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Hey, this is what Elisava’s Master Beyond Branding students are making
The Master Beyond Branding program at Elisava emphasizes a holistic approach to branding that transcends traditional visual identity elements like logos and color palettes. By incorporating non-visual elements such as scent, sound, and physical motion, the program aims to redefine brand strategy to focus on community engagement and emotional connections, preparing students for a future where branding is more about cultural impact than mere aesthetics.
The Brand Identity: Most branding programmes just focus on logos, visual identity systems and brand strategy. Master Beyond Branding, a one-year postgraduate programme run by design school Elisava and Barcelona studio Folch, teaches those too – but it also puts students through courses in scent, sound, physical motion and more. Starting in September 2026, the programme is available in two editions by location: Barcelona, taught in English, and Madrid, taught in Spanish.
The work that emerges from its more experimental modules helps explain why the programme carries the esteemed reputation it does. One of those courses, Physical Motion, produced a student project called Emotion in Motion. The brief had nothing to do with brand guidelines or colour palettes. Instead, a group of eight students were asked to develop a functional CGI tool for Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, a paediatric medical centre in Barcelona, to communicate emotions that are particularly difficult to identify and express visually.
Under Professors Paula López-Nuño and Sarah Coral, the team created a series of human-like figures whose composition and appearance transform according to the emotion being experienced. We develop with students what this new paradigm for branding can be. We develop with students what this new paradigm for branding can be. It’s a project you wouldn’t expect to find in a branding programme, and that is precisely the point.
Paula, who directs Master Beyond Branding, explains that the programme was founded on several specific positions: that brands shape culture, that branding education has relied too heavily on logos and manuals, and that the discipline’s language needs revising. She gives a concrete example – shifting from speaking about “targets,” a term rooted in product-based logic, to speaking about “communities,” which acknowledges a brand’s buyers, fans, haters and observers, each holding a different relationship to it. Over time, the programme has grown more ambitious.
“We’ve become increasingly interested in shifting the perspective of the programme toward something closer to a speculative innovation lab,” Paula explains, “where we not only teach about beyond branding, but also develop with students what this new paradigm for branding can be.” The non-visual courses – scent, sound and physical motion – are central to that shift, and each addresses a specific gap in how branding is typically taught. Scent explores how something deeply connected to memory can shape the bonds between people and brands, pushing beyond the narrow frame of olfactory marketing.
Sound asks how brands can become more intentional and present across their ecosystems. Physical motion starts from the observation that in contexts where logotypes lose relevance, a physical gesture can do the work of a logo. “Studios that develop branding projects already incorporate principles that move beyond tradition,” Paula notes.
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The article discusses an innovative educational approach to branding that emphasizes non-visual elements, making it significant for the industry while also being directly relevant to brand strategy professionals seeking to enhance community engagement.