MASTER ACADEMIC STUDIES

Throughout this course, the students are engaged in collecting, identifying, mapping, analyzing and defining the samples from innovative creative practice domain in order to fully understand the client and target groups’ basic yet subtle demands, as well as the challenges they might face. During the process, the students develop critical thinking and a sense of compassion in order to enhance their understanding of the clients’ preferences. Design research is the basis for product development, service providing and the establishment of the systems that are in correlation with the human needs and preferences, which is crucial for quality living and governance. During the course, the students analyze contextual and constructive tasks, formalize and define them, thus promoting their competences in the domain of corporate and visual identity, typography, publication, packaging design and advertising graphics.

The course focuses on authentic visual language formation and boosting the user experience, which enables the students to interact with a wide range of graphic design structures. The interdisciplinary approach to visual communications has been supported by the professors engaged in merging various graphic design structures to create a unique visual experience frame. This way, the students are given the opportunity to shape the visual narrative they have constructed in a modern, qualitative, aesthetic and educational manner, as a response to global visual communication challenges. The multimedia nature of modern visual communications offers numerous challenges worthy of every young creative individual, as well as the community. That is why this course encourages both the individual work and the exchange of creative ideas within a group.

AD520 Creative Innovations in Entrepreneurship
This course provides the necessary knowledge and skills which enable the students to develop and market an innovative idea in an easier, faster and more effective way and penetrate new markets. The application of innovative competencies, new technologies and the use of networked resources provides the key combination of successful business. The content of this course entails all the aspects of innovation, entrepreneurship, creating business plans, making presentations and valorizing business models.

AD525 Creativity on Mobile Platforms
The aim of the course is to introduce the students to the aspect of content production for mobile platforms as well as mobile technologies as an integral part of integrated multidisciplinary interactive projects. Provided review of various technologies and programming environments enables the students to grasp the development process of creating mobile applications, including both the ones intended for the entertainment industry and the utilitarian applications for business applications, experimental and socially useful projects.

AD530 Designing a Unique User Experience
A unique user experience design is a new and growing multidisciplinary field encompassing the intertwined elements of visual arts, interactivity, sound, innovative business principles and technologies, as well as superior hardware resources. At its core, it refers to artists taking up a role in directing the visitor experience as the driving force behind every element of the physical and digital space. Throughout the course, the students are trained to respond to the task qualitatively, timely and efficiently and create solutions that will enable them to present the project task to the audience in a unique way, within their own aesthetic framework.

AD535 Advertising
The aim of the course is to enable the students to develop projects – from research and understanding the target groups’ demands to the creation and implementation of a brand strategy. Furthermore, the students will master the process of creating a strategic vision of communication, become familiarized with the latest agency practices and procedures in order to gain competitiveness at the local, regional and the global market of the advertising industry. The course also enables the students to gain analytical insight into the role of the brand phenomenon as the basis of advertising in modern society and market competition by observing the examples and through practice. This way, the students will develop creativity in brand strategy and creative brief formation and implementation. The students will be able to construct a personal creative manuscript based on the research in the latest trends in the industry.

AD540 Photography – Copyright, Advertising and Fashion
Within the course, students acquire practical and theoretical knowledge in the field of digital photography and video. Students are trained for successful professional engagement in copyright, advertising and fashion photography and video, gaining the necessary knowledge of the context of graphic design. They also learn about professional photographic equipment and the necessary photographic software for image processing. Within the course, students bring an author’s photographic or video project to life with clearly defined goals and methods.

AD545 Promotion of Design Solutions
In this course, the students develop, upgrade and perfect theoretical and practical skills of promoting design solutions or concepts and projects – independent or collaborative, or projects for clients. The course is focused on the role of presentation, thus allowing the students to critically examine their achievements in a broader cultural context and understand the purpose of presentation design, strategy and aesthetics. Both the written and presentation forms of the ideas and works operating in related fields of graphic communication are thoroughly examined. The method the students apply to present the design concepts is crucial since it may significantly affect the potential consumers, clients and the audience’s perception.

AD550 Spatial Visualization
Throughout this course, the students will learn how to use software packages for 3D modeling and visualization, as well as various rendering systems for the final visualization of objects and spaces. Students will analyze 3D space in relation to the observer, the user and the audience, through the topics of spatial intervention, interaction, visual communication, ambient and adaptive design, interior design, architectural environments and the design of shop windows, exhibitions, fairs and other events. The principles and methods of 3D modeling of free (natural) shapes, as well as methods of modeling shapes with regular geometry, are examined. Software used – Autodesk 3ds Max, Arnold, ART, Chaos Group Corona, Vray and Maxon Redshift.

AD565 Digital Culture
The goal of this interdisciplinary course is to research the theoretical and critical dimensions of the Internet, new media (modern video, film, photography, television, radio podcasts), social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok) and digital technology, as well as their role in modern society, culture, business, politics, art and everyday life. The course Digital Culture relies heavily on teaching writing skills with an aim to instruct the students how to build their own artistic and critical point of view and create an independent digital exhibition.

AD575 Strategic Design
The goal of the course is to prepare students for leading positions in companies, which requires certain skills in the domain of analysis, strategic thinking, creative planning, critical thinking, negotiation, creative leadership, brand strategy and visual communication. The syllabus encompasses empirical research, design thinking and brand management:
– Empirical Research – market, culture, user research and user-oriented communication,
– Brand Management – strategic planning, brand personality and brand sustainability,
– Design Thinking – conceptual modelling, information design, visual thinking.
Through theoretical and practical projects, workshops and group discussions, the students actively learn how to take an active role in the process of solving problems, overcoming challenges and responding to users and audiences’ demands, as well as creating brand new demands.

This course provides an insight into the complete process of a project design – from idea to realization. The students will expand their knowledge regarding both the preparation process for project printing and the project publication process. The students will also advance their practical skills in working with the digital tools required for the project realization. Furthermore, the students will adopt professional terminology used in communication with clients. Overall, the course provides the students with the knowledge and competence to manage a project design process independently, including the printing process itself. Most importantly, the students will be able to come up with unique design solutions individually or in a team, in a professional manner.

The students are required to successfully apply the acquired professional knowledge and experience from their master’s degree program. It includes theoretical framework and digital and/or tactile execution of the selected project. The students should provide a detailed elaboration of their research project – from the idea and realization process to the final execution and presentation (verbal and visual). The final requirement is the public defense of the master’s thesis at the scheduled event and/or organized exhibition.