Design Major

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The program integrates coursework in graphic design, digital media design, and environmental design into a dynamic interdisciplinary studio concentration. By practicing design in an expanded field, students gain comprehensive experience with a wide range of process-oriented skills, including conceptual development, visual rhetoric, formal experimentation, and critical thinking.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students will:

Apply skills to generate design work through methodologies of process, production, and experimentation
Synthesize design research and scholarship in history, theory and criticism
Demonstrate fluency with diverse media and their accompanying technologies, along with the ability to accommodate new technologies as they emerge
Articulate the role of design and the function of the designer as a leader in the social, cultural, and political landscape
Engage in the practice of design professionalism and collaboration

Major Requirements (49 units)

Required (29 units)

Electives (12 units)

Design Studio Electives (8 units)

Students complete two of the following:

Design Seminar Electives (4 units)

Students complete one of the following:

Design Internship (2 units)

Complete the following:

ART 450 - Design Internship

Senior Design Project (4 units)

Complete the following:

ART 460 - Senior Design Thesis

Professional Practice in Design (2 units)

Complete the following:

ART 480 - Prof Practice in Design

Optional Elective

The 1-unit Art + Architecture lecture series does not count towards program requirements.

ART 240 - Art + Arch Lecture Series

Degree Planner

First-Year

Fall	Units
ART 140 - Design Fundamentals	4
Core - F: ART 110 - History of Western Design	4
ART 104 - Fabrication Lab	1
Core or Language - Course 1	4
Core: Rhetoric and Composition	4
Total Semester Units	17
Spring	Units
ART 155 - Visual Communication	4
ART 102 - Survey/Western Art History 2	4
Core or Language - Course 2	4
Core	4
Total Semester Units	16

Sophomore Year

Fall	Units
ART 205 - Typography	4
ART 272 - Design for the Web	4
Core or Language - Course 2	4
Core	4
Total Semester Units	16
Spring	Units
ART 315 - Digital Media Design	4
Core	4
Core	4
Core	4
Total Semester Units	16

Junior Year

Fall	Units
Upper Division Design Studio Elective	4
Upper Division Design Seminar Elective	4
Core	4
Core	4
Total Semester Units	16
Spring	Units
Upper Division Design Studio Elective	4
Core	4
Core	4
Core	4
Total Semester Units	16

Senior Year

Fall	Units
ART 480 - Prof Practice in Design	2
Elective	4
Optional Additional Elective	4
Core	4
Core	4
Total Semester Units	18
Spring	Units
ART 450 - Design Internship	2
ART 460 - Senior Design Thesis	4
Elective	4
Optional Additional Elective	4
Core	4
Total Semester Units	18

*This information is subject to change, the degree planner is a sample, and students should consult with the department for any updated information.