On behalf of the Direction and the Scientific Committee of the Master’s in Graphic Design and Editorial Projects—our MDGPE—I want to welcome you to what is now your home as well: the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Porto. I’d like to start by thanking you for choosing this master’s program and congratulating you on making it this far. You are beginning a new and, we hope, fantastic stage of your lives, both personally and academically.
Application and Enrollment Results and Analysis
Some of the numbers that help tell the story of how this year’s group came to be, not only show how competitive this master’s program is but also the diversity you bring to FBAUP.
This year, we had a total of 112 applications across the three phases. You are the 36 students who stood out in this process. Just to give you an idea of the distribution, in the first phase, we received 29 applications; in the second, 33; and in the third, we had 54. Your merit in being here today is, therefore, remarkable.
A quick look at the gender distribution of the applicants reveals an interesting balance: we had 61 female and 52 male candidates. However, among the group of students who enrolled, we see a trend that has been common in recent years: a female majority, which this year represents almost 80% of the group, with 22 women and 14 men.
As is tradition in the MDGPE, your origins are quite diverse. This year, we have the pleasure of welcoming 8 international students, who join their 28 Portuguese colleagues. This international diversity is a great source of pride and enrichment for us.
Even on a national level, your backgrounds are varied. We have students from various design schools across the country, from FBAUL in Lisbon to the University of Aveiro, as well as Coimbra, and of course, a strong representation from Porto institutions like ESAD, IPP, and our very own FBAUP.
What do these numbers tell us? They tell us that this group is a mosaic of origins, cultures, and educational backgrounds. This reveals two important things: first, that the design education ecosystem in Portugal is healthy and diverse, with an ever-increasing quality parity between schools. And second, it puts all of us—faculty and students alike—in a privileged position, with an incredibly rich range of skills and interests to explore and share.
Your Master’s Journey in 2025-26
We sincerely hope that you will make the most of this diversity and that you will collaborate and support each other throughout this journey. On our end, we will be here to help level out any gaps in your foundational training, whether in Typography, Editorial Design, Branding, or Illustration. In return, we want to challenge you to share your specific skills—from arts to computing, from audiovisuals to writing—with the rest of the group, so that the learning experience can be even more transformative for everyone.
As you heard on Monday in the speeches by the new dean, Miguel Carvalhais, and the department heads, the FBAUP Design Department has five degree-granting courses and continues to expand its offerings into areas like Industrial and Product Design, Illustration, and very soon, Interaction Design and Computational Media. It operates and takes advantage of the facilities we just had the opportunity to see. But it doesn’t stop there—there are also the Boa Nova and Coronel Pacheco facilities, and the Asprela campus (UPTEC) where regular activities take place, especially for post-graduate studies and, who knows, the future for some of you, the PhD in Design.
The Master’s in Graphic Design and Editorial Projects (MDGPE) is a post-graduate program at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto. It focuses on the research, development, and design of communication and editorial artifacts. It is a specialized program in specific areas of Communication Design, such as Graphic Design in its institutional identity and communication aspect, Art Direction, Advanced Typography for and of books, Infographics and Data Visualization, Type Design and the production of digital typographic fonts, and Illustration. These are the main areas, but we are not limited to them, and you are expected to apply the skills you acquire in a final research and development project, whether printed or digital , analog or computational.
The Designer’s Challenges in Today’s World
The nature of a designer’s work has changed drastically. Large agencies have given way to smaller collectives and individual studios that, with the power of computing and remote work, can achieve a global reach that was unthinkable just a few years ago. While this is an opportunity, it also increases competition nationally, with Portugal becoming an increasingly attractive destination for workers from all over the world.
In this context, it’s impossible not to talk about Artificial Intelligence. We all know that AI is revolutionizing our processes—that’s a fact. The challenge I pose to you is not if you should use it, but how you can incorporate it into your creative processes. How can you use AI to enhance your work, whether to speed up tasks, increase the complexity of your projects, or simply to expand your skill set? The communication aesthetic of the coming years will inevitably be shaped by these tools. But this use must be ethical, critical, and transparent, always questioning notions of authorship, appropriation, and plagiarism.
