Master in Graphic and Digital Design

Responsible for organizing the follow-up of personal DNSEP projects: Laurent Meszaros (2024-2025). The program lasts two years and culminates in the DNSEP DNSEP, Diplôme National Supérieur d’Expression Plastique (Master’s degree).

I. INTRODUCTION

This Master’s program in graphic and digital design addresses the design of editorial objects considering the multiplicity of supports offered by print and digital media. The program stands out with its initiation to academic research through the digital project Brain Road and various seminars conducted in the 4th and 5th years, covering different research fields related to publishing.

Several seminars are offered during both years of the program (4th and 5th years). These seminars are conducted by faculty members whose practices fall within the broad field of editorial design and digital media. These seminars complement professional internships or Erasmus exchanges in the 4th year (starting in April), along with individual supervision for thesis writing and guidance for the personal project throughout the two years of the program.

The seminars contribute to the development of a critical discourse through the study of graphic objects (catalogs, visual essays, magazines, etc.). They promote project realization in professional contexts with the help of studio visits (designers, printers, artists, etc.), exchanges with historians and critics, as well as meetings with researchers (in humanities and social sciences, experimental sciences, etc.).

This network of meetings, projects, and research allows students to define and affirm their own practice as graphic designers with personal interests, helping them build their professional paths.

• Laurent Meszaros is responsible for organizing the diploma projects and coordinating the seminar “Catalogue raisonné & sentiments (An Ode to the List)” for 2024-2025.
• Romuald Roudier Theron is responsible for theses.
• Brice Domingues is responsible for the seminar “From Readable to Visible. The Spectator as Reader”.
• Olaf Avenati is responsible for the research program in information design “Data Visualization”, the Franco-German interdisciplinary research project “Brain Roads”, and the associated seminar.

II. OBJECTIVES

This two-year Master’s program (4th and 5th years) aims to bring together students from diverse backgrounds who wish to develop a unique practice in graphic design through their personal projects. This practice will be sensitive to issues related to the forms of knowledge production, both paper and digital (books, posters, interfaces, videos, installations, etc.).

The projects developed can be prospective, contextual, and/or conceptual, with a strong contemporary cultural grounding. Students will be attentive to the modes of production and dissemination involved, taking into account the economic, political, and social aspects of their projects. Through their work, students will define their own practice as designers.

Ultimately, the Master’s program aims to train professionals in the broad field of visual cultures with a deep practical and theoretical knowledge of their discipline. They will be able to approach various contexts and mediums in a unique, relevant, and adapted manner throughout their professional careers.

It should be noted that at the end of the 4th year, the Certificate of Higher Studies in Visual Arts is awarded. In the 5th year, the Diplôme Supérieur d’Expression Plastique (DNSEP) is awarded, recognized at level 1 of the National Directory of Professional Certifications. This diploma grants a Master’s degree. Obtaining the Master’s degree allows students to pursue further studies in the third cycle and to validate this level in most European universities and schools.

III. ORGANIZATION

The organization of the Master’s program involves writing the thesis and setting up the personal project in the first year (4th year), and shaping them in the second year (5th year).

The seminars are designed as echo chambers to aid in the development of the thesis topic and the final study project. An introduction to academic research is also covered. A professional internship lasting 4 to 6 months is undertaken from March of the 4th year, and an Erasmus exchange is also possible during this period.

Additionally, on the personal initiatives of each faculty member and students, it is possible to attend events related to Parisian institutions, such as conferences at the Pompidou Center or the Swiss Cultural Center. Visits to graphic design studios in Paris may also be proposed to help students understand the stakes of professional practice.

III. A Seminars — Visual Culture and “World Visualization”

The seminars, primarily for the 4th year and accessible to the 5th year, are conducted by specialist faculty whose professional practices address the themes proposed during this fourth year. They are connected with external personalities, practitioners, historians, philosophers, artists who provide both theoretical and practical resources for a better understanding of the professional environment. During these seminars, artistic projects are created in connection with the study topics proposed by the faculty.

They are coordinated by several faculty members within the broad field of editorial design and new media:

• Olaf Avenati. “Brain Roads”, as part of the research program in information design “Data Visualization”.
• Brice Domingues. “From Readable to Visible. The Spectator as Reader”.
• Laurent Meszaros. “Catalogue raisonné & sentiments (An Ode to the List)”.
• Romuald Roudier Theron. Thesis, Practice and Theory.

For more details on the seminars, refer to the course catalog.

III. B Thesis

From the first semester of the fourth year, thesis work begins: methodology, research, and definition of the topic. A first draft of the thesis is submitted at the end of March before the internship starts.

The final form of the thesis is submitted at the end of the first semester of the fifth year, between November and December. The thesis is then presented to a jury at the beginning of the second semester.

Theoretical faculty, including Romuald Roudier Theron, a researcher in graphic design, assist students in writing the thesis.

III. C Erasmus and Internship

From April to September, for a minimum period of four months, 4th-year students undertake a professional internship, the content of which is validated by the teaching team. Students can also go abroad as part of international exchanges with the Erasmus program.

III. D Final Project

The final study project is defined in the 4th year and begins to take shape in the middle of the first semester of the 5th year after the thesis layout is finalized. The project follow-up is organized as follows: during the first semester of the 5th year, the student must have three interviews with the faculty members of the graphic design department. In December, the student will determine the faculty member who will be their tutor until graduation. Regular weekly exchanges will be organized between the student and the tutor on the progress of the project. The 5th year will be coordinated by a faculty member who will ensure the proper organization of follow-ups as well as the preparation of collegiate meetings, the mock diploma, and the DNSEP.

In addition to the mock diploma, three collegiate meetings will be proposed during which discussions with all the referent faculty members on the progress of the personal end-of-year projects will take place. The student will also have the opportunity to make appointments with faculty members from other departments (art, philosophy, theory, design, culinary design) for additional details useful for the project’s development.

III. E Transversality

Ésad de Reims combines its various fields, art, design, graphic & digital design, culinary design within a cultural, museum, and/or heritage reality and addresses the economic, social, and political issues of the artistic field. The school is also very committed to the idea of transversal practice and sharing knowledge, thus offering Master’s students the opportunity to build bridges between disciplines and their actors.

In addition to the possible links that students can make within the school through their projects, Ésad de Reims has been organizing a series of workshops and conferences named Contemporary Transformation since 2020. This event takes place in three stages and is offered to 4th and 5th-year students across all departments. This time dedicated to transdisciplinarity allows for experimenting with the expanded field of graphic design and offers new perspectives on ongoing personal projects.

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