Visuelle Kommunikation (Visual Communication)
The creative production of expressive images, graphic art and texts for public usage plays an important role in visual communication. The field of designing the exchange of information has now expanded beyond the use of traditional, graphically expressive media. Visual communication refers to the entire humandesigned environment and its modes of communication. Planning campaigns and multifaceted events can be just as much a part of this still loosely defined professional field as that of dramaturgically organizing complex sensual impressions and communicating with audio-visual, electronic media and in digital networks.
This degree programme is taught by the following professors:
- Photography: Prof. Dr. Birgit Wudtke
- Graphic Design: Prof. Markus Weisbeck
- Image-Text-Concept: Prof. Burkhart von Scheven
- Typography and Type Design: tba
- Cross-media Moving Image: Prof. Jörn Hintzer and Prof. Jakob Hüfner
The degree programme Visual Communication offers the following courses:
Standard duration of programme | Deadline for application | Application |
---|---|---|
8 Semesters | 31 March | How to apply |
In order to develop innovative procedural and design models for a wide range of tasks, it is crucial that our future designers master concept-driven, artistic and design approaches and can apply theoretical, scientific and technical knowledge to relevant problems.
In this rapidly changing world, it is especially important to work in a flexible and conscientious manner. Students in this degree programme must learn to think methodically and independently, critically evaluate others (as well as themselves), and understand communicative, media-related processes and their aesthetic, social and environmental functions. The method of instruction described earlier, i.e. »interdisciplinary project work«, enables, encourages and even requires students to think in this way.
Our students and alumni design magazines, catalogues, manuscripts, guidance systems and websites. They take photos, produce books, films, commercials, TV graphics, posters and postcards. From simple logos to complex corporate design campaigns for cultural institutions, industry and trade, the entertainment business and advertising, they employ visual strategies to create compelling images and appearances.
The most critical skill they possess is an ability to communicate specific messages through a sophisticated interplay of words, texts and images, systems and structures. Their work promotes communication, educates and informs the public, reveals, clarifies and delights.
Following the prescribed duration of study of eight semesters, students obtain a »Bachelor of Arts« degree, the first-level certificate of professional qualification.
In the follow-up two-semester master's degree programme "Visual Cultures", students gain transferable skills for design-related professions in Visual Communication which focus on the problems and issues of Visual Cultures.
Application for the aptitude test in the undergraduate degree programme Visual Communication
The application for all degree programmes of the Faculty of Art and Design at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is exclusively conducted digitally via the online applicant portal. Registrations for the aptitude tests are possible from 1 December of the year up to and including 31 March of the following year (closing date). Please complete your registration by uploading all necessary documents by 31 March.
The aptitude test for the degree programme is divided into three parts:
- Registration/application for participation in the aptitude test. After the registration deadline, we will send you a homework assignment with dates and details of the examination procedure.
- Upload of the homework solution, a signed declaration that the submitted work has been produced by you (Download Declaration of Originality), your curriculum vitae with details of your education, previous knowledge if applicable and the most recently obtained school certificate as proof of the general higher education entrance qualification
- Personal interview and presentation of up to 10 original design work samples which you please bring to the interview.
The aptitude test committee of the degree programme makes a preselection after reviewing the solution of the homework. Those who make it to the shortlist will be invited to the further aptitude test and take part in a personal interview, to which please bring up to 10 original design works. Further details on the aptitude test are regulated by the aptitude test regulations (Accessible document) (only available in German language).
Please register online via the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar online applicant portal by 31 March of the respective year. An assignment to complete at home will be sent to you at the beginning of April.
Language requirements:
Please note that passing the aptitude test does not mean automatic admission to the degree programme. Please submit a current proof of language proficiency with your application documents, which shows that you will reach the required language level by the time of your matriculation at the latest.
Lessons are taught in German. You must provide proof of German language proficiency with one of the following or equivalent certificates:
- DSH-2 (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang)
- Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache - DaF (mininum 4xTDN 4)
Prerequisite for International Students are German language skills at the level C 1 (DSH-2 or TestDAF TDN 4). If you have any questions relating to certification, please contact Frau Johanna Merian at the Office of Student and Academic Affairs: studium@uni-weimar.de
For further information visit the website of the Language Centre.
