David Pérez Medina: "the Graphic Design sector is at a particularly attractive and challenging moment".

David Pérez Medina, director of the Online Master in Graphic Design at UDIT, University of Design, Innovation and Technology, reviews in this interview the current situation of the sector, the trends that are going to mark the future in the short-medium term and, of course, the challenges posed by this new 100% online degree, with which the University shows its firm commitment to society and its particularities at this time . 

• How do you currently see the Graphic Design sector? 

The graphic design sector, understood in its broadest and most holistic form, is at a particularly attractive and challenging moment due to the many changes that are taking place.It is growing in general terms and is gaining ground over other sectors such as advertising, because with the fall of conventional media, brands first need to be strong and then communicate with skill and coherence in media that are almost impossible to control and that often take advantage of our profiles. 

• What are the trends that, from your point of view, are going to mark the future in the short to medium term? 

The main trend is that our sector is constantly increasing its margins and this means that we are increasingly in demand in other sectors such as digital product design, user experience design, audiovisual, marketing, advertising and communication. With these and other sectors, borders are blurring and with a transversal vision we can see how the employability of graphic profiles is growing as never before. The field of graphic design has always changed and will continue to do so. 

Another no less important trend is determined by the growing use of an increasingly sophisticated AI in the generation of content, something that far from being a competition for professionals in the graphics sector, is an increase in our capabilities and opportunities, because it is in the hands of truly creative and truly prepared profiles that these present and future technologies can best express themselves. 

Finally, the growing consumption of digital and audiovisual content to the detriment of printed publications has led to less commissioning of editorial design and offline graphic design is now an almost exclusive territory of packaging and will be even more so in the future, as consumption continues to grow. This trend can also be seen as an opportunity in our case, as in packaging, profiles from graphic design with strategic, editorial and branding skills are in demand, to the detriment of other profiles that were previously more in demand. 

• In this sense, what are the main challenges facing young and future designers? 

They will have to be very flexible and be prepared to develop in areas other than the traditional specialities of graphic design.Ours is a profession that seems very new, but is nevertheless very old and is called "knowing how to do everything", or more precisely "knowing how to do something very well by knowing a bit of everything and of course being creative and extraordinarily curious". 

A doctor will probably do the same as he does now in ten years' time and we will still refer to him as a doctor. 

A graphic designer or a visual designer (and we don't always call each other that now) will certainly not do anything like what he does now, let alone know how to refer to him. 

• What about the challenges facing the academic department? 

That evolving professional profile I was referring to before, together with the diffuse margins of the field of action of Graphic Design and together with novelties such as the irruption of the aforementioned AI and other social and cultural changes, make it exceptionally difficult for the academic world to prepare degrees that satisfy needs that we still don't know and only intuit. 

At UDIT we try to think big and we almost always anticipate what is to come. In any case, if you train someone as a designer, do it well and preferably in a transversal way, I assure you that they will be prepared for what is to come. 

• We are starting the Online Master in Graphic Design, what would you say is its differential point / aspect? 

Our main objective is to transfer our model of face-to-face master's degree to the online format. No more, no less . 

You might think that it won't be easy, because our face-to-face Master's is now in its sixth edition, it is well established and is a successful model. However, its virtues will continue to shape the points to be highlighted in this new online format: 

It is very professionalising: the subjects are prepared by the same professors as the on-site format and the same practical approach focused on building a portfolio. 12 of the 14 teachers are graphic design professionals with a highly recognised activity . 

It is very academic: the training has the seal of excellence that UDIT transfers to all its programmes: it is an official programme with the best teachers, of course accredited doctors and doctors and 9 out of 14 also teach on other UDIT degrees. 

It is highly personalised: the lack of presence may seem the most obvious handicap of the online format, however, in addition to the obvious advantages of the format (for example, being able to combine the training with other obligations or avoiding travel) we can add that the team of technopedagogues at UDIT has developed a programme with the necessary synchronous sessions strategically combined with many other learning formats such as: video micro classes, video tutorials, forums, interactive resources, round tables, etc. This takes online training to the highest level, perfectly comparable to our face-to-face format and certainly much more personalised than the majority of online programmes on the market. 

