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 VigilanteAlumna, 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 RomeoAlumnus, 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 MitjansAlumnus, 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 MilanesioAlumna, 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 PizziAlumnus, 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 CrescenziAlumnus, 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

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Madrid

Special projects
Tejiendo Comunidad - Carabanchel Distrito Cultural

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Madrid

Didactic projects
Interstice

Visual and Interactive Arts

Madrid

Didactic projects
NEUº

Visual and Interactive Arts

Madrid

Didactic projects
Typolab

Visual and Interactive Arts

Madrid

Didactic projects
Hellraiser

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Madrid

Didactic projects
Sinestesia

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Madrid

Special projects
Abono 03. Hogar

Visual and Interactive Arts

Madrid

Didactic projects
Ñaño
Poster with colored lettering with the name CELESTIAL BODIES on a black background

Interaction Design and User Experience

Barcelona

Final projects / thesis projects
Celestial Bodies

News

03 March 2026

This was IED MUSES Talks: Omar Sosa

The co-founder of ‘Apartamento Magazine’ shared his creative dynamics at the intersection of art, architecture and editorial design in the second episode of the second season of the IED’s inspirational talk series.

IED Expands Its English-Language Offer with New Courses in Design, Fashion and Film

27 February 2026

IED Expands Its English-Language Offer with New Courses in Design, Fashion and Film

IED – Istituto Europeo di Design is broadening its international offer with a new range of English-taught courses. A strategic move that strengthens IED’s position as Europe’s largest design network, opening its doors to students and creative professionals from across the globe.

Display case of a typography exhibition

26 February 2026

TDC 71: The Power of Typography Arrives at IED Barcelona

From 25 February to 25 March, the campus will host, for the second consecutive year, the exhibition of the finest international works awarded by the Type Directors Club (TDC) of New York in 2025.

23 February 2026

IED Kunsthal Bilbao presents “¿Y TÚ? TA ZU? ” in collaboration with the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum and the Mayor of Bilbao.

The graphic intervention emerges from the students’ direct engagement with the exhibition dedicated to Barbara Kruger at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, inviting the public to reflect on their role within today’s complex reality.

20 February 2026

VISIONI DAL FUTURO - A century of posters from the Triennale Milano Archives, animated and reinterpreted by young designers

The installation, part of the European project SISS – Sounding Images, Screening Sounds, was presented in the Agora of IED Kunsthal Bilbao with a live performance.

18 February 2026

Project Week 2026 with Sammontana Across Fashion, Design and Visual Arts

From February 23 to 27, IED Firenze's Project Week is back: a week of creative design that brings students face to face with the real world of business.

Overhead view of a labyrinth of fabric panels and light

10 February 2026

IED Barcelona bathes Llum BCN 26 in warm light

The lighting design installation “Fabric Maze”, a labyrinth of fabrics, lights and shadows inspired by the textile past of the Poblenou neighbourhood, created warm visual compositions with each visitor’s passage.

09 February 2026

Creativity, design and architecture at the Workshop Week 2026

From 2 to 6 February, 430 students at IED Barcelona took part in this annual multidisciplinary academic activity, which offered 25 multidisciplinary workshops inspired by the Barcelona World Capital of Architecture 2026 event. And, for the first time, it included mobility between campuses.

04 February 2026

punto—trama LAB: workshops for young designers

After its first edition, punto—trama continues its journey as a space for dialogue and experimentation dedicated to young designers.