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

Turin

Canavè

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Bilbao

Didactic projects
Post-Seasonalit

Visual and Interactive Arts

Rome

Didactic projects
Latent autobiography

Visual and Interactive Arts

Rome

Final projects / thesis projects
Geographies of the Prototype and of a Self Found Elsewhere

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Barcelona

Final projects / thesis projects
Fragmented Harmony

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Barcelona

Final projects / thesis projects
The Nameless House

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Madrid

Didactic projects
Estira un tirador

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Madrid

SOO

Graphic Design and Visual Communication

Madrid

Didactic projects
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News

15 June 2026

Eight ADG Laus Awards for IED Spain Students

IED Madrid, IED Barcelona and IED Kunsthal Bilbao won two Gold, four Silver and two Bronze awards at the 56th ADG Laus Awards, reaffirming the creative talent driving the next generation of designers.

15 June 2026

Three IED alumni among the winners of the iF Design Student Award 2026

Three alumni from IED Kunsthal Bilbao and IED Madrid have been recognised in the iF Design Student Award 2026, one of the world's leading international competitions for emerging design talent.

Times New: los Graduation Shows 2026 de IED Madrid exploran nuevas formas de diseñar el futuro

15 June 2026

Times New: IED Madrid’s 2026 Graduation Shows Explore New Ways of Designing the Future

Final projects from the Fashion, Visual Arts and Design Schools will take over IED Madrid Design District and IED Madrid Gran Vía on 25 and 26 June under the shared concept Times New.

12 June 2026

Issue 3: Future Memories - Plural Intelligences

What will we choose to remember from the present we are living through? This is the starting point of the third issue of Notes on Plural Intelligences – Future Memories.

09 June 2026

Creativity in motion: the IED.60 Public Programme gets underway

June marks a special moment for IED: the Public Program IED.60 is in full swing, with a rich calendar of events spanning fashion, design, illustration and visual arts, bringing talks, exhibitions and open events to Milan, Rome, Florence and New York for the IED community and the wider public.

08 June 2026

IED among the Top Design Schools 2026 according to Calibre Careers: european Network, industry connections and educational excellence

The international careers observatory analyses the Institute’s educational model, combining global recognition with the historic pillars of hands-on, laboratory-based teaching.

04 June 2026

Closing event in Brussels for Grand Tour AFAM

Grand Tour AFAM (GTA), featuring IED as a partner, is entering its final stretch.

29 May 2026

IED Kunsthal Bilbao and Orbea Imagine the Bicycle of the Future Together with the Next Generation of Designers

Students from the Bachelor of Arts in Product Design and Graphic Design at IED Kunsthal Bilbao collaborated with Orbea, a historic Basque company and an internationally recognised leader in the cycling industry, on a project imagining what bicycles might look like in 2040, coinciding with the company’s upcoming 200th anniversary.

TypoLAB, de Gonzalo Muñoz, finalista en los LADAWARDS 2026

27 May 2026

TypoLAB by Gonzalo Muñoz Named Finalist in the LADAWARDS 2026

The project receives another international recognition after being selected for the Latin American Design Awards.