• And who is it aimed at? 

As this is an official master's degree, it is aimed at university graduates, preferably from disciplines related to graphic design and with a strong predisposition towards graphic design. It will also be valued if they have a portfolio, or at least have one under construction.Potential candidates should also be able to handle, to one degree or another, the graphic and audiovisual tools of the Adobe suite, and should have already mastered other tools such as Figma. Although the master's degree includes some additional training in these tools prior to the master's degree, they are not designed to learn from scratch, but rather to standardise levels. 

• Tell us, what will the experience be like for the students of this 100% online degree? 

The online degrees that we develop at UDIT aim for maximum quality and, when available, to replicate the experience of the reference degrees in the classroom, so that the level of learning and the quality of the experience is absolutely comparable in both cases.In this case, we can assure that the results of both programmes will be similar and will allow graduates to leave with portfolios that are fully comparable in terms of excellence. 

• What kind of content will they be able to enjoy? 

A training programme that has been successfully tested in the classroom, duly adjusted to the online format by the same teachers and the expert team of technopedagogues at UDIT. 

• When talking about an online degree, the question always arises as to how the practical part will be dealt with. How will this be done in this case? 

The practical part is critical and is at the heart of the Master's approach. Throughout each online course, students carry out activities directly related to the content of the course and to the professional environment of their Master's degree. 

Through the university's learning platform, applied projects, case-based exercises and personalised feedback are provided by the lecturers, thus enriching the student's learning process.

In addition, the exercises designed by the teachers promote the use of digital tools and professional software used in the industry, allowing students to become even more familiar with the instruments they will use in their professional life. 

• What about internships? 

The university has various resources and devices to support students in their internships: 

• A lecturer who is an expert in portfolio preparation advises students on how to prepare their portfolio, in order to maximise their potential and the number and quality of opportunities. 
• A team specifically dedicated to the management of internships, which is in charge of finding companies for internships, identifying the expectations or particular situations of the student, etc.
• A classroom on the UDIT virtual campus where students will find important information on internships to understand what documentation they need to submit, what steps they need to take for this process: internship guide, regulations, approval requirements, etc.
• A UDIT academic tutor who accompanies the student throughout the internship. 
• A student portal through which students can carry out different processes related to their internships: application to companies, contact with the company tutor, contact with the UDIT tutor, etc. 

In the event that a student chooses to validate the internship, the virtual campus provides the necessary information to understand the requirements for validation and the documentation that must be provided. 

• What professions does it qualify for? 

This programme qualifies you for an infinite number of positions in agencies, studios and consultancies in all specialities of the sector and, of course, for independent entrepreneurship, but especially for the profiles of Visual Designer, Graphic Designer on and off line, Branding Designer, Editorial Designer, Packaging Designer, Graphic Designer, Graphic Designer, Graphic Designer, Graphic Designer, Graphic Designer and Graphic Designer.Editorial Designer, Packaging Designer, Audiovisual Designer, Digital Designer (UX/UI), Art Director, Creative in advertising agencies and for the performance of any of these tasks in in-house departments of companies in sectors other than graphic design or in the public administration itself. 

In any case, the transversal training you receive in this Master's degree allows you to develop a wide range of skills, which will adapt well to creative profiles that we do not yet know today and that will surely be in demand in the future. 

• What would you say to people who are considering taking this degree? 

To compare well and make sure . 

If they really have a clear idea of what they want to specialise in, they should look for the specialised Master's degree that they think best prepares them for it . 

If they are not sure what they like the most, something that is very common in junior or inexperienced profiles, I would recommend them to do a very good transversal master's degree, and it is better if it is official,such as the Official Master's in Graphic Design Online at UDIT, as the official status is not only a guarantee, but also opens the door to a future academic career, among many other things.