Graphic Design (BFA)

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The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Graphic Design program at University of the Arts offers a broad view of what a graphic designer can and should be in today’s world, and prepares students for employment in fields ranging from publication design to motion graphics to branding and more.

As a student of Graphic Design, you’ll learn

well-informed design processes and problem-solving strategies for all forms of visual communication;
to think critically, creatively and experimentally; and
to consider broader personal experience and knowledge in pursuit of eloquent design solutions.

The program is cross-disciplinary and fosters collaboration with other programs at the University, as well as with local arts organizations, nonprofits and social agencies.

Our robust curriculum is based on critical thinking, design theory, technique and history, and balances experimental concerns with practical ones in order to equip graduates for success as professional designers. Starting with the School of Design’s first-year core courses—tailored to provide students with a solid foundation for rigorous study in their second through fourth years—the program emphasizes formal aesthetic, theoretical and analytical knowledge, with a deep exploration of today’s rapidly evolving media landscape. Each year’s studies step up in complexity and scope to allow you to build on what you’ve previous learned.

As a UArts Graphic Design graduate, you’ll know how to analyze what you see, speak about it, develop meaningful concepts, and generate compelling design narratives and solutions. You’ll also know how to promote yourself and your work, and how to land jobs that excite, challenge and nurture you throughout your career.

Explore Student Work

From magazines and posters to brand guides and merchandise, Graphic Design students work with all aspects of design. Check out some of their work!

Explore Student Work /

From magazines and posters to brand guides and merchandise, Graphic Design students work with all aspects of design. Check out some of their work!

Elizabeth Sheffield '19

Jacob Brahms '19

Julianne Feaver '19

Celine Salvino '19

Ana Villarreal '19

JP Bender '19

Morgan Williams '19

Aubrey Fink '19

Abby Blaine '19

School of Design First Year Core

The School of Design 1st Year Core is a unique and critical first year experience for all undergraduate design majors. Discover the core courses.

The School of Design at UArts redefines what it means to educate a 21st century designer, providing creative, cross-disciplinary and business practices in the curriculum. Its key innovation is a celebration of the reality that the boundaries between all sorts of contemporary design practices are more permeable than ever before, and that a modern designer needs a greatly expanded skill set at their disposal.

The School of Design 1st Year Core is a unique and critical first year experience for all undergraduate design majors. These collaborative courses will expose you to multiple modes of practice and technologies while providing a solid grounding in design thinking, drawing as thinking, communication, audience and meaning, design technology, and collaboration and team building. You'll complete projects that encourage experimentation and develop your unique artistic voice across a range of social, cultural, political, technological and historical topics. This year of focused studies will prepare you to enter your discipline successfully. During your first year in the School of Design, you’ll also take course modules in the university’s Makerspace and Center for Immersive Media.

Explore the core courses and see student work.

Learn more.

Student Experience

Working in a collaborative environment with professors, professionals, alumni and peers, you'll have the opportunity to bring your vision to life, from the beginning through the final, polished product.

Student Experience /

Liftoff 2019

July 12, 2019

3...2...1... Liftoff! Check out the School of Design’s spring exhibition, Liftoff 2019.

Liftoff! is the School of Design’s spring exhibition. This aptly titled launch showcases student work from our four programs: Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design and MDes Product Design. With the help and expert guidance of faculty and staff, our students have created work that distinguishes them as artists and designers of the highest caliber. This exhibition marks not the end of their academic years, but the beginning of their professional careers.

Learn More:

Ana Villarreal

BFA ’19

Graphic Design (BFA)

Hometown: Metepec, Mexico, and Seoul, South Korea

Aubrey Fink

BFA ’19

Graphic Design (BFA)

Hometown: Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Jonathan White

BFA ’19

Graphic Design (BFA)

Hometown: Clinton, Maryland

Faculty Spotlight

Our Graphic Design faculty bring experience from a range of backgrounds, from corporate branding to photographics.

Angela Riechers

Graphic Design (BFA)

Award-winning designer with work in myriad national publications

Jarrett Fuller

Graphic Design (BFA)

Runs Twenty-Six, a multidisciplinary design and editorial studio

John Connolly

Graphic Design (BFA)

Founding Principal and Creative Director of the New York City-based agency, Ideas On Purpose

See More Faculty

Sample Courses in the Graphic Design Major

The Graphic Design program delivers a professional degree that develops the student’s mastery and expertise in the current marketplace for the practice of graphic design or a related communications-oriented field.

Graduates of the Graphic Design program will:

Be experienced in both hierarchical and non-hierarchical forms of collaboration as professional preparation
Possess a unique intellectual and visual voice
Be able to adapt to a changing, unpredictable world and its communication needs where the methods of communication can be expected to evolve and expand.
Demonstrate a strong work ethic driven by both logical and inventive working processes.
Possess a high level of expertise within industry-standard technological environments and the propensity to prototype for high-level, complex technologically-based practices.
Be strategic thinkers with the ability to explain these strategies as a fundamental aspect of their design process.

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Design Process, Theory & Communication
Drawing as Seeing & Meaning
Digital Design Lab
Thinking Through Science
Writing I Placement
Free elective (your choice)
Drawing as Thinking
Video Production, Body as Form, Found & Fabricated Narrative
Writing II Placement
Design Studio
Art History Survey II

Electronic Media/Production I
Communication Design
Visual Perception & the Language of Form
Visualizing Language I: Typographic Hierarchies
Critical Studies (your choice)
Free elective (your choice)
Design History

Digital Interactive Techniques
Visual Communication I: Design in Context
Visual Language II: Text Strategies
Java Scripting
Contemporary Issues in Design
Free elective (your choice)
Advanced Digital Interactive Techniques
School of Design Workshop
Communication Media & Strategies or Design for Understanding
Critical Studies (your choice)

Business Communication for Design Professionals or Design Internship
Senior Studio |
Design Strategies: Nonlinear Narratives & Audience Based Design
Critical Studies (your choice)
Free elective (your choice)
Senior Studio II
Design Strategies: Brand Identity

Explore the Full Curriculum