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School of Branding

Postgraduaat
Duration

8 months
Kantienberg

Have you graduated with a bachelor's or master's degree in visual design and are looking to specialise in branding? In eight months, you will learn how to conceive and build meaningful brands. You will go through the entire branding process: from strategy and target audience research through brand positioning and copywriting to visual identity, design systems and asset management. You will be taught by leading agencies and complete a placement to put your knowledge straight into practice.

This postgraduate programme is taught entirely in English. An international student? You're more than welcome to join.

Get to know us All about the study programme Get in touch

Join a masterclass

Alongside the Postgraduate School of Branding, we also organise short, intensive masterclasses from February 2026. These modular sessions allow you to focus on specific aspects of the branding process: from strategy to visual implementation. Ideal for professionals who want to deepen their knowledge in a particular area, without committing to a full postgraduate programme.

Masterclass 1: From brief to brand Strategy

Masterclass 1 lays the strategic foundation of branding. Theory and practical workshops led by experts from Studio Stef Hamerlinck, Base Design and Goodcopy. Start: 12 February 2026.
Masterclass 2: From brand strategy to brand launch

Masterclass 2 focuses on visual implementation. Develop a consistent design system, present convincingly to clients and set up brand portals for future brand consistency. Start: 30 April 2026.

Seeing my work on Times Square honestly feels unreal. Learning from such inspiring creative directors at SOB and getting to apply that learning to real client work made the experience unforgettable and also rewarding.

Meroo Seth

India

Online info sessions

Want to learn more about this postgraduate program? Sign up for one of our online info sessions and ask all your questions.

Is this program not listed in the overview? Then contact the program coordinator directly to get more information.

Sign up for an info session

Interested?

School of Branding is looking for passionate visual designers (bachelors/masters) who have a strong interest in devising and designing meaningful brands.

Do you have the following in mind?

How to create a successful brand strategy.
How to construct a brand story that is supported by employees.
What are the crucial strategies workshop exercises?
What makes for a good logo and a strong visual identity?
Discover School of Branding. We hope to see you soon!

Learn from the very best from the world of branding.

Get inspired

Thierry Brunfaut — Base Design

Thierry Brunfaut is creative director and one of the founders of Base Design, an international network of branding agencies located in Brussels, New York, Geneva and Melbourne. He is the author of the famous 5-minute poster series, teacher, and regular speaker at design and branding conferences across the globe. Thierry shows a remarkable and seemingly contradictory likeness to Moby and Kermit the frog.

Jill Mathieu — Goodcopy

The Polish writer Igor Walszborszki ate raw herring every day and drank vodka with it. He wrote his first poem after taking a dive in refreshing ice water. He was nominated four times for a Nobel prize. Jill was not. But she is a woman of words. And if she gives these words to someone else, she wants them to mean something. That is why Goodcopy.ink, her collective of copywriters, works for brands who use their vowels, oxymorons and Oxford commas for good. Think of Ancienne Belgique, Cowboy and the WHO.

Kurt De Vlieghere — Skinn Branding Agency

Kurt De Vlieghere is cluster entrepreneur and owner of SKINN BRANDING AGENCY, 5AM, BLACKBOXX and HALT. Kurt’s role in this company goes from founder/CEO to chief creative director, brand strategist, business developer, but also investor. The core company is SKINN, which he started in 2006 as freelance graphic designer. SKINN evolved from a one-man show to a branding agency with over 60 specialised brand experts with a wide range of competences who work for local, national and international clients from our offices in Bruges, Antwerp and Amsterdam.

Sebastien Greffe — WeWantMore

Since 2020, Sébastien Greffe is Creative Director at WeWantMore, the very place where he started his career as a graphic designer. For more than ten years, he gained experience at branding and advertising agencies, among which Wunderman Thompson, where he improved his knowledge of advertising and digital design as design director. Sébastien's background, combined with his hands-on mentality and craftsmanship, results in successful brand identities for Belgian and international top brands.

Siebe Jacxsens — Motion Voice

After 15 creative years at d-artagnan & SKINN Branding Agency, Siebe took the leap in January '24 to embark on a freelance career as a motion designer with a focus on branding. Studio Siebe brings brands to life in their own unique way and enjoys editing energetic brand videos that can give you goosebumps. Siebe collaborates with the creative team to find an interesting, recognizable motion style that enhances the character of the brand. A beautifully cohesive motion style that gives the brand just that little edge over the competition.

Hans Kan — Kan Ontwerp

Hans Kan is the founder and creative director of KAN, a bureau specialised in branding and design. At KAN, a team of more than twenty designers is working for local and international clients in diverse sectors. Hans has more than 35 years of experience in branding and design management.

