Mission Statement

The Undergraduate Communications Design Department prepares students to be effective visual communicators, inspired makers, critical thinkers and versatile creative professionals. Through project-based coursework and a vibrant studio culture, students focus on the development of a rich design process that values unique perspectives, innovative outcomes, media fluency, collaborative exchange and an understanding of the larger history and impact of design practices on people, communities and environments. Our curriculum equips students with the conceptual and practical competencies they need to successfully position themselves and their work inside this exciting and evolving interdisciplinary field.

An illustration showing two figures shopping in a grocery store while wearing head coverings and masks.
Quarantine • Julia Feingold, Class of 2020
A screen grab of a Google Doc with the title An Ongoing Database on Filipino Graphic Design
Rediscovering Filipino Design • Anna Nieves Rosario Marcelo, Class of 2020
A photograph of a gallery showing work by students
Communications Design Alumni Exhibition, 2019

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students will develop an advanced creative process in which they synthesize research, content and concept development, iterative making and prototyping into refined formal outcomes, narratives and visual systems in response to a design brief.

  2. Students will be able to apply a wide range of established and emerging technologies and platforms effectively, including 2-, 3- and 4-D competencies in both print and digital media.

  3. Students will be able to analyze and articulate complex design problems, take risks, challenge preconceptions, experiment and test ideas, materials and media appropriate to concept development and effective messaging.

  4. Students will be able to work collaboratively and present their work with professionalism, clarity, confidence and skill in alignment with their individual career goals.

  5. Students will be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of the history and implications of design practice; define their position as creative practitioners in relation to those issues; and incorporate them into critically engaged research methods and innovative formal outcomes.