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Add your Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) to the online application.

Check out UW-Madison’s tips for writing your resume or CV and the DesignLab’s advice for creating effective professional documents, including resumes and CVs.

The creative brief is a multi-page document that conveys why you want to attend MD+I, what you hope to achieve as a designer and examples of your work, so that we can understand the experience you bring with you and your potential as an MD+I student.

We recommend that you think of the creative brief as a design project. This document is like a short magazine, portfolio or booklet that gives us a chance to get to know you, why you want to join MD+I, how you have worked in the past and what you are dreaming of in the future. It consists of three parts, which you should compose as a single, multi-page PDF for upload. 

The three parts are:

1. Statement of Purpose (max 500 words, or about 1 page) Tell us your design origin story. When and how did you first understand that design + innovation was the path for you? What motivates you to choose MD+I? What is your “why”?
2. Design Prompt (max 500 words, or about 1 page) If you could re-design anything (a process, place, brand, building, product, program, planet….) what would it be and why? What essential steps would you take to get this design project started?
3. Work Samples (maximum 10 pages) What projects, collaborations, works of art, experiments or ideas are you the most proud of? Using a consistent design approach to all pages and an emphasis on visual representation of your work, show us 2-3 recent projects. We are interested in seeing your best work – whether that be design, research, art, collaborative, professional or team projects, experiments, prototypes, class projects, independent passions, installations, community work and more. There is no standard approach and your work samples will be uniquely yours.

All that said, here are a few file and format guidelines to help you achieve consistency and legibility in your creative brief. File requirements, denoted with an asterisk (*), and recommendations follow:

• Format: PDF*
• File size: 4MB max*
• Pages: 15 max (including all parts of the creative brief, cover and table of contents)
• Page layout: 12” x 18” or A3, two-page spreads should be combined into one page. 
• Color format: RGB
• Resolution: 150 dpi
• Project info: Always note the date and context (professional, academic or personal). If you worked on a team, describe your role and contributions. If you include any images that are not your own original work, you must cite your sources. 

Note on links: We do not accept links to portfolio websites in lieu of an uploaded document, designed to the specifications above. If you include links to time-based media (such as video, performance or podcast work) within your creative brief, review is at the discretion of admissions committee members and may not be taken into consideration. It is in your best interest, therefore, to include all of your work in a visual or written format in the creative brief document.

Resources for creative brief design

The UW-Madison DesignLab has many resources, including these design tips and tricks that will help you put your best foot forward.

Don’t know how to start? Questions about how it’s going? Our enrollment coach, Anna Denucci, is here to answer your questions and give feedback while you are developing your creative brief.

Email Anna with your questions and requests for feedback.

Include two (2) letters of recommendation. Enter the recommender email contact information into the online application. Recommenders will receive an email with instructions for the survey and recommendation letter upload process.

Your letters can come from a supervisor, mentor, advisor, or faculty who you have a positive relationship with and can speak to your skills, experiences and abilities

Upload your unofficial transcripts to the online application. All applicants must upload a copy of their transcript from their undergraduate institution and other previous higher education institutions, including other graduate studies.

GRE scores are not required for admission to MD+I.

English Proficiency Scores (TOEFL/IELTS) are required for those whose native language is not English, or whose undergraduate instruction was not in English. The required proficiency scores are:

• Minimum TOEFL requirement: 92 internet (iBT); 580 paper-based test (PBT)
• Minimum IELTS requirement: 7.0
• Minimum IELTS Indicator requirement: 7.0

Note: We do not accept Duolingo.

Scores are accepted if they are within two years of the start of the admissions term for which applicants are applying. TOEFL scores should be electronically sent directly from Educational Testing Service (ETS) to institution code 1846 (no department code is needed). IELTS scores should be electronically sent directly from IELTS to UW-Madison, Graduate Studies.