To navigate the world of visual arts with professionalism and expertise, it’s essential to have an eclectic and cross-disciplinary cultural foundation.

Concepts like the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, and Phygital are no longer emerging trends, but realities that are redefining how we create and communicate. Technological evolution has expanded expressive possibilities, opening new horizons for design, animation, visual arts, visual communication, and the world of entertainment.

Those working in the visual arts sector no longer simply create images or content, but design experiences: immersive, interactive, multisensory. This requires a multidisciplinary approach, combining creativity, technology, and strategy, and involving figures such as Designers, Animators, Developers, and Communication Specialists.
Working with graphics, illustration, animation, photography, film, video, sound, and new media means adapting to ever-evolving languages and constantly experimenting with new solutions.

The IED School of Visual Arts is the creative laboratory where you can turn your passion into practical skills. Here, you can:

·       Go beyond technique, learning a method and an analytical approach to understand the relationship between form and identity, and the transformation of a mark into a symbol.

·       Experiment with cutting-edge technologies through a constantly updated research lab, where creativity and innovation meet.

·       Receive a comprehensive education, preparing you to enter today’s job market—and that of the future.

With the skills you’ll gain from the IED School of Visual Arts, you’ll be able to pursue a wide range of creative careers.

Here are some of the main professions you might explore:

  • Graphic Designer: A visual communicator who translates ideas into graphic elements essential to building and strengthening a company or brand’s visual identity.
     
  • Visual Artist: A creative who draws on various artistic disciplines—including painting, drawing, photography, and video—to communicate ideas and evoke emotion in contexts such as contemporary art, illustration, design, and advertising.
     
  • Photographer:  A master of the image who conveys stories and emotions through the lens, capturing the essence of the moment in each shot.
     
  • Video Designer: A visual content creator responsible for the conception, production, and editing of videos. This professional combines technical skills and creativity to produce works that entertain, inform, and engage audiences.
     
  • Illustrator:  A talented artist known for their ability to transform ideas, narratives, and concepts into captivating, engaging images.
     
  • Media Designer:  An innovative creative who specialises in visual storytelling, designing and producing digital content including graphics, audio, video, and animations to communicate messages effectively.
     
  • Sound Designer: A sound expert who plays a key role in audiovisual production, blending technical and artistic skills to enrich each story with immersive soundscapes.
     
  • CG Animator: An artist specialised in creating high-quality animations and visual effects across media including film, video games, and advertising, bringing worlds and characters to life through computer graphics.

Explore additional professional roles such as: Art Director, Game Designer, Visual Artist, Packaging Designer, UX Designer.

Where you find Visual Arts

Welcome to our visual arts fest! 

Our students explore new communication languages throughout visual arts every year; from ground breaking performing arts to analogue photography, we gather visual delights in one place to blow your mind with complex narratives and outstanding aesthetics.

Academic Offer

Alumni Experiences

Who better to share what it’s like to study at the IED School of Visual Arts than those who have already taken this journey?

Here are some testimonials from alumni who have transformed their passion into a career:

Erika Vigilante – Alumna, DAPL CG Animation, IED Milano
"I had an extraordinary professor in rigging. The passion he showed in explaining his work still stays with me today. [...] For anyone wanting to follow a path like mine, I would say: focus on a skill that feels natural to you and practise it over and over again."

Domenico Romeo – Alumnus, DAPL Graphic Design, IED Roma
"When I was studying, what pushed me to do well was curiosity. So my advice to younger students is to stay curious, look around you, look at those who came before—something I did often—and never think you’ve already made it."

Simon Mitjans – Alumnus, DAPL Media Design, IED Roma
"I first met PWC during a workshop organised by IED’s Career Service, but at the time I was already working for a software development company. Later on, I came across a job posting from PWC on LinkedIn. At the interview, they remembered our first meeting at IED, and soon after, I started working for them full-time."

