BFA Graphic Design

This 120-credit degree program provides students with the skills necessary to communicate complex information in creative and diverse formats. Students will gain competence in fundamentals of design, creating narratives with form, image, and typography. Learn design processes, methods, and communication strategies which include theory, aesthetics, culture, and practice. Students will learn state-of-the-art hardware and software used by design professionals in the field. During your four years of study, you will become engaged in an immersive educational experience in branding, strategy, typography, design history, interactive design, web design, environmental design, publication design, and design for mobile devices.

Gain Experience in the Real World

Graduates from the Corcoran’s Graphic Design program go on to establish careers in branding, interactive design, web design, exhibition and environmental design, and publication design. Students develop the skills and a professional portfolio needed to compete and succeed in the industry. A wide variety of internships are close at hand in the opportunity-rich D.C. marketplace. In recent years, our students have bolstered their résumé and career prospects by interning with AOL, Kinetik, Studio A, Catalone Design Co., O2 Collaborative, MTV, National Geographic, and Grafik.

Upon graduation, Corcoran Graphic Design alumni have successfully developed careers in New York, Los Angeles, DC, Seattle, Saudi Arabia, and London. Corcoran Graphic Design alumni work at variety of companies including: PBS, Apple, National Geographic, Chronicle Books, AKQA, and AOL. Corcoran Graphic Design students also have the opportunity to participate in social awareness programs like WorldStudio's Design Ignites Change. Design Ignites Change teaches students how Design can be an instrument for social change at the community level. The 2009 GIVE WAY DC campaign was covered by NBC News.

Sample Courses

Design for Mobile Devices—New handheld, touchscreen devices have brought us to the edge of a new way of reading, one that brings together print, time-based, and interactive media. Projects explore storytelling and creating experiences. Projects target the iPad incorporating images, sound, video, and interactivity. 

Sophomore Design Studio—Projects focuses on visual hierarchy, design principles, space, and the grid. Students learn an iterative design process to explore and develop concepts. In the spring semester students develop a semester long branding project.

Typography I—Projects introduce students to one of the most integral components of visual communication— typefaces and their letter forms. Topics covered include typographic terminology, history, technology, classification, measurement, and syntax.

Sample Curriculum*

YEAR 1 COURSES

Art History I + II
Writing I + II
Resources
Drawing
Communication Design
Design Concepts
Studio Electives

YEARS 2, 3, and 4 STUDIO COURSES

Design Sophomore + Junior Studios
Typography I, II, III + IV
Graphic Design Senior Thesis
Professional Practices for Designers
Electives

YEARS 2, 3, and 4 ACADEMIC COURSES

Modern Art
Contemporary Culture
Theories and History of Graphic Design
Digital Media Culture
Humanities I + II
Electives

TOTAL: 120 Credits

*Courses subject to change

Sample elective courses              

Screen printing
Letterpress I
Time Based Media & Animation: Cinema 4D
Motion Graphics: After Effects
Interaction Design
Design for Mobile Devices
Business Web Apps
Environmental Design
Package Design

Students may also elect to pursue a combined five-year BFA/MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) degree, a program which prepares you to work as an art educator in secondary schools, museums, and community art centers.

Graphic Design/Digital Media Design Faculty

Antonio Alcalá
Adjunct Faculty

Robin Bell
Adjunct Faculty

Jessica Bonness
Adjunct Faculty

John Carmody
Visiting Assistant Professor of Digital Media

Melinda Cunningham
Adjunct Faculty

Carol Donnelly
Adjunct Faculty

Carmel Greer
Adjunct Faculty

Matthew Guastaferro
Adjunct Faculty

Francheska Guerrero
Associate Professor, Interim Chair of Undergraduate Design, Graphic Design, and Digital Media Design

Andrea Hartranft
Adjunct Faculty

Nathan Hill
Adjunct Faculty

Ramona Hutko
Associate Faculty

Antje Kharchi
Associate Professor

Robert Lasater
Adjunct Faculty

Gail Lazio-Xavier
Adjunct Faculty

Brian Lemen
Adjunct Faculty

Raymond MacDonald
Adjunct Faculty

Robert McVearry
Adjunct Faculty

Juana Medina
Adjunct Faculty

Erin Miller
Adjunct Faculty

Charles Mitchell
Adjunct Faculty

Jim Mole
Adjunct Faculty

Joshua Moores
Adjunct Faculty

Maria Morga
Associate Professor

Michael Pacheco
Adjunct Faculty

Alice Powers
Adjunct Faculty

David Ramos
Adjunct Faculty

Elizabeth Raycroft
Adjunct Faculty

Camden M. Richards
Adjunct Faculty

Alice Roberts
Adjunct Faculty

Johan Severtson
Professor

Samuel Shelton
Adjunct Faculty

Charlie Turner
Adjunct Faculty

Examples of Student Work

Related Student Groups and Organizations

Apply Today!