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Studies & Degrees in Digital Design

Digital design is design for the screen. A digital designer plans how a website, an app or another interface looks and how people move through it. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics describes digital designers as the people who develop, create and test website or interface layout, functions and navigation for usability, and who are responsible for the look and functionality of the result.

The subject brings together several older fields. From graphic design it takes typography, colour, image and layout. From computing it takes enough web technology and programming to build prototypes and work with developers. From the social sciences it takes user research: watching how people use a product and testing whether a design works. Depending on the school, the course may be called digital design, interaction design, user experience (UX) design, multimedia or digital media.

Qualifications and levels

  • Bachelor's degrees. Aarhus University in Denmark has a bachelor's programme called Digital design, which covers interaction design, aesthetic programming, user experience and digital culture; students choose a supplementary subject in the third year. Danish at A level is one of the admission requirements. In Spain a university bachelor's degree (grado) has 240 ECTS credits. ERAM, a university centre in Salt affiliated with the Universitat de Girona, offers a Grado en Comunicación Audiovisual y Multimedia of four years and 240 ECTS credits that works across graphic design, 3D, film, interaction design and photography; it is taught in Catalan, Spanish and English and has 40 places.
  • Higher arts education in design in Spain. Besides university degrees, Spain has official higher studies in design taught at design schools: four academic years of 60 credits each, 240 credits in total, in the fields of graphic, product, interior and fashion design.
  • Master's degrees. Spanish master's degrees have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits. ERAM lists its Master in Interaction Design as an official university degree of two years and 120 ECTS credits, taught entirely in English, with 25 places and a start in September 2027.
  • Short and vocational courses. Private schools and colleges also teach web design, UX and motion graphics in shorter courses. These may lead to the school's certificate or to a qualification validated by a university; ask the school what recognition the qualification has.

A formal degree is not always required. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, educational requirements range from a high school diploma to a bachelor's degree. Employers of digital designers may prefer a bachelor's degree in a field such as web design, digital design or graphic arts, but candidates may not need specific credentials if they can demonstrate their abilities through earlier work or projects. In practice this means a portfolio.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 17 active schools for digital design: eight in the United States, six in Spain, and one each in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Australia. The Spanish schools include ERAM in Salt (Girona), LCI Barcelona and Idep Barcelona, the Escuela de Diseño CEADE Leonardo in Seville and Miami Ad School Madrid. Elsewhere the list includes the University of Washington, the University of Pennsylvania, Butler University and Chemeketa Community College in the United States, London Metropolitan University and Aarhus University.

The language of instruction varies even inside one country. In Spain, programmes are taught in Spanish, Catalan or English depending on the school. When comparing schools, look at the balance between design and programming, at the student work the school shows, at the software and labs available and at whether the programme includes a placement or real client projects.

Careers

Graduates work as web and interface designers, UX and UI designers, interaction designers and motion or multimedia designers, in agencies, software companies, media, and the digital departments of other businesses. Many work freelance.

In the United States, web and digital interface designers held about 132,700 jobs in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The information sector employed 27% of them, and 13% were self-employed. Employment of web and digital interface designers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, while employment of graphic designers is projected to decline 2 percent over the same period. These figures describe the US labour market only.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between digital design and graphic design?

Graphic design covers visual communication in any medium, including print. Digital design concentrates on screens and interaction: websites, apps and interfaces, and how people use them.

Do I need to know how to program?

Some programming is usually part of the course. The Aarhus University bachelor's programme, for example, includes aesthetic programming, and ERAM's interaction design master's has computational and product engineering as one of its three pillars.

Can I study digital design in English in Spain?

Yes, in some programmes. ERAM states that its Master in Interaction Design is taught 100% in English, and its Grado en Comunicación Audiovisual y Multimedia is taught in Catalan, Spanish and English.

Is a degree necessary to work as a digital designer?

Not always. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that requirements range from a high school diploma to a bachelor's degree and that demonstrated work can replace formal credentials, so a strong portfolio is essential in either case.