Standard duration of programme | Deadline for application | Application |
---|---|---|
2 Semesters | 31 March | How to apply |
Master's degree programme Visual Communication
In a complex and dynamic world, it has become essential to understand visual codes, their design requirements and potentials. The written word has been the ideal for scientific substantiation and argumentation for ages. Today, visual rhetoric and various visualization strategies are playing an ever-increasing role in knowledge acquisition and decision-making processes in science, research, economics and politics. Along with artistic imagery and illustrative approaches, the spheres of experience and knowledge in digital media culture are relying more and more on analytical visualization tools (e.g. mapping, images statistics, navigation, etc.).
In addition to the traditional focus on the theory and history of visual communication (art history, image science, aesthetics, communication design, media-specific design theories), Visual Culture (along with Visual Studies and Visual Research) explores new areas of instruction and research that offer a new perspective of reflection and provide access to a larger range of professional opportunities in the field of visual communication, such as those employed in the artistic, political or marketing activities in digital networks for purposes of information/communication, action and archiving. The analytical categories of the image and imagery (forms of visual perception, politics of visibility and cultures of viewing, intercultural problems) and interdisciplinary research in communication and media science have evoked new methods and approaches to communication aesthetics.
The master’s degree programme »Visual Communication« requires a particularly high degree of initiative. Students in the programme also have the possibility to realize commissioned projects and topics with a high degree of practical relevance both inside and outside the university. The supervision of the master’s project takes place in group consultations as well as in individual one-to-one discussions. As part of their studies, students are provided with the facilities of the university and the Faculty of Art and Design (for example, workshops, laboratories, libraries).
Project-based study
The master’s degree programme in Visual Communication allows students to form a concentration in any of the chairs of the degree programme. Currently, these include Graphic Design, Typography, Information Design, Staged and Documentary Photography, Image/Text Design, Advertising, Film/Video and Visual Culture. The students’ master’s projects are supervised by at least one professor from the practical area of the degree programme and another from the theoretical area. When candidates apply for admission to the degree programme, they should explicitly state the area of practical application in which they are interested.
The master’s projects are based on suggestions provided by the students, who continue to develop and complete them on their own in continual dialogue with their supervisors. The relatively liberal academic structure allows students to personally plan and carry out their master’s projects, which take the research character of their design into account and enable students to establish a well-founded position in technical discourse. The interdisciplinary interweave of scientific and design-related components in the master’s degree programme also prepares graduates for an advanced career in academics, e.g. possible admission to the doctoral programme at the Faculty of Art and Design which concludes with a PhD degree in Art and Design.
Application for the aptitude test in the Masters's degree programme Visual Communication
The application for all degree programmes of the Faculty of Art and Design at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is exclusively conducted digitally via the online applicant portal. Registrations for the aptitude tests are possible from 1 December of the year up to and including 31 March of the following year (closing date). Please complete your registration by uploading all necessary documents by 31 March.
To apply for the aptitude test, please submit the following documents online via our online applicant portal:
- University-entrance diploma (Abitur)
- Copy of the certificate from a university degree (Bachelor, Diploma or comparable degree)
- Copy of your identity card or passport
- Motivation letter explaining the desire to study and work, a focus of study and the planned Master's topic presented comprehensively on around one A4 page
- Curriculum vitae
- Digital portfolio containing samples of original design work (as file or download link)
- Copy of proof of native-speaker proficiency in German (copy high school diploma (Abitur)
or - first professional qualification in a German-speaking country
or - Proof of language proficiency in the German language at level C 1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) by language certificates DSH-2 or TestDAF (4 x TDN 4)
- signed declaration that the work submitted has been created by you (Download Declaration of Originality) (Accessible document)
- Passport photo (for your student ID card)
The examination committee will review your application and decide on your application. You will be informed in writing of the result of the aptitude test no later than four weeks after the test has been completed. Further details on the aptitude test are regulated by the aptitude test regulations (Accessible document) (only available in German language).
Language requirements:
Please note that passing the aptitude test does not mean automatic admission to the degree programme. Please submit a current proof of language proficiency with your application documents, which shows that you will reach the required language level by the time of your matriculation at the latest.
Lessons are taught in German. You must provide proof of German language proficiency. Prerequisite for International Students are German language skills at the level C 1 (DSH-2 or TestDAF TDN 4).
If you have any questions relating to certification, please contact Frau Johanna Merian at the Office of Student and Academic Affairs: studium@uni-weimar.de
For further information visit the website of the Language Centre.
Application deadline: from 1 December to 31 March of the year (received)