Tom Andries — Today Agency - 62 Miles

Tom has always been an instigator of original concepts that defy the laws of the tradition. In 25 years, he has put tons of thought and energy into the creation of a whole range of logos and identities. He learned the tricks of the trade directly from Jeremy Dawkins, former creative director of Landor, for whom he worked for five years. The iconic "A" logo for the city of Antwerp was Toms remarkable breakthrough.

In 2007 he founded Today Agency, a branding agency with a clear focus on the creation and design of futureproof identities and brands. In 2019 he became partner of 62MILES. Tom is currently teaching a Brand Design Masterclass where he is inspiring the next generation of Belgian designers. He is also a lecturer at his former university of applied sciences - MAD Hasselt where he teaches Graphic Design. At Today Agency too, he is someone who will always put creative ideas before the obvious.

It is not about logos, colours or fonts. It is about a unique way to gather people around a new idea.

Thierry Brunfaut

Frédéric Vanhorenbeke - Coast Design

With extensive experience in strategic design and creative direction for brands such as Komono, Deutsche Bank and Kanal Centre Pompidou, Frédéric Vanhorenbeke is creative director and strategist at Coast. He began his design career in London and founded Coast Design in 1999. His passion for brands and critical view of society have remained unchanged since day one.

Ben Urbain — Glossy Branding Agency

Ben Urbain is an experienced branding expert with more than 18 years of experience. He is the founder of Glossy Branding Agency, based in Ghent, and has gained recognition for delivering exceptional brand solutions to clients in diverse sectors. Ben is famous for his hands-on consultancy approach, that helps companies to develop unique brand identities and campaigns that stand out on the current competitive market. His passion for design, both digitally and traditionally, is clearly visible in the remarkable branding campaigns he creates. Ben’s love for music and design continues to inspire his work, and he is committed to help companies achieve their brand objectives.

Coline Leclère — Base Design

Coline Leclère is Strategy Director at Base Design, where she turns complexity into clarity and progress. Her approach moves between logic and intuition, between structured thinking and creative judgement. In her view, strategy is not separate from creativity — it begins there. In looking closely. In recognising what is unique. In making visible what was already present, but not yet said out loud. And then giving that shape through ideas and language.

Within School of Branding, she teaches students to think independently: to sharpen what is truly at stake, to move beyond consensus, to read culture, to build convictions, and to lay strong foundations for creative work.

Henk Willems — Studio WillemsPeeters

For 25 years, Henk has been working as a designer/design director (Duval Guillaume/Duval Branding) on large-scale branding programmes for national and international destinations, companies and organisations, with brand identities such as Opera District Dubai, Mio, Deme, Avignonesi, Argenta, VDK bank, Gazet van Antwerpen, Team Belgium, Matexi, Armonea, etc. Apart from his job as brand designer at Studio WillemsPeeters, Henk is also a lecturer in 'graphic design' at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences in Ghent and illustrator of a few obscure children's books.

These days, branding is more important than ever. The competition is increasing daily as new and similar brands are created every day. Companies are investing more than ever in ways to establish an emotional bond with clients so they become indispensable to them. A strong brand stands out from the crowd. Clients will fall for brands and will trust them.

During the semester, you will work on your branding projects for real clients. These clients will brief you, after which you will do workshops in a team together with your client. After developing your branding strategy you will present your final visual proposal.

This practical approach offers a valuable experience in branding, client interaction and presentation skills. And it prepares you for a successful career in the branding world.

We are highly satisfied with our collaboration with School of Branding. The professionalism and refreshing ideas from the students left a deep impression. An inspiring experience that exceeded our expectations.

Patrick De Vos

CEO World of Travel

School of Branding provides a diversity of design styles applied to custom branding. There is a huge variety of students, each with their own unique design style. Undoubtedly, this will result in a new branding that seamlessly fits each brand personality.

Dempsey Pauwels

Founder Ledge Shoes and Artevelde UAS alumnus

Opdracht Johanna Vanschemdecombe voor Ledge

At the School of Branding, we show you how brands are built – by breaking down every phase of the process (analysis – strategy – design – pitch – building the brand platform), explaining each step clearly, and applying it through hands-on case studies.

Your lessons combine both theory and practical exercises.

In addition to numerous guest lectures by top experts from the Belgian branding scene, you’ll also take part in a pitch weeks, during which you’ll collaborate on real projects with some of the country’s leading branding agencies.

