Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design

The Department of Design prepares animators, illustrators, experience designers, graphic designers, marketing creatives, motion designers, photographers, product designers, UX/UI developers, and other multidisciplinary communicators to thrive as innovative practitioners and socially-engaged leaders in an ever-changing professional field. The mission of the Department of Design is to engage its students in the practice of design thinking and visualization to create beautiful, innovative, and responsible solutions (products, spaces, systems, messages, and services) that respond to human needs and enhance the quality of everyday life.

The Department of Design encompasses a rich tradition and a long history of educating students to engage in current paradigms toward defining the future of design practice. Exceptional faculty and state-of-the-art facilities provide an environment that cultivates and optimal educational experience in each area of undergraduate and graduate study through innovative and comprehensive curricula and experiences. Students gain insights from lectures and workshops with world-renowned designers, collaborations with industry partners, and opportunities to participate in short-term study abroad programs and semester-long internships in the US and abroad.

The Design Department offers BFA in Design with programs in Animation, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interaction Design, Photography, and Visual Communication Design (Graphic Design). The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design is a four-year, 120-credit-hour degree program. All design students spend the first semester in foundation courses and in the second semester begin taking courses in their chosen major. 

The Department also offers Minors in Design, Photography, Design Entrepreneurship, and a Certificate in Book Arts. 

Design students have access to studio spaces, computer labs, a letterpress lab, a Riso lab, a robust photography area, a softgoods fabrication lab, and digital fabrication labs with 3D printers, CNC, and large format laser cutters. Students gain insights from lectures and workshops with world-renowned designers, collaborations with industry partners, and opportunities to participate in short-term study abroad programs and semester-long internships in the US and abroad.