Creative Industries

MS in Creative Technology & Design: Creative Industries

Prepare for an inspiring career with a degree from the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

The professional MS in Creative Technology and Design (CTD) is a 33-credit hour program that teaches you to become an interdisciplinary problem-solver. The Creative Industries track prepares you for a career at the cutting edge, uniquely qualified to succeed in many technology and design roles.

The 2-year master's program is designed for flexibility, whether you have a passion for game design, UX/UI, product development, interactive media, or other areas where design and engineering meet.

Our project-based classes encourage you to build an outstanding portfolio of work bridging technical skills and creativity.

The University of Colorado Boulder has one of the top 12 public engineering graduate programs in the U.S., according to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Graduate Schools rankings for 2024-25.

Program Benefits

Unique Student Experience

Small class sizes offer hands-on project-based learning with mentoring and collaboration. Core classes empower you to build a strong foundation in design, technology and leadership. Elective options in ATLAS and across campus allow you to deepen your focus in many future-foward disciplines.

Industry Collaboration

Learn directly from industry leaders. Many courses are taught by working professionals from small studios to large companies like Google and Amazon. We create opportunities to engage with working professionals, including classes, workshops, guest lectures, networking, portfolio reviews, and project mentoring.

Learn & Work

Most students work at least part-time while in the program, including opportunities for roles at ATLAS, across campus, along the Front Range and in remote positions. CU Boulder offers many resources to assist you in finding roles, and the course schedule offers flexibility to match your needs.

Creative Community

Community is one of our great strengths. Invent the future by participating in our vibrant research labs. Engage with industry leaders through roundtables, instruction and mentorship. Build lasting relationships and foster deep bonds through collaboration, learning and social events.

Portfolio Development

Our curriculum leverages project-based learning with an emphasis on presenting your work. Guided by course and project assignments as well as direct feedback from working professionals, we help you develop a strong portfolio that tells the story of who you are and what you do.

Future-forward Careers

Our students are uniquely positioned for the evolving job markets of the future. No single technology will fully equip students for the field—instead we help you build a technical toolset and an approach to life-long learning and creative problem solving as your career evolves.

Course Sequence

Our students take a set of core classes, providing a foundation in three areas: design process, technical fluency and professional development.

From there, the program has a high degree of personalization. You will take classes to deepen the skills to match your passion, whether user-experience design, game design and development, application design, wearable technology, or many other disciplines. That can mean taking graduate-level classes across the university to realize your specific goals.

Professional Seminar: the Business of Creativity

3 credit hours

This course introduces students to the professional landscape of creative technologies and design. Students hear first hand from leaders in the field about career paths and opportunities, through visiting speakers and studio tours that provide exposure to a wide range of professional environments.

Students Gain

goal reflection
exposure to a wide range of successful creative professionals
understanding of career trajectories
professional connections and networking opportunities
portfolio/work critique

Design Methods

3 credit hours

In this course students will learn design, deliberate observation (e.g. cultural probes, ethnography, etc); “problem finding” and “design thinking”; wicked problems; iterative design; alternative generation and assessment.

Students gain:

strategy and framework for design methodology
skills for collaboration
comfort with iteration
documenting process for portfolio

Introduction to Programming or Creative Code

3 credit hours

For students with little to no programming experience, the Intro to Programming class gives students the coding experience needed for more advanced programming classes and many technical focus classes. For students with prior programming experience, Creative Code explores creative uses of software development, while focusing on developing the “digital plumbing” that supports our creative work.

Design Studio

3 credit hours

This course focuses on refining projects through several iterative cycles. Students who have a clear set of objectives can use the time to work on independent projects; others may work on projects for industry instructors, simulating a client/practitioner relationship. This course prepares students to develop a practice for creating, presenting, critiquing and iterating work. Throughout a design studio, students learn how to develop a professional portfolio.

Students Gain

presentation skills
design method and technical skill
application portfolio development

Note: An approved internship can substitute for one instance of Design Studio

Creative Technologies

3 credit hours

This course gives students hands-on exposure to a wide range of technologies, including 3D printing, laser cutting, microcontrollers, sensors and programming. Through physical computing projects, students gain technical fluency and competence while identifying technology skills they wish to develop further.

Students Gain

foundation in creative technologies
technical fluency and competence
experience working with microcontrollers and sensors
fabrication skills

Tech Focus Elective

3 credit hours

Based on their professional goals for the program, students build their skill sets by taking technical courses through ATLAS and across campus. ATLAS graduate students have the unique opportunity to take courses across departments, while there are numerous options and your advisor will work with you to find the best fit for you individual goal, here are some popular focus areas with courses that support that goal User Experience and Human-Computer Interaction, Game Design and Development, Interactive Product Design and Development.

Students Gain

Deeper technical skill knowledge and ability

Elective: Critical Perspectives or Tech Focus

Students focus on making work. Students have flexibility to use this time to independently focus on a particular project or to seek direction from industry instructors (reflecting “real world” client interactions). The course prepares students to develop a practice for creating, presenting, critiquing and iterating on work. Throughout design studio students learn to develop a professional portfolio.

Students gain:

presentation skills
design method and technical skill application
portfolio development.

*NOTE: An approved internship can substitute for one instance of Design Studio

Elective: Critical Perspectives or Tech Focus

3 credit hours

See description above.

Elective: Tech Focus

3 credit hours

See semester 2 for details

Project Focused Design Studio or Tech Focus Elective (see above description)

3 credit hours

Students have flexibility to take an additional Design Studio or Technical Focus Elective. The goal is to select a course that directly supports the student's thesis project work. For some students a design studio with industry mentorship and class critiques is most valuable, while for others an additional technical course better relates to their particular thesis needs.

Creative Industries Thesis Project

3 credit hours

Students create a culminating project that prepares them to enter the professional world. Each student chooses a primary advisor/mentor. Together the student and advisor outline a work proposal with deliverables that often serve as the cornerstone of the student’s portfolio. At the end of the semester, students formally present their work to the ATLAS community and submit detailed written paper that documents and reflects on their process.

Students Gain

proposal writing skills
pitch skills
presentation skills
project design and development
portfolio development

Deepen Your Practice

The Creative Technology & Design program is flexible to your goals, whether you want to emphasize artistic skills, technical expertise or a balance of both. CTD students focus on many areas—here are a few of the most common:

Game Design & Development

two students testing a motion-based interactive design

UX / UI & Human-Computer Interaction

Students test a design for a hanging light

Product Design & Development

Workshops

To extend your skill development, we offer free workshops throughout the year. The workshop series allows students to explore new areas of interest, gain additional skills, network with industry leaders, collaborate with non-Creative Industries students and further develop their skills. Recent topics included:

Figma
Adobe Creative Suite
Motion Graphics

UI/UX
Bio Meets Computation
3D Printing

Programming in Python and R
Data Science
Project Management

Thesis Examples

You spend much of your final semester designing and implementing a final project showcasing the skills you've developed throughout your time at ATLAS, positioning you well for your career.

Companies Employing MS-CTD Graduates

logos of companies employing MS CTD CI track alumni

Alumni Profiles

Our alumni go on to inspiring careers in leading industries. Check out a few doing outstanding work in their field.

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Creative Industries

MS in Creative Technology & Design: Creative Industries

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