The programme concludes with a 15-week internship at one of our many partner agencies, allowing you to put your skills into practice and refine them even further.

You’ll also attend leading design festivals as part of the course: Us By Night (September in Antwerp) and OFFF(April in Barcelona).

After just six months, you’ll be ready to launch your career as a brand builder or designer in the exciting and growing world of branding and communication agencies.

1. Market research and audit

To come to a strong brand identity, you must know well who the intended target group (stakeholders) is. What are their expectations, what is the consumer susceptible to, how do they decide to buy (customer journey). Market research should not be guesswork: by teaching participants how they can do proper qualitative and quantitative research, they will be able to translate their insights in a data-driven manner into strong strategies.

2. Strategy & Brand positioning

Once you have your qualitative and quantitative data and insights at your disposal the real work begins. How can you translate this into concrete brand positioning? What strategies are effective to reach the target group, how can you distinguish from other brands? What story should your brand tell?

2b. Copywriting

Every idea starts with words. So it is better to choose the right ones from the start. What should your brand tell and what should that sound like? From the brand story over the name and the baseline to the Instagram bio: the right words help to reach the audience that you want, and to motivate them to act. Or in the words of Daniel Kahneman: 'People don't choose between things, they choose between descriptions of things'.

3. Identity & Design system

A brand strategy is inextricably linked to a distinct and consistent visual identity. How can you design this, how can you combine colours, fonts and images into a unified whole that seamlessly fits your brand strategy? Thanks to a background in graphic design, the participants will be able to further develop and refine their basic knowledge.

4. Brand Presentation

How can you convince your clients of your brand story/environment? With a strong presentation of course! But that is easier said than done. A good brand presentation must be carefully constructed and is accompanied by various digital and printed applications (for instance stationery, signalisation, fleet, clothing, packaging, digital, …).

5. Managing assets + guidelines

Once the branding has been approved, the actual work begins. The new/renewed brand is yet to come to life and must keep on growing in the coming years. To this end, thorough brand guidelines are needed to give the brand a consistent appearance and to create today's apps as well as those of tomorrow. And what about font licences, colour tests, brand portals, image licences, etc?

6. Internship and excursion

You complete a 15-week internship at a branding or creative agency, contributing to real briefs within a professional workflow. You apply branding competencies, develop creative and strategic concepts, and reflect on your own growth. In addition, you take part in an international excursion for inspiration and to expand your professional network.

7. Professional practice & entrepreneurship

In this module, you prepare yourself for the job market within the branding and creative sector. You work intensively on your personal brand, portfolio and job application skills, and receive a practice-oriented introduction to working independently as either a primary or secondary occupation. The focus is on real-world application, realistic case studies and insights from the industry. This way, you bridge the gap between education and professional practice.

To be considered for admission to School of Branding, applicants must submit a complete application file consisting of:

a completed motivation form
a portfolio

Only applications that have been submitted in full, within the applicable deadline, and that meet the academic entry requirement (Associate Degree, Bachelor's Degree, or Master's Degree) will be considered.

Assessment Procedure

Each application is assessed by an admissions panel consisting of at least two reviewers. Applications are evaluated against predefined criteria and weightings as set out below.

Motivation (25%)

The motivation statement is assessed on the basis of, among other things:

Purpose and rationale for applying to the programme
Professional and/or personal relevance of the programme
Reflective ability, including awareness of strengths, development areas, and learning objectives
Commitment and willingness to actively engage in the programme

Portfolio Quality (75%)

The portfolio is assessed on the basis of:

Typographic proficiency
Technical skills
Contemporary relevance
Visual identity development
Application of design principles
Conceptual thinking and creativity

Admission Decision

The decision of the admissions panel is final and binding.

Application assessments take place at multiple points between the end of April and the beginning of September. No fixed processing time can be guaranteed for individual applications.

Applicants who receive a positive assessment will be provided with further enrolment instructions.

Applicants who are not admitted may request written feedback on their application on one occasion only. No additional feedback will be provided thereafter.

School of Branding case Olympische spelen

As words are equally important for your brand as your logo, colours, and the jingle of your podcast.

Jill Mathieu

Internship companies

Apart from a whole range of guest lectures by the best from the Belgian branding world, you will also do two pitch weeks (only for students in the first cycle) in which we will work on projects from the best branding agencies. We conclude the programme with an internship of 16 weeks (only for students in the first cycle) at one of our many partners, to test and refine your skills in practice. After seven months, you will be ready to get started as a brand builder/designer in a thrilling and growing pool of branding and communication agencies.

Do an internship at one of these leading branding agencies.