Program Description
Design shapes our world and the human experience. The Graphic Design & Visual Communication program prepares students in key areas including graphic design, interaction design, and emerging modes of communication and experience. We emphasize design as a powerful cultural, social, economic, political, and environmental force.
By fostering curiosity and critical thinking, our faculty empower students to develop their own perspectives and tackle the complex challenges of both the design profession and the world around them. Through hands-on projects, students learn to think and create using a wide range of tools and techniques, collaborate across disciplines, work on real-world industry initiatives, and actively engage with the professional design community.
Learning Goals/Outcomes
- Identify and frame communication design problems to support appropriate solutions for intended audiences and contexts
- Conduct research and analysis to inform solutions and shape user experience
- Generate and prototype design concepts to explore a range of possibilities
- Evaluate outcomes to measure effectiveness and impact
- Collaborate productively in interdisciplinary teams
- Communicate design decisions effectively through writing, speaking, and presentation in professional contexts.
- Evaluate the ethical, cultural, and environmental implications of design decisions.
- Apply principles of inclusive and accessible design to create equitable user experiences.
- Understand and design within complex systems, including multi-platform, service, and brand ecosystems.
- Demonstrate visual literacy through composition, hierarchy, typography, and the creation of meaningful images
- Apply appropriate tools and technologies with fluency
- Adapt to evolving professional challenges, tools, and technologies
Curriculum: 4 years, 124-125 credits
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| FYS 100 | Pathways Seminar | 1 |
| WRIT 101 | Writing Sem I: Written Comm. | 3 |
| Math Selection | 3-4 | |
| VDES 101 | Design Essentials | 3 |
| GRPH 110 | Digital Imagn for Graphic Desg | 3 |
| ARTH 103 | A Survey of the History of Art | 3 |
| Credits | 16-17 | |
| Spring | ||
| AVIS 101 | American Visions | 3 |
| Ethics | 3 | |
| DECF 102 | Finding & Shaping Opportunity | 3 |
| GRPH 102 | Intro to Graphic Design | 3 |
| DRAW 101 | Drawing Essentials for Design | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 18 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| WRIT 201 | Writing Seminar II:Multi Comm | 3 |
| Science Selection | 3 | |
| GRPH 201 | Design III for Graph Dsgn Comm | 3 |
| DIGD 200 | Fundamentls of Web Programming | 3 |
| GRPH 208 | History of Graphic Design | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| Global Diversity Selection | 3 | |
| DECS 209 | Sys Thinking & Sustainability | 3 |
| GRPH 209 | Visual Narrative | 3 |
| DIGD 206 | Found in Web Design & Strategy | 3 |
| Art History Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| American Diversity Selection | 3 | |
| Global Citizenship | 3 | |
| GRPH 202 | Design IV for Graph Dsgn Comm | 3 |
| DIGD 307 | Advanced Web Design & Strategy | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| CGIS 300 | Contemporary Global Issues | 3 |
| DECM 300 | Research Methods | 3 |
| GRPH 301 | Design V for Graph Design Comm | 3 |
| GRPH 321 | Dynamic Type Systems | 3 |
| Visual Comm Design Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| PHIL 499 | Philosophies of the Good Life | 3 |
| GRPH 401 | Design VII for Graph Dsgn Comm | 6 |
| DIGD 498 | Interdisc Capstone Proj Prep | 3 |
| VISUAL COMM DESIGN ELECTIVE | Visual Comm Design Elective | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| GRPH 308 | Graphic Design Theory | 3 |
| GRPH 499 | Cap in Graph Design Comm | 6 |
| Visual Comm Design Electives | 6 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Total Credits | 124-125 | |