The Program

In this creative, hands-on class, students will be challenged to tell stories visually and to organize information in interesting, thoughtful ways. To achieve these goals students will be assigned exercises and projects that will require observing, interviewing, studying, researching, and combining images and words. 

Students will learn this from a combination of hands-on activities, in-class exercises, lectures, museum visits and from professionals who will visit the class or whom we will visit. During class time we will also critique professional work we find around Barcelona as well as student work. 

We will be working together every weekday whether it is in the classroom or out in the cities , but part of the students’ day will be used for their own exploring, research and homework. Some days will be longer as we will take field trips to cultural sites, including train trips to Figueres and the Salvador Dali Museum. These experiences will form the basis for our course work.

Course work and lectures will be in English. It is not necessary to speak Spanish, although learning some common words and phrases may enhance the students’ experience.

Objectives

In this, hands-on program students will learn how to:

• Understand communication in a global context 
• Use the creative process to think critically about communication goals
• Use the creative process to solve design problems
• Become aware of visual expressions in the environment, including in advertising, signage, posters, etc.
• Observe your surroundings for details, meaning and connections
• Understand a culture’s influence on message creation
• Use typography purposefully
• Find design inspiration in a new setting
• Utilize visuals to tell stories
• Research and refine content
• Interpret content visually using maps, illustrations, diagrams and timelines
• Design work so that it communicates clearly and logically
• Sketch out ideas