Program Description
Design shapes our world and the human experience. The Visual Communication Design 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, 121-123 credits
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| FYS 100 | Pathways Seminar | 1 |
| WRIT 101 | Writing Sem I: Written Comm. | 3-4 |
| AVIS 101 | American Visions | 3 |
| VDES 101 | Design Essentials | 3 |
| GRPH 110 | Digital Imagn for Graphic Desg | 3 |
| MATH 1XX | Math I | 3-4 |
| Credits | 16-18 | |
| Spring | ||
| DECF 102 | Finding & Shaping Opportunity | 3 |
| DRAW 101 | Drawing Essentials for Design | 3 |
| GRPH 102 | Intro to Graphic Design | 3 |
| ARTH 103 | A Survey of the History of Art | 3 |
| SCI 1XX | Science | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| WRIT 201 | Writing Seminar II:Multi Comm | 3 |
| DECS 209 | Sys Thinking & Sustainability | 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 | ||
| GDIV 1XX | Global Diversity | 3 |
| GRPH 301 | Design V for Graph Design Comm | 3 |
| DIGD 206 | Found in Web Design & Strategy | 3 |
| ARTH XXX | Art History Elective | 3 |
| ETHC 2XX | Ethics | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| GRPH 202 | Design IV for Graph Dsgn Comm | 3 |
| DIGD 307 | Advanced Web Design & Strategy | 3 |
| DECM 300 | Research Methods | 3 |
| MKTG 102 | Principles of Marketing | 3 |
| ADIV 2XX | American Diversity | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| GRPH 302 | Design VI for Graph Dsign Comm | 3 |
| Visual Comm Design Elective | 3 | |
| CGIS 300 | Contemporary Global Issues | 3 |
| GCIT 2XX | Global Citizenship | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| PHIL 499 | Philosophies of the Good Life | 3 |
| DIGD 498 | Interdisc Capstone Proj Prep | 3 |
| GRPH 401 | Design VII for Graph Dsgn Comm | 6 |
| GENELECT | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| GRPH 499 | Cap in Graph Design Comm | 6 |
| GRPH 308 | Graphic Design Theory | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | |
| Visual Comm Design Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Total Credits | 121-123 | |