Communication design course

Bridging
visual communication
and
Strategy

From apps to signage, from illustrated story books to animation films, from magazine layouts to eye-catching brand logos, every aspect of your life involves adept communications.

Learn to create compelling messages from concept stage to final form by using appropriate language, visuals, moving images and digital experiences. Our course prepares you to address the needs of a hyper-connected world through a wide range of visual media ranging from digital and web to print and publications.

Course highlights

  • 2/4

Versatile Designers

Learning Beyond the Studios

Creative Collaborations

Design for a better future

Students get exposure to a variety of fields within the domain of Communication Design, such as graphics & publication, film & animation, branding & advertising and UX/UI – and many more. Simultaneously, they prepare to be specialists in their chosen field, by selecting projects that sharpen their expertise. This approach enables them to move between generalist and specialist, putting them in an advantageous position to address rapidly evolving requirements in their field.

We extend learning beyond the confines of the studio into the larger social, cultural and commercial realms. Students explore the vast potential of the city of Delhi, and discover needs and problem areas to find suitable design solutions; the citizens are your stakeholders, the city’s culture and its arts, their repository. Our past collaborations on projects include Select City Walk Mall and Katha Publications.

Active collaborations between professionals, faculty and peers from different disciplines allows students to learn ‘with’ and ‘from’ each other. Our emphasis on networking, pitching ideas with confidence and seeking feedback from experts, infuses students with an entrepreneurial spirit, and they become experienced and employable.

Society's needs can inspire designers to innovate. Our students are taught to investigate these needs to create solutions that are not only conceptually strong but also shape how our world looks and functions. Through carefully crafted human-centered projects, we sensitise students to create communications that inform, educate and contribute to society’s well-being.

COURSE DETAIL

COURSE DETAIL

  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
Foundation is a bridging program, aiding your transition from school to un-school. It provides students a pathway to confidently enter the creative, open-ended, exploratory and experimental environment of design education at IIAD. They acquire a broad spectrum of design skills and build their design vocabulary. After successfully completing the Foundation year, students seamlessly progress to BA (Hons) Communication Design course.
The first year entails a journey of ‘unpacking the self’. By digging deep into your memories and childhood, you discover the inner storyteller within you. As you learn new methods of visualization, you are also encouraged to communicate through words, visual imagery and symbols to develop a unique narrative and voice. Through contemporary debates around gender, diversity, inclusivity, culture and environment, you explore storytelling using different mediums to engage, inform, persuade, educate, and entertain a varied audience. Your chosen medium – be it newspaper, magazine, television, billboards, apps or internet – becomes the canvas to experiment and explore. Along with developing your hand skills in illustration and storyboarding, you also learn digital tools such as Adobe Creative suite for publication and animation, Invision for UI/UX, Glyphs for type-design, and SketchUp for spatial design, to help you translate your ideas into outcomes. By the end of the year, you would have developed skills to bring your ideas alive across different platforms such as print, digital, audio-visual as well as spatial.
At the end of this year, your first industry interface will be facilitated with an 8-week Learn On-site internship, which will focus on multidisciplinary learning experiences. Students can opt to work in various avenues of communication design – such as print and publication, film and animation, UX/UI, website design, branding and advertising – to name a few.
The second year pushes the boundaries of communication design and prepares you for the challenges of constantly evolving technology. You will learn both traditional and contemporary skills, tools and techniques, and apply them across complex media applications and practices. From developing your own font to creating a publication, you explore meaningful ways in different mediums to reach out to the target audience. You also learn to use tools and methodologies such as scenario planning, user journey maps, empathy maps, system thinking tools, etc. to come up with user-centric design solutions for UX/UI. Through digital interactive platforms you will weave together images, music, narrative and voice to give modern expression to characters, situations and experiences. The project starts with a visit to an out-station location where you search for stories ranging from personal experiences to recounting of historical events or exploring life in one’s own community. Students also work on international competition briefs such as D&AD, RSA and TypoDay as studio projects. You will create engaging content based on global themes and contemporary issues to inspire change and foster innovation.
The 16-week Learn On-site internship is a long-term industry exposure envisaged as the gateway to your professional debut. You get opportunities to work in industry environments and understand the dynamics of organisational set-up. You will work in set-ups such as design studios, advertising agencies, production houses, publication houses amongst others, both within India and internationally. In the past, students have secured internships in several leading design studios including Ogilvy & Mather, JWD, Quicksand, Denstu, Studio Fry, Quicksand, Om books, Roli Books, Oyorooms, Katha publications, Double Barrel Production house and Reliance, among many others.
Starting your journey with, “unpacking” to now “repacking” the self, you come a full circle. In the final year, you create a distinct brand identity for yourself while building your networking and entrepreneurial skills. Working on a Social Design project leads you to evolve into ethical and purposeful design professionals committed to “designing for a better future”. With the exposure to diverse areas within this versatile discipline and on-site work experience, you now have a chance to focus on an area of interest and strengthen your design abilities within the chosen area. Major Design Project The Major Design Project is an amalgamation of your chosen medium of specialization and subject-area of interest. Students work on projects in sectors ranging from social to business to entertainment, aggregating a diverse portfolio for themselves. You undertake a project set in business realities, which can be self-initiated or industry-sponsored. You will take independent design decisions while being closely mentored by faculty and industry experts. Your project will culminate in a creative outcome such as a film, animation, typographic design, social design, campaign, editorial design, interaction design, service design, user experience, spatial experience and many more, bringing a sense of accomplishment to your transformative design education.

