The bachelor’s degree in graphic design combines creativity and visual communication. Students get skills to design advertising, informative, and corporate communication campaigns, leading or collaborating in multidisciplinary teams. They excel in graphic creation, fostering innovation, and proving connections in a world where image is paramount.
This program trains professionals capable of creating creative and effective visual solutions through messages and concepts in various contexts. This may include the design of logos, advertising campaigns, signage, stands, graphic pieces for editorial projects, web pages, advertising material, and packaging, using technological tools, concept development, and the planning and execution of graphic and advertising projects. The essence of this program is the connection between creativity, aesthetics, and visual communication, which makes it a fundamental discipline.

MISSION
To cooperate with society by training creative and innovative professionals with research and critical thinking skills to solve visual communication problems.

VISION
To be a regional reference in visual communication as a critical factor for innovation and developing solutions for society.

* Undergraduate tuition/fees:
The Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador in its Article 356, among other principles, establishes that third-level public higher education will be tuition/fees free.  Zero cost education is linked to the academic responsibility of the students.

Number of students admitted per academic year
Number of graduates per academic year
Number of enrolled students per academic year
658 Total active students in the career

We are looking for creative and resourceful students who have:

  • Keen sense of aesthetics

  • Handcraft skills

  • Technical skills

  • Visual literacy

  • Highly motivated to create innovative graphic products.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES  

Graduates of the Graphic design degree program should be able after graduation to:

  • To perform professionally as graphic creatives in developing projects, helping design management in companies at strategic, functional, and operational levels to make them more competitive and solve professional challenges at national and international levels.

  • To be an entrepreneurial leader who, through research and innovation, designs concepts and communication products with analytical and critical vision, according to the needs, becoming a transformer of the same.

  • Following market and technological advances, to develop new skills and knowledge through continuing education in using and applying new methodologies, techniques, and learning.

  • Achieve achievements or recognition due to ethical and responsible actions in their professional and personal activities with society.

 

COMPETENCIES

  • Competency 1: Communicate effectively orally and in writing with clarity and creativity in diverse contexts and perspectives.

  • Competency 2: Apply learning strategies, managing information and digital content according to learning demands and communication uses.

  • Competency 3: Argue value proposals from art, design, and communication, considering technical, economic, environmental, social, and cultural aspects.

  • Competence 4: Approach sociocultural, artistic, and historical objects of study and their experimentation and research through qualitative and quantitative methodologies for knowledge generation and ethical management.

  • Competency 5: Promote ethical responsibilities in professional issues and formulate informed judgments, considering the impact of solutions in social, environmental, economic, and global contexts.

  • Competency 6: Function effectively as a proactive team member or leader, able to respect, understand, and evaluate work across various disciplines to achieve given goals.

  • Competency 7: The ability to communicate effectively with various audiences/diverse professional contexts in English.

  • Competency 8: The ability to conduct research from different approaches, groups of people, and contexts for its application in design and visual communication solutions.

  • Competency 9: The ability to design visual products and communication systems from conceptualization, applying principles of aesthetics, visual literacy, and creativity.

  • Competency 10: Using technology critically to address products, systems, and visual communication proposals.

 

GRADUATE PROFILE  

The graduate profile of the program frames the institutional learning results oriented towards the person and discipline specific to graphic design, which is developed along the curricular routes of training set up in the program and contextualized in the knowledge of education (BEING, KNOWING, and KNOWING HOW TO DO) where its applicability is shown.
In this context, at the end of the course, graduates will be able to:

Institutional Learning Outcomes

  1. Understanding ethical and professional responsibility through the autonomous and strategic construction of knowledge and forming citizens who act responsibly, equitably, and freely.  

  2. To have the ability to communicate effectively in oral and written form in Spanish; being able to take part in diverse types of communicative processes, raising the levels of cognitive development to share any information in a socially responsible manner.

  3. Can communicate in English; as a future professional, they must be able to handle English in a properly structured manner.  

  4. Recognize the need for and engage in lifelong learning that allows autonomous work to be a tool for learning and unlearning, constructing and deconstructing knowledge.  

