Visual and Innovation Design

TAUGHT IN ITALIAN AND ENGLISH ❯

Imagine and design the future.

You will perfect your knowledge reaching the very heart of communication design. You will learn to master the fields of visual design, from advertising to the highly structured world of multimedia communication, combining design techniques and digital innovation.

Qualification:

Second Level Academic Diploma, equivalent to a Master’s degree

Duration:

2 years, full time

Language:

Italian and English

Credits:

120 ECT

Location of attendance:

Rome

Requirements:

Italian students
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent certification
Portfolio

International students
Bachelor’s degree valid for the Italian Education System
Portfolio
Course language B2 certificate
Upon admission non-UE students have to fulfill the procedure to obtain a Student VISA

Field:

Visual design, Advertising, Multimedia Communication

Main subjects:

Branding, Advertising, UX/UI, Digital Copywriting, Visual Culture and Media

Future careers:

Visual designer, Art director, Copywriter, Social media manager, Web designer, Information designer, UX designer, UI designer, Exhibit designer, Interaction designer, Brand manager, Type designer.

Visual Design, a new frontier in project design and coordination
The Master of Arts in Visual and Innovation Design is a two-year specialization designed to launch designers beyond the boundaries of traditional graphic design limitations. The course provides a training and preparation that enables students to capably create visual communication, using a blend of multimedia design, visual design and advertising skills . Thanks to quality of the specialized training, RUFA’s Visual and Innovation Design Course provides students, who have already completed a BA in Communication, Design and Fine Arts, with the additional cultural and technical tools needed to enter the current job market successfully.

Visual Designer as the director of communication
Using vision, design and multimedia skills, the Visual Designer is the ‘problem-solver’ of modern communication, able to combine the creative role with that of a technical expert and strategic designer.
The Visual Designer needs to know how to work with new forms of communication, offering concrete and ‘do-able’ solutions, creating and directing the entire communication platform.
The educational and practical approach focuses on the connection between design technique and innovation, the interaction between traditional media and new media born from the digital revolution.

Projected into the professional world
The MA in Visual and Innovation Design includes a wide-variety of internship, training and work-study opportunities. These ‘real-life’ experiences help to create evolved professional profiles that are ready to enter into different work contexts thanks to their creative talent and their concrete and proven design abilities using multimedia, technical and technological knowledge and skills.
The course forms professionals that are highly specialized, that can find work opportunities in advertising agencies and visual design studios, in companies where large-scale communication design projects are created and in all of the real-life situations in which visual and interaction design skills are required.

The new horizons in communication design
The Visual Designer is ahead of the times. He/she learns to recognize and interpret visual forms of expression and signals and respond by anticipating contemporary trends with his/her professional competences.
With solid technical and creative skills, designers in the Visual and Innovation Design course at RUFA learn to dominate the forms and techniques of design, advertising and multimedia, essential when working in the field of visual design.
Becoming a Visual Designer involves gaining a solid understanding of the psychological, cognitive and perception mechanisms that form and inform communication methods. The future opportunities of a Visual Designer include traditional fields (graphic design, advertising, corporate branding and communication, product design and packaging, expo design and display) and new multimedia fields (digital publishing, interaction design, dynamic brand and identity, motion graphics, sound design, user experience, information and interface design).

Competent, specialized and ready
The two-year Visual and Innovation Design Course at RUFA is part of the Department of Design and Applied Arts, the section of RUFA academic studies that provides a high-level of specialization and technical preparation, and sets a high standard of academic and design education each year. By graduating in Visual and innovation design you will be able to become a: Visual designer, Art director, Copywriter, Social media manager, Web designer, Information designer, UX designer UI designer, Exhibit designer, Interaction designer, Brand manager e Type designer.

International partnerships
Among the most important partnerships of the Academy for the Visual and Innovation Design MA the one with SVA – School of Visual Arts in New York stands out. Thanks to the agreement between the two University Institutions, a full-immersion programme has been structured that allows a delegation of RUFA students to spend ten days in the prestigious American school each year; combining research, study and design work. The students live in close contact with a stimulating and exciting reality, using SVA laboratories, study rooms and equipment in the heart of Manhattan, meeting designers and professionals and learning about the different production methods and educational approaches. For more info visit the Tracks of Freedom page.

The Visual and Innovation Design course is under the patronage of the ADCI – Art Directors Club Italiano.

The Academic Master of Arts is equivalent to a University Master Degree.

*The course is available in Italian or English. All classes require compulsory attendance at the RUFA premises in Rome.

Coordinator: Emanuele Cappelli
Tutor: Lorenzo Iervolino
Lecturers: Agnese Angelini, Emanuele Cappelli, Cinzia Capparelli, Aureliano Capri, Stefano Cipolla, Dario Curatolo, Veronica D’Auria, Nicola Di Cosmo, Stefano Dominici, Francesca Gollo, Lorenzo Iervolino, Harald Pizzinini, Simone Passacantilli, Mario Rullo, Claudio Spuri, Emanuele Tarducci, Francesco Ugolini, Antonio Pace, Luca Santarelli, Alessandro Izzillo.

