Program Overview

Art, Graphic Design Concentration, B.F.A.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in the Graphic Design program is designed for those who wish to work professionally as graphic designers and/or pursue a graduate degree. Graphic design is much more than a visual solution but rather a creative process for solving problems. That's the approach the Department of Art and Design takes as Graphic Design students learn to use art and technology to convey ideas.

Careers

Graduates from this program often find employment in a variety of fields, including:

• Advertising Design
• Art and Creative Director
• Book Designer
• Branding Specialist
• Digital Artist
• Freelance Designer/Entrepreneur
• Graphic Designer
• Illustrator
• Interactive
• Magazine Designer
• Motion Graphics Designer
• Non-profit practice (government departments and agencies, hospitals, museums, universities, or colleges)
• Packaging Designer
• Production Artist
• Web Designer/Developer

Employers of MTSU graphic design degree alumni include:

• Blue Tractor Design
• Emma
• Ethos3
• Gannett
• Griffin Technology
• HealthLeaders
• iostudio
• LaCroix Design Co.
• Mother Nature Network
• Nashville Predators
• Primarily Rye
• South Central Media
• The Lampo Group
• Thomas Nelson Publishers
• Vanderbilt Medical Center
• Yeah Yeah Creative

Requirements

Degree Requirements

• True Blue Core (TBC) | 41 hours
• Major Requirements | 79 hours
  • Foundation | 18 hours
    • ART 1610 - Two-Dimensional Design
    • ART 1620 - Drawing I
    • ART 1630 - Three-Dimensional Design
    • ART 1640 - Drawing II
    • ART 1920 - Survey of Western Art I
    • ART 1930 - Survey of Western Art II
  • Graphic Design | 24 hours
    • ART 2310 - Graphic Design Technologies
    • ART 2325 - Typographic Design
    • DSGN 3325 - Word and Image
    • DSGN 4310 - Integrated Brand Design
    • DSGN 4320 - Senior Project
    • ILLU 3290 - Introduction to Illustration
    • IXD 3930 - Introduction to Interaction Design
  • Upper-Division Art History Electives | 6 hours
    • ART 4890 and/or ART 4920 recommended
  • Graphic Design Electives | 22 hours
    • A minimum of 3 credit hours in Illustration and 3 credit hours in Interaction are required.
    • Maximum 6 hours allowable in Print Media.
  • Studio Electives | 9 hours
    • Choose 9 credit hours from the following:
      • ART 3010 - Sculptural Practices: Wood Fabrication and Mixed Media
      • ART 3011 - Sculptural Practices: Metal Fabrication and Foundry Techniques
      • ART 3012 - Sculptural Practices: Digital Fabrication and 3D Printing
      • ART 3015 - Print Media: Silkscreen and Digital Processes
      • ART 3021 - Print Media: Lithography and Monotype
      • ART 3040 - Handbuilding Ceramics
      • ART 3041 - Sculptural Ceramics
      • ART 3070 - Still Life Painting
      • ART 3071 - Figure Painting
      • ART 3072 - Mixed Media Painting
      • ART 3140 - Print Media: Etching and Relief
      • ART 3550 - Print Media: Book Arts
      • ART 3770 - Print Media: Letterpress
      • ART 3820 - Wheel Throwing
      • ART 4070 - Advanced Painting Practices
      • ART 4110 - Topics in Book Arts
      • ART 4130 - Advanced Printmaking
      • ART 4530 - Advanced 3D Practices
      • ART 4770 - Topics in Letterpress
  • Electives | 0-3 hours

Candidacy Program

The Graphic Design concentration includes a candidacy program based on successful completion of certain required classes with specified minimum grade point expectations and performance for retention in Graphic Design.

1. Admission to most upper-division professional courses in the Graphic Design concentration will be restricted to students admitted to candidacy.
2. All students in the Graphic Design concentration should apply for admission to candidacy at the end of the semester in which they will have completed 45 semester hours of coursework.
3. At a minimum, students in the Graphic Design concentration must have completed each of the following courses with a grade of C (2.00) or better before applying for candidacy:
   • ART 1610 - Two-Dimensional Design
   • ART 1620 - Drawing I
   • ART 1630 - Three-Dimensional Design
   • ART 1640 - Drawing II
   • ART 2310 - Graphic Design Technologies
   • ART 2325 - Typographic Design
   • DSGN 3325 - Word and Image
4. At a minimum, students applying for candidacy in the Graphic Design concentration must have an overall GPA of at least 2.00 on all University-level coursework.
5. Students applying for candidacy in the Graphic Design concentration must twice submit for juried review a portfolio containing work completed in the courses listed in item 3 above.

Curriculum: Art, Graphic Design

Freshman Fall

• ART 1610 - Two-Dimensional Design
• ART 1620 - Drawing I
• ART 1920 - Survey of Western Art I
• Written Communication | 3 credit hours
• History and Civic Learning | 3 credit hours

Freshman Spring

• ART 1630 - Three-Dimensional Design
• ART 1640 - Drawing II
• ART 1930 - Survey of Western Art II
• ART 2310 - Graphic Design Technologies
• Information Literacy | 3 credit hours

Sophomore Fall

• ART 2325 - Typographic Design
• ILLU 3290 - Introduction to Illustration
• IXD 3930 - Introduction to Interaction Design
• Creativity and Cultural Expression Literature | 3 credit hours
• Scientific Literacy | 4 credit hours

Sophomore Spring

• DSGN 3325 - Word and Image
• Studio Elective | 3 credit hours
• Graphic Design elective | 3 credit hours
• Non-Written Communication | 3 credit hours
• Quantitative Literacy | 3 credit hours

Junior Fall

• DSGN 4310 - Integrated Brand Design
• Graphic Design elective | 3 credit hours
• Studio elective | 3 credit hours
• Upper-division art history | 3 credit hours
• Scientific Literacy | 4 credit hours

Junior Spring

• Graphic Design electives | 9 credit hours
• Upper-division Art History | 3 credit hours
• History and Civic Learning | 3 credit hours

Senior Fall

• Graphic Design electives | 7 credit hours
• Studio elective | 3 credit hours
• Human Society and Social Relationships | 3 credit hours

Senior Spring

• DSGN 4320 - Senior Project
• Human Society and Social Relationships | 3 credit hours
• Creativity and Cultural Expression/Elective | 3 credit hours
• DSGN 4330 - Graphic Design Internship OR DSGN 4340 - Graphic Design Agency

Faculty

• Doug Dabbs, Professor
• Noël Lorson, Associate Professor
• Tony Rodriguez, Associate Professor
• Sheri Flournoy Selph, Associate Professor
• Stephanie Simkin, Lecturer