At the same time, the digital platforms and systems we use every day have become the main stage for human interaction. Your role as designers is crucial in shaping these interactions. How can we, through design, foster healthier communities and combat the polarization and hate speech that spread so quickly and thoughtlessly on social media? Perhaps what we need is to introduce a bit more “friction”—both technological and communicational—to make us stop, think, and reflect.
And, of course, the major societal challenges are still present and demand our attention. Russia’s war in Ukraine has been going on for over two and a half years, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to generate a devastating humanitarian crisis. Recently, tensions escalated with threats to NATO airspace from drones, forcing us to constantly question our values and our role as communicators in a global society.
Nationally, the challenges are no smaller. Literacy in all its forms—digital, media, visual—remains a fundamental pillar for a more just and informed society. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the 2030 Agenda, offer us a clear roadmap for action to reduce inequalities and build a more sustainable future, and design has a central role to play here. From climate change and migration to an aging population and the preservation of our cultural heritage, these are all urgent issues. How we care for the elderly and the vulnerable, for example, says a lot about who we are as a culture. Your duty, as future master’s graduates, is to take an active role in reflecting on and, more importantly, taking strategic action to address these challenges.
Course Structure and Faculty
To help you on this journey, the MDGPE has a well-defined structure that you should familiarize yourselves with.
As we’ve discussed, the MDGPE program is designed to provide you with a comprehensive and supportive learning environment. The course has a well-defined structure, which you can explore in detail on our website at mdgpe.fba.up.pt. There, you’ll find a complete overview of the curriculum and what to expect in the coming semesters.
The backbone of this program is our dedicated faculty, a team of highly specialized professionals and researchers. You can learn more about each of them and their impressive backgrounds on the faculty page of our website at mdgpe.fba.up.pt. This team is here to guide and support you, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the classroom. The curriculum is carefully crafted to build your skills progressively, from foundational courses in your first year to the major challenge of your second year, where you will undertake a project, dissertation, or internship, allowing you to apply your knowledge in a focused and meaningful way.
Academic Life and Extracurricular Activities
Throughout the two years, we will have an extensive program of open classes, workshops, and other activities. In October, we will have a conference with Joana Ranito, and in November, an open class with Rodrigo Assaf and Tiago Alves, from the fields of Web Design and Virtual Reality. In addition, you can look forward to your colleagues’ exhibition, “Fio de Cera,” still in September, and participation in events like the Typography Meeting and Digicom in November.
Your main classroom will be this one, PA201, but you will also have access to other spaces, like the student lounges and the computers in the south wing. We have been making continuous investments in equipment, from the new guillotine and stapler to the reactivation of our letterpress workshop with presses and lead type—a project we hope you will help energize. You can also count on the essential support of Tiago Pinho’s printing and prototyping office. Make full use of these resources, and help us push for more and better facilities.
Key Dates & Events:
- 2nd MDGPE Student Exhibition “Fio de Cera”: September 29th
- Drive Conference: October 9th and 10th
- Typography Meeting in Vila do Conde: November 20th to 22nd
- Digicom in Barcelos: November 6th to 8th
- Sopcom in Covilhã: February 9th to 11th, 2026
- IJUP 2026: (TBA –> usually during the school break in May, this year, predictably will be from 4 to 8th of May)
- PCD26: (TBA –> Usually between early February and late April)
- Design Day: (Around April 27th)
- CPHC Symposium: (Around mid to late June 2026)
- Ligatures Summer School: (July 15th to 17th, 2026)
Final Notes and Closing
Finally, enjoy it. Enjoy the course, the faculty, your classmates, the professors, and this incredible city that is Porto. Don’t be passive spectators. Challenge yourselves and challenge us to go further, to question the limits, and to build, together, a shared curriculum that is relevant and impactful.
You can count on us to accompany you on this journey. We wish you the very best and an excellent academic path, full of success, on behalf of the whole MDGPE [and FBAUP] team.
Pedro Amado Director of the Master’s in Graphic Design and Editorial Projects Integrated Member of the Board of i2ADS – Institute of Research in Art, Design and Society
