Our BFA in Communication Design seeks as its primary objective (aside from teaching the basic principles of design, image making, color theory and typography) to help students learn to be effective conceptual thinkers and, most importantly, creative problem solvers in the disciplines of advertising and of graphic design. Ours is not a program designed for the student who is merely interested in learning the most advanced technology.
Our MFA in Design with an area of concentration in Communication Design seeks to effectively prepare individuals with professional experience to become educators of graphic design and advertising through a combination of pedagogy and studio classes.
The communication design area is housed in two campus buildings, which include studio classrooms, a dedicated computer lab/classroom, a general access computer lab, and faculty offices. Additionally, the communication design area maintains a valuable resource room (Art Building, Room 239) for its majors. This resource room consists of over a thousand reference books, magazines and paper/print samples of photography, illustration, typography, graphic design, and advertising
Our undergraduate curriculum is a three-year sequence of coursework. One must submit a portfolio in the Entry Portfolio Review in order to gain admittance to this competitive and demanding program. The sophomore year introduces basic skill sets for communication design such as typography, rendering, basic computers applications, and creative methodologies for problem solving. At the end of the sophomore sequence, each student must participate in the Mid-Point Portfolio Review. This review is used to select those students who have demonstrated an appropriate degree of proficiency necessary to continue in the program. The junior year offers a variety classes featuring different design experiences in advertising, package design, and publication design. At this point in the curriculum, students are required to make a career choice of either graphic design or art direction. The senior year is an intense set of classes dedicated to helping the student hone conceptual and design skills, and to preparing a competitive, final portfolio. Additionally, students are encouraged to take advantage of an internship course for experience, and of advanced computer software and digital media classes.
At the end of the undergraduate program (whether in art direction or graphic design), our students should be able to successfully identify problems; develop strong, appropriate, conceptual strategies for specific target audiences; and implement, design and produce those concepts in a manner that effectively communicates to an intended audience.
Our graduate curriculum is divided into two separate, but related, sequences: pedagogy and studio/research. Through our pedagogy course work and observation, MFA candidates learn basic educational practices such as the development of outcome objectives, grading criteria, and university practices. The studio/research sequence is designed to help candidates identify and begin to develop a research agenda necessary for success at the university level.
At the end of the graduate program, our students should be well prepared to seek a successful career in the field of communication design education at the post secondary school level, to function appropriately in the university environment, and to have identified areas of design research necessary for growth and tenure at the university level.
Michael Gibson | Associate Professor | 940-369-7233 | gibson@unt.edu
Eric Ligon | Associate Professor and Program Coordinator | 940-565-4287 | ligon@unt.edu
Keith Owens | Assistant Professor | 940-369-7243 | kowens@unt.edu
Jack Sprague | Professor | 940-565-4017 | sprague@unt.edu
Kim Grable | Assistant Professor | 940-369-7234 | kgrable@unt.edu
David Blow | Associate Professor | 940-565-4022 | blow@unt.edu
Department of Design Administrative Assistant | Betty Burch | 940-565-3621 | design@unt.edu