Visual Communication Design - Art and Media, Master of Arts (Art and Design)

Description

As an urgent response to our contemporary conditions, Visual Communication Design studies enable you to redefine your design practice and situate it in wider societal and environmental frameworks. By providing the competence areas of information design, visual narratives, and type & written language, the curriculum encourages you to turn your design practice towards the public and the sustainable, and towards multiple and diverse knowledge domains. The VCD major provides you time and space to redefine your individual design approach, with continuous backup from community, collaboration, and peer learning. The studies support you in this with a combination of theory and practice.

After you graduate from the programme, you will be able to:

• Create and manage design projects with a fresh perspective on analogue and digital materials, and experiment with data and computational elements in design projects where needed
• Address complex issues across various media, aesthetics, contexts, expressions, and conventions when communicating through data, narratives, and/or written language
• Articulate and critically evaluate the traditions, references, and motivations behind your design choices
• Consider issues of representation, diversity, and sustainability in visual communication
• Distinguish your professional role from your consumer role in digital and online environments, and understand your responsibility as the author of a communication strategy
• Recognize good policies and your labour contract rights as a creative, ethical professional in society and business
• Consider and imagine alternative modes of design practice and work

Language of instruction

In the Master’s Programme in Art and Media Visual Communication Design (VCD) major, the language of instruction is English. 
 

Tuition fees and scholarships

The tuition fee for this programme is 20 000 euros per academic year. Citizens of European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland do not pay tuition fees. Citizens of other countries must pay tuition fees.

Aalto University offers a small number of scholarships in the form of tuition fee waivers to fee-paying students. Scholarships can be awarded to the highest-achieving applicants based on the programme's evaluation criteria. Applicants are ranked according to the criteria outlined on the programme's webpage.

More information on tuition fees and scholarships at Aalto University is available at the Scholarships and Tuition Fees webpage.

Structure of studies

Engaging with diverse literature, writing and discussions will deepen your understanding in the role of visual communication in society – including in urgent political issues like representation, diversity and social and environmental justice. You'll be learning from professors who are active designers and researchers, blending theory and practice in inspiring courses where you’ll create, explore and critically reflect on your own and others’ work.

In the first-year Critical Practice Seminar, you will reflect on your own work and build a framework of references for your design practice. The end of year one will bring you to your studio project. For example, this could involve designing a new typeface, a visual narrative, a 3D animation, or an innovative data journalism piece.

In the second-year Research Practice Seminar, you’ll work on the development of your own research project that leads to your master’s thesis – allowing you to approach your topic as an expert. The majority of your second year is devoted to the thesis, which can be a practical design project or based on research. This will be your opportunity to strengthen and demonstrate your design skills and theoretical knowledge, and to position your practice in a specific domain or framework.

More information on the programme content and curriculum can be found in the Student Guide

Specialisations

VCD studies provide an opportunity to either strengthen a certain competence area in visual communication, or to create a combination of skills that matches your individual goals and ambitions. We offer courses in the following three competence areas, which you can combine as you wish:

Information design. Learn how to communicate large swathes of complex data in a readable, memorable and visually engaging way.

Type and written language. Master typography and text design and the use of written language in visual communication.

Visual narratives. Explore new and compelling ways to communicate through visual narratives, including by incorporating emerging technologies.

Internationalisation

The Visual Communication Design major benefits from a strong international character, attracting many applicants and faculty with backgrounds outside of Finland. You will benefit from the perspective of regular international guests who give lectures, teach courses, or conduct workshops.

You and your fellow students will be welcomed into the diverse Aalto community not only through your studies in the Visual Communication Design major – but also multiple free time events, activities and celebrations around the campus. Programme administrators, active student tutors and student support services work rigorously to help international students integrate into Nordic culture and welcome them at home in Finland.

There will also be multiple opportunities to develop your global competence while you study, such as spending a semester abroad or taking a summer course at one of Aalto University’s partner universities around the globe. Some students carry out their practical training or even master’s thesis research abroad.

Further study opportunities

A finished degree with a successful master’s thesis enables you to apply for the Aalto Doctoral Programme in Arts, Design and Architecture. This gives you an opportunity to build an academic career in the emerging field of practice-as-research, where you can focus in on your craft to make important contributions to Aalto research groups and advance the contemporary design discourse.

More information on the Aalto Doctoral Programme in Arts, Design and Architecture: Doctoral programmes.

Career opportunities

As a graduate of the VCD major, you will have the skills and knowledge to work as a design professional in visual communication design, either by developing your own practice or with an established design agency or organisation. And because visual communication design is constantly changing, your career may lie in a field that’s just now beginning to emerge.

Here are a few possible positions suited for programme graduates:

• Creative Director
• Graphic Designer
• Art Director
• Design Consultant
• Design Researcher
• Data Journalist
• Visual Artist
• Content Creator

Research focus

The Visual Communication Design major has two key research focuses – Aalto Visual Communication Design (AVCD), and Information Design.

AVCD is a multidisciplinary research group in the Department of Art and Media at Aalto University, focused on exploring the role of visual communication design and visual thinking in fields like sustainability, education, ageing, and health. Its research is centred around fundamental topics in visual communication, visual design thinking, and the visual design process. AVCD’s current project, INT-ACT (2024-2026) is investigating how XR (extended reality) environments can be used to address future societal challenges. More on AVCD: https://avcd.aalto.fi/

In the Information Design research group, researchers come together to push the boundaries of information design through visualisation and interactivity. The group focuses on the changing nature of presenting information to an audience, diving into topics like user experience, interaction, and information design. More on information design: https://infodesign.aalto.fi/

Co-operation with other parties

Throughout your studies, you will have the chance to engage with real-life challenges and cases. The Visual Communication Design major closely collaborates with several outside groups and public organisations connected to prominent research projects in Finland. This includes both the City of Helsinki and Harvard Medical School, who are currently involved in FinnGen – a genome research project aiming to achieve breakthroughs in disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment with the help of big data. Learn more about FinnGen (in progress): https://geneviz.aalto.fi/

Every two years, we also organise a Visualising Knowledge conference. This event brings in industry leaders to explore the latest topics in design. The organisation is student-driven, and you will also be able to exhibit your work and speak with potential future collaborators or employers. conference. This event brings in industry leaders to explore the latest topics in design. The organisation and is student-driven, and you will also be able to exhibit your work and speak with potential future employers.

Outside of your compulsory work in the Visual Communication Design major, you will be free to choose from a wide range of minor studies and elective courses to broaden your knowledge and skills – for example in game design, comics, UI/UX design, animation, or pattern design. You will also find opportunities to work with students from other degree programmes at Aalto, who will join you in your visual communication courses to complement their own major.

Contact information

Learning services of the School of Arts, Design and Architecture

For enquiries regarding programme-specific application documents or studies in the programme, please contact Aalto ARTS Learning Services.

[email protected]

Admission Services

For enquiries regarding the application process, obligatory application documents or English language proficiency, please contact Admission Services.

[email protected]