In this One Year programme your term will commence with an upgradation of the required skills, tools and techniques and how they can be used across different media. The focus will be on traditional hand as well as contemporary digital skills. Special emphasis will be placed on digital tools such as Adobe Creative suite for publication and Glyphs for type-design.

Creating your own publication from font to layout will form one of the projects that will help you explore ways to reach out to a wider audience. You will discover scenario planning, user journey maps, empathy maps, system thinking tools, etc to create the perfect format.

To be a good communication designer you require to be a good storyteller. Discussions on gender, diversity, inclusivity, culture and environment etc will form the focus around which your work will be based. You could choose a format to work on – be it a newspaper, magazine, television, billboards etc and you will use your storytelling skills to engage, inform and entertain your audience. You will be encouraged to take part in global competitions to understand the world context along with an Indian perspective.

As a culmination of the year you would work on a Major Design Project whereby you will undertake a project that will bring all your learnings together. Your project will be self initiated and there must be an end product. This project will serve as your portfolio for your introduction to the industry.

STUDENT WORK

“It is amazing how even with a common brief, we all tend to think from different perspectives.” — Terukula Shyam, Communication Design

Brand identity for a Guwahati based company 'The Good Batch Foods', a bread manufacturing company entering into the retail market required a package design for its product range.

#MENTOO is an offline and online movement to create a safe space for men for them to explore, experience, and discuss their interaction with physical, emotional, and/or mental trauma. Creating awareness to initiate action.

Lopamudra Bose - 'Dorbesh' -  A Bengali display font to commemorate the aspects of poster design and wall art influenced by the political scenario of Bengal.

Brand Strategy for Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable tourism; Brand strategy, identity design and collaterals for Green People, an impact organisation working towards reverse migration of marginalised locals and farmers via two channels, ‘The Goat Village’ & ‘Bakri Chhap’.

success stories

Aakriti Jain

Communication Design
INTERNED AT
Iarani Incorporation
PLACED AT
Squareboat
2019 BATCH
Aakriti Jain

Himaprabal Gaud

Communication Design
INTERNED AT
Prasun Majumdar Design
PLACED AT
Ziploan
2019 BATCH
Himaprabal Gaud

Angad Singh

Communication Design
INTERNED AT
Gurdas Studios & Studiofry
PLACED AT
Instasolv
2020 BATCH
Angad Singh

Manuel Edwin NJ

Communication Design
INTERNED AT
Ogilvy
PLACED AT
Mastree
2020 BATCH
Manuel Edwin NJ

The education system and the freedom given here is refreshing. It's amazing when you are encouraged to not be dependent on the teachers, and be open to collaboration & taking feedback.

Pratishtha Purwar, Communication Design

"The larger question is if I am comfortable being who I am at the moment. The numerous project and internship experiences has made me confident about my skill set."

- Himprabal Goud, Communication Design

"Design makes you critical. You question the what, why and how of everything you do; everything everyone else does. It's great!”

