term VII
Year four- Art Direction5 UV
- Professional Portfolio5 UV
- Specialist Elective II4 UV
- Creative Entrepreneurship3 UV
- Professional Placement8 UV
Term VIII
Year four- Final Year Project10 UV
- Contemporary Design Seminar3 UV
- Specialist Elective III4 UV
- Presentation and Viva3 UV
03Admission
Requirements
- An upper secondary certificate, or proof of completion.
- A transcript covering all three baccalaureate years.
- ID card or birth certificate.
- Entry portfolio: six pieces of your own, in any medium.
- Portfolio interview with the programme lead.
04Afterwards
Where it leads
- Digital product and interface design
- Art direction and brand identity
- Editorial design and publishing
- Motion graphics and video
- Front-end and design systems
- Your own studio
05Who teaches it
Staff on this programme
M.F.A. in Design
Andrés Portillo
Head of Digital Design. Screen typography and accessible design systems.
Typography I and II · Design Systems
M.Sc. in Quantitative Methods
Sofía Brenes
Lecturer and researcher. Experimental design and data analysis where samples are small.
Probability and Statistics · Inferential Statistics
M.Sc. in Strategic Communication
Gabriela Suazo
Head of Marketing. Brand building in local markets, and measuring low-budget campaigns.
Brand Management · Agency Studio I and II
06Frequently asked questions
About Digital Design
No. Drawings, photography, craft, visualised music or anything else that shows judgement is accepted. What is assessed is the eye, not what software you can drive.
Advisable from the third term. The campus has two design labs open until 20:00, which are enough for the first two years.
Three compulsory subjects: Introduction to Code, Web Markup, and Front-End for Designers. Enough to build, and to hold your own in a conversation with a development team.
Ready to apply to Digital Design?
The application takes about fifteen minutes and can be saved halfway through. The first priority deadline closes on 30 November.
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