Graphic Design in Branding

Language

English

Start date

July 2027

Frequency

Part-time

Fruition

On campus

Duration

3 Weeks

Put your creative talent to work developing engaging, strategic branding proposals for a variety of formats.

The Summer Course in Graphic Design in Branding helps you to take your first steps in visual identity design and learn to use print or digital media in a strategic, responsible way to create a better user experience.

In this course, taught in English, you’ll be working with case studies and other types of projects, using the best materials, tools and technologies to create the most effective graphic design and visual communication.

Information to decide

A course that stimulates your creativity as you acquire the skills you need to develop a visual identity project and put your newfound knowledge into practice.

A learning experience based on case studies and other design methodologies, such as Visual Design Thinking. Particular emphasis is placed on observing, analysing, comparing, creating and developing strategies, resources and methodologies to design visual identity systems for products, exhibition spaces, branding, wayfinding, corporate identity, event design, social and digital media.

In this course, you’ll be encouraged to explore new creative avenues, design trends and adopt a designer's (knowledge-based) way of thinking, to plan and design in a responsible way and play a pro-active role in transitional design for a sustainable future.

This course is for people who want a solid grounding in the basics of graphic design and, in particular, visual identity, branding and brand culture, to acquire or further their knowledge of the most effective visual communication and design tools used in the sector.

Designers from a variety of fields, Fine Arts or Communication graduates and students, photographers, editors, advertising agents, printers and entrepreneurs looking for in-depth knowledge of strategic graphic design will find the course both interesting and useful. The same is true for university students or people who’ve already graduated in Graphic Design or visual and interactive communications.

Previous knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat is an asset; there will be no lectures on these tools, and each individual student is free to develop their project using the program they’re most comfortable with.

If you’re looking for a personal, learning experience to put your creative skills to the test and take your first steps in the field of graphic design, this is the course for you.

You’ll be studying at IED Barcelona in the emblematic Gràcia district, a vibrant community of students and top professionals from all over the world.

Syllabus

FOUNDATIONS

The foundations of visual identity and brand design

The iconographic message 

Adaptive, dynamic and evolutionary visual identity systems (case studies)

Personal branding (case studies)

Project management: basics of project management



STRATEGY

Brand purpose, personality, essence and guidelines 

Brand language, naming/phonetic brand, verbal brand

Users/consumers, market research and benchmarks 

Storytelling: brand communication and narratives 

Branding brief

Brand Management

Notions of marketing: advertising and propaganda



DEVELOPMENT

Visual identity: logo design, basic elements of brand identity (typography, colour, shape, identification unit, priorities)

Development of visual identity system 

Identity manual: rules for use and application



IIMPLEMENTATION

Brand touchpoints: interaction or communication between a brand and its customers 

Media: digital, print, physical

Brand experience: customer experience, brand environment 

User experience (UX)

Principles of digital brand/social media branding

Brand positioning

Public engagement: social media, marketing and advertising campaigns

Faculty

Course Leader

Anna Serra

Creative Director

Job Vives

Brand Narrative and Creative Direction Specialist

Projects

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Barcelona

Pont al Palau. Clásicamente contemporáneo

News

Crowded stalls of an auditorium

15 September 2026

More than 200 students from 52 nationalities open the 2026-2027 academic year of the IED Barcelona

On 14 September, the Welcome Event welcomed a new generation of creatives and designers joining the undergraduate programmes.

11 September 2026

Issue 4: Material World - Plural Intelligences

What happens when we recognize the intelligence of materials and learn to work with it responsibly, collectively, and collaboratively?

11 September 2026

IED Kunsthal Bilbao temporarily transforms Doña Casilda Park with ‘Sareak’

A cross-disciplinary project bringing together nearly 200 members of the community to reflect on contemporary communication through design.

07 September 2026

Fashion show and festival: the IED Public Programme is back

In September, IED's Public Program returns with a calendar of events across its campuses in Italy and Spain, offering opportunities for dialogue, exchange and discovery open to the community and the wider public.

28 August 2026

What does sustainability mean for a design school?

When discussing sustainability, the debate often focuses on environmental impacts and the responsible use of resources. But what does sustainability mean, in practical terms, for a school that educates future designers, creatives and professionals capable of driving change?

31 July 2026

Forbes Next Leaders: Alumna Chiara Robino designs the August cover

The collaboration between IED and Forbes Next Leaders continues: for the August issue, the cover was designed by Chiara Robino, Alumna in Illustration from IED Torino in the 2025/26 academic year.

27 July 2026

IED Barcelona Graduation Day – Master's Degrees and Postgraduate Programmes 2026

Held on 23 July, the graduation ceremony marked the successful completion of this stage of academic study at the school for 67 students.

17 July 2026

Priscilla Fois brings her art to Urban Break Korea

IED Roma alumna Priscilla Fois has been selected to participate in Urban Break Korea, one of the leading international festivals dedicated to urban art.

16 July 2026

This Is What the Future of Visual Arts Looks Like

Recent graduates from the IED Barcelona's Graphic Design, Advertising, and Motion Graphics and Video programmes presented their final projects at Barcelona XR Lab. Data, text, image and sound come together to explore the global order and reframe systems for navigating the world.

Don't miss it

14 September 2026 - 18 September 2026

Barcelona

IED Barcelona 2026 Undergraduate Welcome Week

The welcome event for undergraduate students, teachers and staff to mark the official opening of the new academic year will take place on Monday 14 September.

Exhibitions and Festival

16 September 2026 - 07 October 2026

Genova

The horizon of desire: stories from Genoa’s Waterfronts.

Six perspectives, a city in transition. IED Turin showcases Genoa’s Porto Antico and the Levante Waterfront in a photography exhibition at Palazzo Ducale

Exhibitions and Festival

01 October 2026 - 01 October 2026

Barcelona

Brut! 2026

Three IED Barcelona alumni will take part in an event bringing together leading design schools to showcase their outstanding final degree projects at Disseny Hub Barcelona.

An open notebook showing two pencil sketches, one of a lamp and the other of designer handbags
Exhibitions and Festival

17 October 2026 - 17 October 2026

Barcelona

Barcelona Dibuixa 2026: “The Power of Hand Drawing”

IED Barcelona is offering this workshop, where participants will discover, guided by architect and lecturer Gianfranco La Cognata – Laco 2, how design takes shape through illustration.