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Connect innovative design and insightful strategy with the master’s in strategic communication design at the College of Media, Communication and Information.
In one year, this graduate program prepares early-career professionals for more strategic roles by teaching them to bring an entrepreneur’s perspective to problem-solving. Whatever your passion—user experience, product, brand, graphic, retail, web or audio design—you’ll learn to incorporate new technologies and methods into human-centered design principles, ensuring your work advances organizational goals.
Faculty in this program are leaders in industry who have started their own design companies or worked in high-level roles at the world’s most innovative companies. Their insights keep our curricula on the cutting edge while ensuring you graduate with in-demand skills, a dynamic portfolio and a one-of-a-kind professional network.
Career opportunities
Professionals who complete this program go on to management and leadership roles in user experience design, art and creative direction, marketing, and brand and experiential design, and have accepted management roles at Google, Apple, Uber, Spotify, Dropbox, Salesforce and others, in addition to starting businesses of their own.
Beyond basic training
Basic technical literacy only gets you so far. This program goes beyond software boot camps to incorporate the latest technologies—including artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality—with an emphasis on their application in professional settings. Because you learn from babyÖ±²¥app who are using these tools at work, lessons are practically oriented, with real opportunities to put them into practice on meaningful projects that become an invaluable portfolio. The perspective you get from an immersion in applied technical skills will encourage your curiosity and prepare you to be a lifelong learner in a fast-changing field.
“To me, design is relying on different experiences to come up with unique solutions. The collaboration in our cohort was fantastic because there were people from all different industries whose experiences challenged your assumptions on the best answer to a problem.
John O’Neil (MStratComm’22)
UX/UI designer, Outside Analytics
Program fast facts
12 months to complete
(39 credits)
Fully in person at CMCI Studio,
in downtown Boulder
12:1
student-babyÖ±²¥app ratio
Industry babyÖ±²¥app with
real-world experience
Unique features
Learn from celebrated babyÖ±²¥app who have decades of experience at Apple, Adobe, Google, Facebook and others. Since they are active in industry, they bring challenges from their work to class. Meet our babyÖ±²¥app →
Develop a portfolio based on the real-world collaborative consulting projects you’ll complete in class, giving you a showcase for the job search. Explore the curriculum →
Develop the skills needed to design visually engaging interfaces, craft compelling brand identities, create seamless user experiences and evoke emotions across platforms.
Understand how designers deliver value to the organization by learning to approach opportunities like an entrepreneur—taking initiative, being adaptable, embracing creativity and accepting risk.
All courses are housed in the high-tech CMCI Studio, in downtown Boulder. This space is part of Boulder’s lively technology and entrepreneurship hub while being close to biking paths, hiking trails, and boutique retail and dining options.
By encouraging your curiosity about strategic problem-solving, technology and leadership, this program gives you a future-oriented outlook and skill set that translates to immediate job placement and long-term career success.