Elisa Milanesio – Alumna, Master in Visual Arts, IED Milano
"I graduated alongside two classmates with a digitally hand-drawn 2D animated short, which in 2019 won the Giuseppe Laganà award. Just a month after that positive feedback—and with a push from a former IED lecturer, with whom I’m still in contact—I joined Movimenti Production as a junior compositor."

Vincenzo Pizzi – Alumnus, DAPL Sound Design, IED Roma
"IED was a fundamental foundation for developing technical skills and abilities, and for establishing my first professional relationships. It’s a course of study that requires a great deal of work, research, and hands-on practice."

Luca Crescenzi – Alumnus, DAPL Graphic Design, IED Milano
"The education I received at IED led me to one conviction: never settle for what seems immediately impressive, always push one step further."

Projects

Fashion Communication and Management

Rome

Didactic projects
Canale Monterano Fashion Shoot

Video, Cinema and Sound Design

Rome

Final projects / thesis projects
Phýsis

Video, Cinema and Sound Design

Rome

Final projects / thesis projects
Dente da latte

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Rome

Final projects / thesis projects
Il mondo tra le dita

Visual and Interactive Arts

Rome

Final projects / thesis projects
Mourning Tide

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Rome

Final projects / thesis projects
Jeanne
Six interactive screens displaying different digital mazes

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Barcelona

Final projects / thesis projects
Ananke: An Arc of Six Screens
A red notebook fitting into a pink cover with perforated embossing

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Barcelona

Final projects / thesis projects
Resurface

Video, Cinema and Sound Design

Rome

Didactic projects
Session views

News

28 October 2026

National Portfolio Day Milan 2026

In its 60th anniversary year, IED hosts the Milan edition of National Portfolio Day, the international event for anyone who wants to study or specialize in art, design, fashion and visual communication.

Side view of a presentation with the audience seated and five panelists

28 October 2026

“Strategic Design Clinic” explores disruptive futures at IED Barcelona

Held to mark 20 editions of the Master in Strategic Design Management and as part of Barcelona Design Week, the clinic brought together professionals, innovation leaders and students to tackle real-world challenges through strategic design thinking.

Poster with the program of activites for a two-day conference

28 October 2026

The IED Barcelona community takes part in the conference that brings together the world’s leading figures in Design Management

“Service Design Disrupted” explored the future of design with contributions from lecturers Alessia Rullo, Mabel Lazzarin and Markel Cormenzana, Business Design student Fer Herrera, and Manuela Procopio, Academic Manager at IED Barcelona, who moderated a panel discussion.

Man with glasses showing a yellow pen cap

28 October 2026

Marc Stickdorn at IED Barcelona for a Service Design Disrupted satellite workshop

The founder and CEO of Smaply explored service design, innovation and organisational transformation in an additional workshop held ahead of the international conference at DHub as part of Barcelona Design Week.

28 October 2026

Italian Female Filmmakers in the Sixties and Seventies: Book Presentation as Part of Lo Schermo dell’Arte

As part of Lo Schermo dell’Arte 2026, an event at IED Firenze dedicated to the film and video work of women artists active in Italy during the 1960s and 1970s.

Art and design exhibition featuring two central rocks sewn with printed fabrics

23 October 2026

“Valor Ancestral: Latam Creative Talent 2026” makes a stop at IED Barcelona

Following its presentation at IED Madrid and ahead of its move to IED Kunsthal Bilbao, the latest edition of the international exhibition, an initiative promoted by IED since 2022, was on display to coincide with the Barcelona campus’s activities as part of Barcelona Design Week.

21 October 2026

IED Torino at Torino Art Week 2026

IED Torino at Torino Art Week with a series of collaborations and projects involving students from different courses, from Photography to Communication Design.

16 October 2026

From Zero to Future 2026

Opening of the Academic Year in Visual Arts and Communication with a Three-Day Workshop for New Students

14 October 2026

TypoLAB by Gonzalo Muñoz wins a LADAWARD 2026 Award

The project adds another international accolade to its list of achievements, winning in the Student–Digital category.