  5. To understand contemporary issues, encourage constant updating, interest in socially relevant topics, and develop the spirit of research.  

  6. Can work as part of a multidisciplinary team, where he/she can take part as a collaborative and cooperative work group member.  

  7. Recognize the need and have the skills to undertake, for which they must have the spirit of documentation, initiative, leadership, goals, self-confidence, persistence, commitment, self-improvement, quality, efficiency, persuasion, planning, and systematic follow-up that will allow him/her to create their own business in the future.  

Disciplinary Learning Outcomes  

  1. Ability to apply principles and processes related to visual communication; being familiar with the current practice of graphic design and visual communication and considering its socio-cultural, ethical, and environmental implications.  

  2. Ability to develop research and process analysis in the execution of graphic projects in a rigorous manner, both in theory and practice.  

  3. Ability to use technologies to design creative solutions to visual communication problems, develop innovative concepts, analyze situations, and propose efficient communicative solutions using artistic techniques and recent technologies.

Future professionals in graphic design, based on relevance, graduate follow-up, employability studies, and latest trends in the discipline, will be able to work in the following professional fields and their respective roles:

- Design studios: performing the functions or roles of graphic designer, art director, creative director (design project manager), and manager.
- Publishing sector: layout designer, photographer, graphic designer, art director, computer graphics and illustrator.
- Inhouse (design department): graphic designer or art director.
- Graphic industry: graphic designer, art director, graphic quality supervisor, and manager.
- Comics and novels: illustrator, layout designer, and graphic designer.
- BTL agencies: graphic designer, art director, creative director (design project manager), and manager.
- Advertising agencies: graphic designer, art director, creative copywriter, creative director (design project manager), and manager.
- Digital and web design agencies: user experience designer, web interface designer, applications, and multimedia.
- Cultural centers (museums, galleries, stands, etc.): graphic designer, computer graphics, photographer, illustrator.
- Freelance and collaborative work and ventures: graphic consultants.
- Secondary education and high schools: teacher in subjects related to the arts and departmental graphic design.
- Higher education: teachers and researchers in graphic design.

Occupational Profile

Graphic designers work in specialized services in design, communication and multimedia, art and culture, and design management: illustration, photography, book and magazine design, advertising, corporate design, branding, and identity strategies; exterior and exhibition design; design of didactic-cultural materials, web, and digital interface design. In addition, they will also be able to develop artistic-cultural projects, as well as be a member of a design team in design studios, advertising agencies, publishing houses, and press agencies, or autonomously, performing consultancies or freelance work and progressing to positions such as head of graphic arts, art director, creative director, or manager.

The program is designed to be completed over eight academic semesters, equivalent to 5,760 hours, divided into 720 hours per semester.

  • The student must complete the academic curriculum courses that grant 115 credits.

  • To carry out pre-professional practices and/or internships, which include 240 hours.

  • To make links with society, including 96 hours.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A DESIGNER'S DEGREE.

CAPSTONE COURSE  

Requirements

- To be an active registered student.
- To have passed the Capstone course.
- To have the "COMPLETED CURRICULA" status or 100% program advancement.
- To be a debt-free student.
- To have finished all the pre-professional business and community service internships.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must specify how you want your name to appear in the title. Preferably, this information should be written in PRINT.

DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED  

- Paid letter or document requesting the final degree.  
- Letter of document approval, anti-plagiarism review of the thesis project, signed by the primary advisor.  
- Letter of content review of the final project, signed by the tutor.  
- Graduate survey (FADCOM programs have a specific survey).  
- Legible color copy of the citizenship card; separately, you must write your first and last names with the corresponding accents.
- Two disks (CD) having the thesis project in PDF format (including the brief, images, artwork, and video files). The documents and files in the CD’s must be approved and signed.  

The Capstone Project is a culminating requirement for graduation. These projects provide students with the experience of applying acquired knowledge and skills to the needs of society, with a focus on sustainability.
The IDEAR Fair showcases all Capstone projects, offering students a valuable opportunity to showcase their work and hone soft skills such as communication and teamwork. It is also a space for students to network with potential clients and future employers.
Explore all of the Capstone projects completed by the Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design program.