The expanding field of media design blends creativity, the use of innovative design software, and effective communication strategies. Media designers are typically tasked with crafting compelling visual and interactive content for a variety of platforms. In our constantly evolving, digital-centric society, media designers have many opportunities to help shape the way in which information is presented and consumed by a range of audiences.

Full Sail University’s online Media Design MFA program is designed to provide students with the advanced skills they need to help them take their design careers to the next level.

“It's basically to take people from graphic design or media design roles up into more leadership-type positions,” says Dr. Thomas Lucas, the Program Director of Full Sail’s Media Design MFA, explaining the primary goal of the curriculum. “We're really trying to create media designers for the future.”

And what characteristics make someone a good fit for this graduate-level coursework?

“Ideally, they have [an undergraduate] degree in a design-related area,” he says. “They have to be creative. They have to be deadline-oriented. They have to be excellent with time management. We also want them to be innovative in their creative thinking and push past more common design and marketing-type choices that we see out there.”

The program’s 12-month curriculum is structured to first introduce students to the importance of working with clients as soon as they enroll. This is why one of the early classes is Defining Client Needs. One class that surprises some students is Effective Copywriting.

“They learn quickly how having effective copywriting skills serves them as a media designer, whether they are working directly with a client at an agency or if they're running their own studio or business,” he says.

As they progress through the coursework, students get opportunities to learn design strategies, how to effectively give and receive critiques, and how to articulate their decisions as a designer. Other courses include Design Strategies and Motivation, Multi-Platform Delivery, and Measuring Design Effectiveness. In terms of software, the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of programs is the main focus of the program.

“All the courses feature a lot of project-based learning, so they're all important in their own way. Students just produce so many projects in this program for their portfolios that each of them provides a key piece of that,” Dr. Lucas says.

The curriculum culminates with a thesis course that ties together all of the work the students have done.

“This is where students deliver their from-the-ground-up brand development project that has a number of design elements to it and really brings everything that they learned together in a very tangible, presentable collection of media. It's everything they're working toward,” he says.

With this Media Design MFA curriculum experience on their resume, graduates may qualify for several higher-level positions across the media design landscape. These include media production specialist, senior graphic designer, brand manager, production manager, art director, and creative director. Opportunities are found across fields like marketing, advertising, broadcasting, and streaming. Some graduates decide to start their own creative agencies or work as freelance designers.

“Media and content production are pretty much driving everything now in our lives, so there's a lot to do [out there],” he explains.