The Graphic Design program offers students the basic principles and processes of visual communication as established by national accreditation and professional standards, such as the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and AIGA, the national, professional organization for design. Students study comparative ideas about, and methods for, creating visual communication. Sequenced core studios (GD 201, 202, 301), typography courses (GD 217, 317, 417), and image-making courses (GD 210, 310, 410) progressively introduce and develop skills, processes, and sensitivities across a range of media. Through the projects accomplished in these courses, students acquire strong form-making and conceptualization skills. They learn and practice graphic design strategies—such as mapping and diagramming to understand design problems, audiences, contexts—and visualization techniques—such as ideation and iteration to explore and refine design possibilities and determine appropriateness. As students enter their junior and senior years, they develop a particular body of knowledge and skills. In these advanced courses, students apply the concepts, methods, and skills they have acquired to real-world, contemporary design problems. Increasingly, students interact with clients and organizations through upper level studios and internships to gain experience working with clients, communities, and end users. By the end of the program, students have built a portfolio of professional work that prepares them for entry-level positions in the areas that they wish to pursue as careers.

Graduates of the Graphic Design program pursue careers in user experience design, interaction and interface design, branding, and service design. Graduates also work in other areas that utilize the graphic design skills they acquire in the program, depending upon interest and opportunity. These areas include advertising and marketing, wayfinding and signage design, exhibition design, packaging design, film title design, and typeface design. Our alumni are employed in high profile and internationally recognized business and culture organizations including NBC Universal, RedHat, IBM/Lenovo, IDEO, Razorfish, Walker Art Center, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo!, DirectTV, Nike Creative, Weiden+Kennedy, Second Story, Pentagram, SAS Institute, R/GA, Inkling, and Chronicle Books. Many graduates lead smaller studios as senior designers and creative directors, or own design businesses that serve local regions as well as those throughout the United States, such as NewKind, New Deal Design, Josh Gajownik Design, Shapiro/Walker, and Ketchup and Mustard.