MFA/CD Courses

This course is required as a condition of employment for graduate teaching and instructional assistants. It will provide in-service training and evaluations of instructional philosophies, techniques, and responsibilities. This course does not earn graduate degree credit.

This course may be taken only to fulfill communication design background. Students will acquire knowledge and graphic design skills necessary for advanced studies. This course does not earn graduate degree credit. Prerequisites: Consent of the graduate advisor. Repeatable with different emphasis.

Advanced in-depth instruction involving conceptual principles, design, copy strategies, and branding methods in print, broadcast, and e-commerce advertising art direction and design. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

Students will research, create, and produce advanced online products. Emphasis is placed on information architecture, interface design, and navigation constructs in order to produce unique online communications. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

This course examines the traditional and experimental advanced usage of type and its relationship to the symbolic or communicative message. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

Students explore complex corporate and institutional identity systems. Concept, design, program continuity, and branding in the marketplace will be emphasized. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

This course will explore advanced development of typographic elements, layout grid constructs, photo-imagery, and illustration for publication of corporate marketing materials. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

Students explore the experimental printed book including concept, design, and unique production such as unique binding methods. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

This course examines emerging issues in graphic design and design criticism, primarily from the turn of the 21st century to the present. Students will learn to analyze and critique graphic design, and will produce a work of critical writing.

This course explores the modernist movement in design, as it emerged in Europe and America in the early twentieth century. Topics include: visual cultural theory, the origins of modernism, Dada, Constructivism, DeStijl, the Bauhaus, and American modernism.

This course explores the relationship between form and content through the lens of graphic design and typography from the 1960s through 1990s, with a focus on postmodernism. Topics include: new wave and experimental typography, design authorship, appropriation, deconstruction, narrative structures, and new media.

This course examines communication design research methods, modes of practice, and models of the creative process. Students will engage in individual research inquiries, in order to develop the topic for their master’s thesis in Communication Design.

An independent study requiring complex problem-solving in communication design. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

This course explores the detailed anatomy of typefaces in order to design custom typefaces through various applications. Students with an advanced knowledge of typography will research detailed type anatomy as well as historical and cultural typographic constructs. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

Students will explore the role of sustainable package design in context to meeting the requirements of clients and consumers in the global marketplace. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

In this course, the student will be exposed to the principles of project, studio, marketing, and business development management as it relates to the business operations of a communication design studio. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

This course explores the concept of interactivity in all its form, from the digital to the physical as it relates to communication design. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

In this course, the student explores the implications of social networking and mobile communications in contemporary communication design. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

This course explores the designer’s role in the dissemination of information and examines the history and current practices of independent publishing. There is an emphasis on authorship, typography, and experimentation. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

This course studies the international perspectives of typography. This course requires a field trip abroad and will conclude with one extensive communication design assessment based upon the field trip experience. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change. Exclude from 3-peat Processing.

This course will explore hands-on printing methods for designers. Letterpress, screen-printing and other alternative printing methods will be explored to visually express design concepts. Exclude from 3-peat Processing.

Students will translate technological and socioeconomic issues into the near future. They will explore the role of design in solving or coping with the consequences of today's actions. The course will prepare students to think critically about the role of design in the evolution of humankind. Exclude from 3-peat Processing.

This course introduces students to critical design practice and serves as one of several thesis preparation course offered. Design Practice sets the foundation for building a significant and cohesive body of creative work. Repeatable up to 1 time when the area(s) of study change.

 

This course further examines communication design research methods, modes of practice, and models of the creative process to advance thesis research through making and visualizing abstract ideas. Repeatable up to 1 time when the area (s) of study change.

In this course students will explore different methods of exhibition within traditional and alternative settings. They will experiment with collaborative and multidisciplinary strategies to produce speculative proposals for public and professional communities. Students will come away with an in-depth understanding of various exhibition contexts and the ability to analyze and select the exhibition strategies most appropriate to engage a specified inquiry. Not repeatable for credit.

This course introduces the basics of generative art and design. Utilizing code as a creative medium, students engage in computation through a creative, thoughtful, and transformative approach. Students learn the potential of programming in the field of Communication Design. Exclude from 3-peat processing.

Students are placed in regional and national advertising agencies, digital media studios, or graphic design firms to gain professional practice experience. Repeatable once for credit.

This course introduces theories, techniques, and practices of motion graphics for students with a strong foundation in communication design. This course focuses on the successful integration of images, typography, and sound over time to create nuanced and complex messages. Experimentation, research, critical analysis, and concept development is emphasized. Repeatable up to 2 times when the area(s) of study change.

This course introduces students to theoretical and conceptual aspects of socially engaged art and design. The course reconsiders the role of the designer in the context of participatory and public practices. Repeatable up to 2 times when the area (s) of study change.

The course represents a student’s initial thesis enrollment. No thesis credit is awarded until the student has completed the thesis in ARTC 5399B. Graded on a credit (CR), program (PR), no-credit (F) basis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding. Graded on a credit (CR), progress (PR), no-credit (F) basis.