Graphic Designers create books, websites, magazines, film titles, catalogs, typefaces, signage systems, television graphics, posters and postcards. From complex identity programs to single logos, graphic designers give a face and a "visual voice" to retail and cultural enterprises, to entertainment, manufacturing and service industries, governmental and political interests.
Simply put, graphic designers give meaningful visual form to content in all media: from print to screen; business cards to billboards; computer interfaces to movies screens. But the most critical skill graphic designers offer is their unique ability to communicate specific messages through the artful manipulation of typography and images, systems and structures. Their work promotes, educates, directs, informs, exposes, clarifies, beautifies and delights.
The Graphic Design department at the College of Design is nationally recognized for the quality of its program, the contributions of its faculty and the capabilities of its graduates. Students begin study in the discipline in the freshman year, and matriculate through a series of core, topic, and focus studios. The unique “in-residence” classroom structure grounds an open culture of exchange that fosters creative responses to a range of topical design issues.
The work of the faculty and students in the Graphic Design department has been featured nationally in journals such as Visible Language, Design Issues, AIGA Journal and Loop (American Institute of Graphic Arts), and Statements (American Center for Design), as well as in Emigré, Print, Metropolis, and I.D. magazines. Internationally their writing and design has been represented in publications from Switzerland (Novum Gebrauchgraphik) to England (Visual Communication and Eye Magazine) to Russia (KAK). Faculty are frequently invited to lecture and present work at professional and educational design conferences. Students in the Department consistently win national merit scholarships as well as recognition for their work from institutions such as the American Center for Design and AIGA.
The department, college and university extend numerous classroom and extra-curricular opportunities that help students become progressively responsible for their work, which culminates in coursework that anticipates professional practice. Graduates hold positions in design offices large and small, in-house creative offices in public institutions and private corporations within North Carolina and across the nation. Many teach graphic design in the United States and abroad.
The Bachelor of Graphic Design program includes the study of visual, theoretical, historical, and technical aspects of the discipline. The curriculum provides comprehensive experiences in the analysis of communication problems, the development of creative solutions to those problems, and the implementation and evaluation of those solutions.
Required support courses in typography explore the role of words and language in graphic communication, while courses in imaging provide students with experiences in a range of photographic, videographic, and motion graphic media. Instruction in computer software programs is fully integrated in graphic design studios and support courses and is not taught as a separate activity. In their studios, graphic design majors prepare for careers in the field through the execution of demonstration projects of varying complexity and scale. In the last studio, graduating students prepare their portfolios for job searches and demonstrate their expertise in a senior project.
The Master of Graphic Design program is a two-year, full-time course of advanced study in the field. The program places primary importance on the ability of students to be critical agents, to seek problems and to pose questions. Faculty evaluate graduate students on their ability to define individual investigations and to support their decision-making with an independent program of reading and research; an ability to critically evaluate and articulate discoveries; and an ability to synthesize ideas through the creation of design projects.
The main thrust of our graduate program is to provide a research dimension. Students contribute to the understanding of graphic design through investigations into its history, theory, criticism and methodology, as well as its practice. Graduate students come from a variety of academic and professional practice backgrounds. The department accepts students who have an undergraduate degree in graphic design or comparable professional practice experience, as well as those with degrees in other disciplines who see a connection between their previous study and graphic design.
The Department of Graphic Design offers a 48 credit-hour program of study leading to the degree, Master of Graphic Design. Because of the intensive nature of our program, part-time enrollment is not possible. Our innovative program is structured around three topical frameworks. These critical content frameworks examine different contexts for understanding and making graphic design:
These topics are presented and discussed in seminar courses; projects are developed and produced in corresponding studios. Students are expected to respond to short faculty assignments, followed by more extensive individual projects that arise from seminar issues. In the final semester of study, candidates complete an extensive, semester-long research project undertaken with the advice and guidance of a three-member faculty committee.
Seminars include readings in cognitive and social psychology, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, social and cultural theory, and media studies. Students write about and discuss emerging research and critical frameworks in design. The co-requisite studio allows students to apply seminar information in faculty- and student-driven studio investigations.
The Master of Graphic Design is accredited as a terminal degree program by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. US News and World Report has ranked it among the top seven graphic design programs nationally and second among public universities. It is a two-year, full-time course of advanced study that places primary importance on the ability of students to be critical agents and to pose researchable questions.
For information on applying for the Master of Graphic Design program, please visit the graduate admissions page of this website.
For additional information on Graduate programs available at NC State University, visit the Graduate School website at: http://www.ncsu.edu/grad.
Kathleen Meaney
ktmeaney@ncsu.edu
Matthew Peterson
mopeters@ncsu.edu
The Bachelor of Graphic Design and Master of Graphic Design programs in Department of Graphic Design at NC State University are fully accredited as the professional bachelor's degree and terminal masters degree, respectively, by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design in affiliation with the American Institute of Graphic Arts. The recently established PhD in Design/Information Design concentration received plan approval from NASAD and will be considered for full accreditation approval once it has graduated its first class.
The National Association of Schools of Art and Design is composed of schools and individuals representing the highest traditions and aims in the education of artists and designers. These members have proven, by the fact of their membership and activity in the organization, their deep interest in fostering high standards for art and design education. Through its annual meetings, NASAD provides a national forum for discussion of the broadest considerations involving the education of the artist and designer. NASAD is the only accrediting agency covering the whole field of art and design recognized by the US Department of Education. The American Institute of Graphic Arts is the professional association representing more than 17,000 graphic design professionals in the United States. AIGA is an affiliate member of NASAD and participates in the definition of standards and publishing of briefing papers on graphic design education.
To receive accreditation, programs in the Department of Graphic Design underwent a "single discipline review" by a team of NASAD visitors in February, 2001 and received the full support of the NASAD accreditation commission in October of 2001. The Self-Study prepared for this review is on file in the Department of Graphic Design office in Brooks Hall. The next periodic review of department programs will be in the 2005-2006 academic year.