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LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF ELEONORA PORENA, MARCO VINCI, SONIA FELIX, DAVIDE SURACE, GIORGIA LOPANE, PAOLO SCHIAVO, STEFANO GOTTUSO – GRADUATES IN VISUAL AND INNOVATION DESIGN

MA IN VISUAL AND INNOVATION DESIGN

Suggested study plan – Mandatory attendance at RUFA locations in Rome

YEAR	SUBJECT	ECTS	HOURS
I YEAR	Visual and media culture The evolution of visual culture in terms of style, content and message; focusing on the influence that media has had in images outplaying words. The fundamental contribution of technology: technical analysis of the characteristics and use of media to understand contemporary imaginary.	6	45
	Advertising:
	Art direction for ADV Theoretical insights on f Advertising by viewing and commenting many case histories. Discussion about the skills required and roles of the various advertising professionals. How to structure a brief, the phases of an advertising campaign, the types of advertising. Reflecting on the role of the creative process. Design of a communication campaign for City Branding called The narrating city.	4	50
	Social marketing The dynamics of social media and their relationship with classic marketing. Main social networks and their uniqueness. Analysis of social media accounts and successful communication campaigns that have used all or part of the social media channels as part of a marketing strategy to deduce the replicable factors. Creation of a social media marketing campaign as a final project.	2	25
	Unconvetional advertising Study of the social context that led to the birth and spread of unconventional communication. Starting from the first theoretical approaches to the current areas and tools that are used. Realization of an unconventional campaign as a final project.	2	25
	Digital copywriting Copywriting as a marketing tool: writing to achieve a goal. From classic tools to the evolution towards digital communication. Copywriting today: beyond the written text. Analysis of the output of a project: print, radio, TV advertisement; content for social media platforms; web and digital content; B2B and B2C texts; non-commercial communications. Copywriting for a City Branding communication campaign called The narrating city.	2	25
	APP design Design of the user experience and user interface of applications for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, etc. Starting from the definition of the idea and the setting of an IDEA MODEL CANVAS, the organization of the functionalities and their prototyping in mockups, up to the design of the graphic interface and the development of the Design System Management.	8	100
	Visual design 1 Visual identity: from commercial strategy to creativity and the use of the Guidelines. Theory and case histories to support the practical exercises and the final project. Type design: the typeface in communication systems such as public spaces, architecture, art in general. Practical exercise: the integration of the Type in a system or in a project.	10	125
	Information design The study of design methods for the processing, organization and representation of information in the context of graphic systems for paper and the screen. Digital presence and communication strategies: digital brand positioning.	8	100
	Brand design e dynamic identity Creating a Dynamic Brand: the union of scientific knowledge and creativity, from the conception to the realization of an identity system that changes over time. Acquisition of the ability to interact and control emerging market demands through new technology possibilities.	8	100
	Advertising photography Practical development and implementation of projects related to the world of advertising. Simulating the creation of advertising campaigns dedicated to social awareness and various current issues such as pollution, violence, disease etc., or campaigns for the promotion of products. Presentation of the project through photos accompanied by texts.	6	75
	Language skills - Internships - Workshops	4	/
II YEAR	Digital animation techniques and visual effects The main production phases of a 3D animated video in motion graphics. The use of Cinema 4D and other software such as After Effects, necessary to create 3D models. How to texturize them, animate them, frame them with a film camera and light them up to obtain a final render.	6	75
	Web design and user experience Introduction to user experience intended as a general and non-specific experience of a single communication channel. Through lectures and practical exercises, study of the human-centered approach, with tools, research techniques and design aimed at developing websites, mobile sites, apps and other digital and non-digital touchpoints.	6	75
	Visual design 2 Professional practice in the development of a communication project: from managing the meeting with the client, to research, analysis of the context and the brief, drafting the meeting report, an estimate, realization and presentation of the project, management of any changes to the brief. Wayfinding: experimentation of methodologies and technologies for orientation. Practical exercises and a final project that shows the search for a scenario and an in-depth study of the territory.	10	125
	Wearable technology Analysis and overview of the developments in wearable technology products and lifestyles that continuously and mutually affect each other. Introduction to the various fields of WT, study of the hardware components used and the connectivity technologies to create a prototype or model, combined with the digital communication.	6	75
	Multimedia exhibit Study of theoretical knowledge to work in the design of exhibitions in different culture spaces, highlighting the importance of the visitor-user who is at the centre of the exhibition project. Practical exercises: the main variables and critical issues that emerge during the creation and setting of a multimedia project.	6	75
	Interaction design The psychology of perception, cognitive ergonomics and the definition of User Centered Design processes. Insights into tools, techniques and processes commonly used in the design of interactive products, systems, services and environments. Carrying out practical research activities through the creation of a prototype.	6	75
	Elective educational activities	6	75
	Language skills - Internships - Workshops	4	/
	Thesis	10	/
	Total credits	120

ANNUAL PLANNING

CREDITS
Foto slider: Iosif Jawad – Federico Mauti, Fabio Meriano, Fabio Meriano, Luigi Cirelli – Lorenzo Bernardi – Domenico Piro, Marco Taurino – Francesco Floris.