Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design
The BFA in Graphic Design is an intensive, professionally oriented, studio-based program that prepares students for entering the job market or for continuing their education at the graduate level. The program is a challenging course of study and practice built upon fundamental principles designed to develop your technical skills, advance your visual literacy, stimulate your intellectual curiosity, sharpen your aesthetic conceptualization and expand your ability to think critically. Graphic design is problem-solving through visual communication, the interaction of words and images to inform, educate, persuade and/or advocate. Our program selectively combines elements of traditional studio instruction with design principles to create projects in branding, packaging, publication design, service design, user/consumer experience and other areas related to the field.
Development of visualization skills, creativity, conceptual thinking, compositional layout and typography form the cornerstone of the program. Each successive course builds in complexity to encompass technical, conceptual, and research challenges that culminates with upper-level courses devoted to professional practice. Historical perspectives, sustainability, and ethical concerns are discussed throughout the program. The program and curriculum aim to enable students to become innovative, effective, and responsible designers that are prepared for the job market in the 21st century.
Students must earn a "B" or higher in the ART 190 Foundations: Portfolio Review in order to pursue the BFA in Graphic Design.
Degree Requirements
Foundations
| ART 120 | Foundations: Research and Practice I | 4 |
| ART 130 | Foundations: Art in Context I | 2 |
| ART 140 | Foundations: Methods and Inquiry I | 2 |
| ART 150 | Foundations: Creative Technologies I | 2 |
| ART 155 | Foundations: Creative Technologies II | 2 |
| ART 160 | Foundations: Research and Practice II | 4 |
| ART 170 | Foundations: Art in Context II | 2 |
| ART 180 | Foundations: Methods and Inquiry II | 2 |
| ART 190 | Foundations: Portfolio Review | 0 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 20 |
Studio Core
One from each of the following media:
The following Drawing course:
One of the following Sculpture courses:
| ART 261 | Sculpture Mold-Making and Casting I | 4 |
| ART 262 | Experimental Sculpture I | 4 |
One of the following Painting courses:
The following Photography courses:
One of the following Printmaking courses:
Art History and Theory
One of the following:
| ART 357 | Modern Art | 4 |
| ART 423 | Contemporary Art and Theory | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 8 |
Graphic Design
Graphic Design Electives
8-credits from the following:
Capstone
| ART 429 | BFA Graphic Design Capstone Preparation | 2 |
| ART 499 | BFA Graphic Design Capstone | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 6 |
Total Credit Hours: 82
A minimum "C" must be earned in all major coursework.