About department
Educational processes within the department encompass a wide array of different contents including applied drawing, illustration, typography, layout, packaging, photography, type design, digital media, interaction design and speculative design. The educational approach of the programme is primarily directed towards contextualising designer work within the wider media, social and cultural landscapes. With the onset of the type design and interaction design master programmes of study, students were given an opportunity to receive education in areas of design previously unattainable within the system of higher education for designers in the region. The department creates a link between practice and research and transfers it into discursive work through active publishing activity.
Due to the flexible nature of the programme and its teaching practices, ample workshops led by local and international professionals are continuously conducted in collaborating with renowned professional designers and European institutions of design. Over the course of two and a half decades of its activity within the field of design education, the Department developed strong international connections and actively contributed to the advancement of educational standards in the field of design. The Department directed the Erasmus+ project SpeculativeEdu (https://speculativeedu.eu), the first European project focusing on education in the field of speculative design and similar practices.
The teachers from the Department, in collaboration with the Croatian Designers Association, curated a Croatian performance at the XXI international exhibition Triennale di Milano (2016). Teachers and students participate, present and are awarded at relevant exhibitions and festivals in the field of design (e.g. Vienna Biennale, Universal Soldier Festival Belgrade, Fluid Design Forum Montenegro, Magdalena International Festival of Creative Communication, Biennial Exhibitions of Croatian Design, International Exhibition of Graphic Design and Visual Communications (Zgraf), Biennial of Design (BIO) in Ljubljana, D Day, Plan D, Output – International student award, CROPACK, INDEX, AIGA, Nagoya Design Do!, and others). The Department was awarded the Great Prize of the 43rd Zagreb Salon of Applied Art and Design (2009). Works resulting from teaching and research activity at the Department are presented in internationally published editions (such as MIT Press).
The Visual Communication Department opened a new exhibition gallery "Ctrl+Z" on the main floor at Zagrebačka 3.
Head of Department:
Deputy Head of Department:
Contact: design@umas.hr
Teaching staff:
- Dejan Kršić, Full Professor
- Maris Cilić, Associate Professor
- Igor Čaljkušić, Associate Professor
- Nikola Đurek, PhD, Associate Professor
- Ljubica Marčetić-Marinović, Associate Professor
- Ivica Mitrović, PhD, Associate Professor
- Mirko Pivčević, Associate Professor
- Oleg Šuran, Assistant Professor
- Jelena Zanchi, PhD, Senior Lecturer
- Nikša Vukša, Lecturer
- Mario Javorčić, Laboratory Assistant
Teachers from other departments:
- Blaženka Perica, PhD, Associate Professor
- Barbara Gaj, MA, Senior Lecturer
- Ita Praničević-Borovac, PhD, Senior Lecturer
- Božo Kesić, PhD, Assistant
Associates:
- Inga Tomić-Koludrović, PhD, Full Professor
- Valerija Barada, PhD, Associate Professor
- Nikola Marangunić, PhD, Assistant Professor
- Mirko Petrić, MA, Senior Lecturer
- Darko Kokić, Lecturer
- Miranda Veljačić, Lecturer
- Ana Bodrožić, Assistant
- Nikola Mikulić, Assistant
- Kristina Tešija, Expert Associate
- Dora Vanette, Expert Associate
- Vicko Vidan, Expert Associate
- Doris Zalović, Expert Associate
Programmes of study
Undergraduate programme of study
Duration: 6 semesters, 180 ECTS
Bachelor in Visual Communications Design is equipped to independently design products in all types of visual communications which involve print and digital products (visual identity, poster and illustration, design of printed publications, and others). Upon the completion of the programme, students also acquire competencies to participate in teamwork focused on the production of technically, visually, and informationally complex products in interactive media.
Master programme of study
The master study of the Visual Communication Design Department consists of three specialisation modules: "Graphic Design", "Typography" and "Design and Futures". The "Graphic Design" module focuses on content related to the narrower field of visual communication design, with an emphasis on information design content and training in structuring and visualising information. "Typography" offers specialisation in the field of typography and type design. "Design and Futures" is a restructured and expanded former "Interactive Media" module that refers to areas of specialisation related to design in interactive media, interaction design and critical/speculative design, i.e. interactions of design, technology, environment and society.
The study structure is such that in the first and second semesters, a third of the courses are common to all modules, with additional specific courses for each module. The third semester is devoted to choosing the topic of the master's thesis and research. The semester also includes a practical design project workshop that is common to all students of the study program. The fourth semester is planned for the preparation of the diploma thesis, the preparation of the presentation and the defence of the thesis.
Duration: 4 semesters, 120 ECTS
Masters in Visual Communications Design are equipped to independently produce technically, visually, and informationally complex products in the field of visual communications design, typography, interaction design and speculative design. They can lead teams in projects which require multidisciplinary collaboration.