Bachelor's degree in Design

Introduction

Objectives and competences

Objectives

1. To gain the capacities and competences of an expert designer who can work in all areas of design, from the first stage of conception of products, systems, graphic communication and services to the following stages of production, distribution and promotion.
2. To train as an expert designer and gain the resources required to work in the profession and assimilate the ethical codes that must govern professional and employment activity.
3. . To learn and gain a command of the skills that are associated with the way designers think and work in the exercise of their profession.
4. To learn the various modes and traditions of design, the technical and technological processes and the materials and skills required to work in this area.
5. To gain awareness of the social responsibility of the designer, particularly regarding social needs of innovation and sustainability, and the importance of collaboration between the profession, industry and society.
6. To develop and cultivate communication skills in interpersonal relationships and professional situations, to be able to present and defend work orally and in writing.
7. To boost the interaction between the designer and other professionals involved in the production process and service suppliers.
8. To assess research as the basis for continuing development of design and its culture, a necessary condition for carrying out the corresponding economic strategic role. To achieve this, with the research practical activities, the student can understand the usual criteria of rigour and thoroughness of work.

Competences

BASIC COMPETENCES

• Capacity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds upon general secondary education, and is typically at a level that, whilst supported by advanced textbooks, includes some aspects that will be informed by knowledge of the forefront of the field of study.
• Capacity to apply knowledge and understanding in a manner that indicates a professional approach to the work or vocation, and have competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving problems within the field of study.
• Capacity to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within the area of study) to make judgements based on reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues.
• Capacity to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Learning skills required for further study with a high degree of independence.

GENERAL COMPETENCES

• Commitment to ethical practice (critical and self-critical capabilities, and capacity to demonstrate attitudes consistent with accepted notions of ethical practice).
• Ability to work in a team (capacity to collaborate with others and contribute to a common project, and capacity to work in cross-disciplinary and multicultural teams).
• Creative and entrepreneurial skills (capacity to conceive, design and manage projects, and capacity to research and integrate new knowledge and approaches).
• Concern for sustainability (capacity to assess the social and environmental impact of actions taken in a particular setting, and capacity to adopt integrated and systemic approaches).
• Critical reasoning and commitment to the plurality and diversity of realities of society.

SPECIFIC COMPETENCES

• Capacity to draw up projects in the professional area of design: capacity to propose and develop solutions to the problems that are established.
• Based on the project requirements and an analysis of the design problem, capacity to organise the criteria that justify proposals to present and defend the solution to the project orally and graphically.
• Capacity to manage design projects in professional contexts.
• Capacity to recognise and interpret the history and culture of design to give opinions and reflect on the contexts of the academic studies and the processes of professional projects.
• Capacity to establish a process of successive propositions and reflections based on the use of representation systems for the development of projects.
• Capacity to identify, recognise and select materials and production processes in graphic arts and in industrial manufacturing to develop projects properly.
• Capacity to recognise alphabets as a system for construction and composition, distinguish their cultural values, expressions of use and incorporate them correctly into design projects and into the academic discourse.
• Capacity to recognise and selectively use systems of composition and harmonious lines associated with aesthetic expression and knowledge of symbolic value of form in design projects.
• Capacity to apply appropriate knowledge and abilities to carry out practical work and administration in the professional area of design in multidisciplinary teams.
• Critical capacity to analyse products of the artificial environment in the academic area, specialised publications and the professional development of design.
• Knowledge of research procedures in the human sciences to apply them selectively in academic areas and the design project.
• Capacity to understand, based on knowledge and understanding of the theoretical diversity of design, the studies that associate the discipline with areas of reflection on culture.

Access and admission

Applicant profile and access requirements

Recommended applicant profile

All design students must have curiosity to learn about and act on the artificial material environment, from objects that are used everyday to the media and cultural expressions. Applicants must be observant and appreciate how objects make up the world and influence ways of living, along with a special aptitude for creating, developing and giving form to products and for testing alternative and original solutions, adapted to users and to the times.

In general, students should have the following capacities:

• Capacity to draw at basic level.
• Receptiveness to critical observations.
• Disposition for taking decisions independently.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Perseverance and perfectionism in work.
• Capacity to plan personal work.
• Disposition to independently carry out work.
• Interest and curiosity about social and cultural realities.
• Interest in artistic expression.
• Ability to learn independently.
• Capacity to understand and produce spoken and written English.
• Disposition to learn and use more languages.
• IT knowledge at user level.
• Knowledge and critical view of ICT as a source of documentation and exchange of information.
• Knowledge common to all upper secondary school courses in subjects such as history, art and humanities in general, grammar and language, mathematics and natural sciences.

Access requirements and conditions

Admission for students with studies completed outside Spain.

Applicants holding higher educational qualifications from a university outside Spain should consult the page Admission with foreign qualifications to find out about specific admission requirements.
 

Pre-enrolment

Students that have studied abroad and who wish to study at the University of Barcelona may be admitted to EHEA bachelor's degree courses. Procedures for gaining admission will depend on the qualifications held by each applicant.

For further information about admission, consult the page Admission with foreign qualifications.
 

Enrolment

As a general rule, at the UB you will be required to enrol online via the Món UB portal. To find out the date and time you have been assigned, check the specific information for your course. Remember that you can lose your place if you do not enrol on the day you have been assigned.

Academic information

• Documents required for enrolment
• Procedure to formalize enrolment
• After enrolment
• Grants and financial aid

Schedules

• Academic year 2024-2025

Welcome

Support and guidance

Pre-enrolment information and events

• Welcome portal
• Student Support Service (SAE)
• Open days
• Informative sessions

Course curriculum

Subjects and course plans

Distribution of credits

List of subjects

Pathways and specializations

Previous years

• Course plans 2023 - 2024
• Course plans 2022 - 2023
• Course plans 2021 - 2022

Teaching staff

Placements

Las prácticas contribuyen a la formación integral de los estudiantes universitarios y facilitan el conocimiento de una metodología de trabajo adecuada a la realidad profesional. De este modo, ofrecen una experiencia práctica que permite la inserción de los futuros titulados en el mercado laboral.

Las prácticas son tutorizadas y se evalúan. Por lo tanto constan al expediente académico del estudiante. Además, se pueden hacer prácticas extracurriculares de un máximo de 500 horas, que se pueden prorrogar hasta 900 horas. Tanto en cuanto a las prácticas curriculares como las extracurriculares, hace falta la formalización previa de un convenio de cooperación educativa con la entidad colaboradora donde se tienen que hacer las prácticas.

Información institucional 

• Normativa de prácticas externas 
• FeinaUB

Career opportunities

What can you work on ?

• Design studios and agencies develop specific projects in fields such as editorial design, corporate image, the product, construction of samples and exhibitions or signposting.
• Research in projects and participation in multidisciplinary teams as a designer.
• In the international market, at the same level as equivalent graduates trained in the rest of Europe and the world.

Access to the labour market

Contact us

Pau Gargallo, 4 - 08028 Barcelona