Graphic Design Program
The university of Rio Grande offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art with concentrations in General Fine Arts, Two-Dimensional Art, Three Dimensional Art, and Graphic Design. An Associates of Art is also available in Visual Art or Graphic Design. Minors are available in Art, Photography, and Graphic Design.
The Graphic Design concentration is designed to prepare the graduate to work in print or web design at the professional level. Students will take a wide variety of courses in traditional and digital art and prepare a professional portfolio of design work, including logo and identity design, page layout, illustration, photography, web design, and web animation. The Adobe Creative Suite will be the primary software package, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, and Flash.
Graduates of the program have worked in a variety of settings, including advertising, newspaper, public relations, freelance design work, photography, printing, and web design.
Coursework includes the following:
General Education Courses
39 hours of the standard university requirements in Math, History, Science, English, etc.
Studio Foundations Courses
Art Portfolio-Covers basic image documentation and resume building.
Two-Dimensional Design-Covers shape, line, texture and basic visual literacy
Three-Dimensional Design-Similar to 2D Design, but using three dimensional building techniques, includes wood and metal-working.
Drawing I-Basics of rendering forms with drawing tools such as ink, pencil and charcoal
Raster Graphics-Using Photoshop to edit pictures, and create original artwork.
Exhibits-Basics of installing and promoting art exhibitions.
Art History Courses
Western Art History I-History of the art of the Western World from the stone age to the Renaissance.
Western Art History II-History of the art of the Western World from the Renaissance to the 1950's.
Art History Philosophy and Criticism-Contemporary issues in Art History, Criticism and Philosophy, dealing with art from the 1950's to today.
Non-Western Art History- the arts of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceana.
Studio Core Courses
Drawing II-Drawing the figure, and watercolor techniques.
Printmaking-handmade printing techniques, such as etching, woodcut, screenprinting, and lithography.
Ceramics-handbuilt and wheel-thrown pottery and sculptural work in clay.
Sculpture-original artworks made from stone, wood, metal or other materials.
Painting-oil painting techniques and art.
Photography-either darkroom or digital photographic techniques.
Graphic Design Concentration Courses
Vector Graphics-page layout, logo design, illustration using Adobe Illustrator and InDesign.
Web Graphics-Web design and some web animation using Dreamweaver and Flash.
Junior Design Studio I-Intermediat page layout, logo design, and illustration, and original design work for clients.
Junior Design Studio II-Intermediate web design and web animation, including client work.
Senior Design Studio I-Advanced work on special projects in print and web design.
Senior Design Studio II-More Advanced work on special projects in print and web design.
Capstone Course
Senior Exhibit-Students exhibit their wok in the university gallery, complete their professional portfolio.
More information about the program, complet course descriptions, program requirements, etc., may be found here.
Contact Benjy Davies to arrange a personal meeting or tour of the facilities.