- Chaitanya Bhatti, Communication Design

CAREER

What does a

communication designer do?​

Communication Design is one of the fast-moving fields, and proliferates all media and enterprises. From your mobile app, advertisement, poster, movie or book to designing museums, experiences, installations and events, a communication designer is involved in conceptualizing and creating designs that combine visuals and words. Communication design is a wide stream, offering many opportunities, and these are all listed here. Your overarching task is to engage your target audience and deliver a message successfully.

FACULTY

course

leaders

+

Aarti Uberoi

Associate ProfessorCommunication Design

Aarti Uberoi is a multi-disciplinary design practitioner with over two decades of experience as a consultant, academician and entrepreneur. An alumna of Massey University, New Zealand and NIFT, New Delhi. She also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) from Nottingham Trent University, UK.

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IIAD Faculty Aarti-Uberoi

course
leader

+

Shaaz Ahmed

Associate Professor

Rich experience of over 20 years in Animation, Design and Storytelling, Shaaz has been an explorer in methods and mediums of visual narratives. As the Founding Director of Mud n Water - a Communication Design Studio, he has produced Animations, Urban Art, Space Design, Ad Films, Short films, Documentaries and Performance Art.

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IIAD Faculty Shaaz-Ahmed
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Manisha Pritilaya

Assistant Professor

Manisha is a specialist in Creative Branding and Marketing. She has been working in the space of advertising and brand communication design for more than a decade now. Manisha was a visiting faculty at GD Goenka University, Gurugram, for four and a half years.

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Shachi Parmar

Assistant Professor

Endorsed by a Masters in Digital Innovation and Creativity, and heralded by her 10 multi-disciplinary years in the creative industries, Shachi’s motivation lies in creating new digital strategies that redefine ideas, values, and identity, meeting struggles of change and constant innovation, adaptability, and efficiency. 

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Shachi Parmar
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Suman Bhandary

Assistant Professor

Suman Bhandary is a typeface designer and font developer who graduated with a MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading, UK and a recipient of the prestigious Charles Wallace Scholarship. He has contributed as a Principal Designer of the font “Mina” published by Google Fonts and featured by Google Design, in 2017. He specialises in working with multilingual Indian and Latin typeface design briefs, its process and production for the design.

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IIAD Faculty Suman-Bhandary
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Inderjit Singh Jassel

Technical Lecturer

Highly skilled in Hardware and Software solutions and application, Inderjit Singh Jassel is a seasoned Industry professional, with over 13 years of experience in visual communication with extensive experience in Graphic design, Project management and Production assignments at Technical skill and managerial level.

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IIAD Faculty Inderjit-Singh-Jassel
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Varud Gupta

Visiting Faculty

Varud Gupta was born and bred for business until an existential crisis sent him travelling and writing through the culinary cultures of the world. It was on this journey he fell in love with storytelling. His first book, Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan, is an exploration of food and faith in India (2019 Gourmand India "Peace"). And second Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love, is a coming of age story graphic novel set in 1947 (Comic Con India 2020 "Best Writer").

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IIAD-Faculty-Varud-Gupta

STUDIO

AND RESOURCES

IIAD has a purpose-built campus that is aligned to the dynamic learning-teaching needs of its progressive pedagogy and curriculum. The adaptive spaces with studios, digital labs with Mac stations with licensed copies of industry standard design software’s and photography labs, 3D material workshops have been designed to facilitate seamless multidisciplinary collaborations and exchanges.

Teaching and Learning at IIAD by design professionals

Students are taught by design professionals. They learn to create compelling messages from concept stage to final form by using appropriate mediums.

The photography lab is equipped with tools required for projects and documentation.

IIAD’s photography lab is equipped with tools like DSLR cameras, professional lighting, backgrounds and screens made available for students to explore visuals, moving images and for documentation purposes.

CD students exhibit their work on Personal Narratives and Visual Language

Linocut and Woodcut printing -  Communication Design students put up an exhibition of their work built around 2 key themes - Personal Narratives and Visual Language.

IIAD students exhibit their work as part of the annual global Art Challenge - INKTOBER 2019.

IIAD students exhibit their work as part of the annual global Art Challenge - INKTOBER 2019.

STORIES