BFAGraphic Design
Explore the boundaries of graphic design while learning to communicate ideas visually—in print, on screen, in space, and beyond.
Overview
Ambitious and innovative design
Graphic designer and curator Na Kim speaks to a group at the Curatorial Research Bureau in San Francisco. Courtesy of the Curatorial Research Bureau.
Graphic Design at CCA is dedicated to conceptual exploration and practical problem solving. We teach students to become leaders in the field by emphasizing craft, creativity, and collaboration, and we encourage them to engage with pressing social issues and think critically about how their work shows up in the world.
Professor Jennifer Sonderby (MFA Interdisciplinary Design 2002) takes students on a VIP tour of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Draw inspiration from the Bay Area
The classroom is where the work begins, not where it ends. The Bay Area is known for its legacy of craft and social justice and is one of the world’s most innovative technology and design hubs. Students have the opportunity to intern for technology companies, design studios, and cultural institutions.
Situated within a top art college, the Graphic Design program also benefits from an atmosphere of hands-on making and experimentation. Students are constantly giving and getting feedback and testing their ideas with faculty, visiting experts, and peers.
2023 graphic design school rankings
When compared to hundreds of schools across the U.S., our STEM-designated graphic design program ranks among the best. Academic reputation, admission selectivity, the program’s depth and breadth, and value are all factors that help determine the latest CCA rankings:
Studios & Shops
Discover a range of tools at your fingertips
Graphic Design students have access to a dedicated studio space with all the right tools to bring your project to life. From printers and scanners to guillotine cutters and binding equipment, you’ll have the basics to test out your idea for a magazine, see what your work looks like printed, or even produce custom stickers and buttons.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our interdisciplinary program also boasts access to one-of-a-kind laboratories and studios where you can take your design work to the next level: try out a Risograph printer, laser cutter, table saw, or 3D printer.
Designing outside of the box
With graphic design, interactive design, and other classes that take you across disciplines and into the digital realm, you’ll want to think—and make—using tools and software perfectly matched for your project. In the Hybrid Lab, for example, you'll have access to equipment to test out electronic ideas, explore virtual reality, and experiment building hardware components. We also partner with the college’s Education Technology Services to pilot a range of embedded technologies in our studio spaces.
Skills that prepare you for professional practice
- Motion graphics
- User experience and user interface design
- Editorial design
- Environmental graphics
- Interaction design
- Typography
- Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop
- Print, motion-based, and interactive media
- HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Faculty
Creative thinkers and makers
Our faculty are practicing designers with experience in app interfaces, consumer electronics, exhibition design, motion graphics, publishing, typography-focused work, and more. They’re a big reason why we’re a top-ranking graphic design school. With such diverse viewpoints and practices, they help create a vibrant studio culture that inspires and challenges students.
E Roon Kang, Chair of Graphic Design
Chair E Roon Kang is a designer with interest in studying everyday systems and their pursuit of efficiency. His independent research and design studio, Math Practice, has a long history of working with a wide-range of academic, cultural, and technology-oriented organizations. His work has been selected as an inaugural project of LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab; shown in places including MoMA, Seoul Museum of Art, and Seattle Public Library; and presented as a part of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture & Urbanism and Venice Biennale of Architecture. E Roon is also a co-founder of 908A, a research initiative and consultancy that focuses on constructing new design tools and served as director of undergraduate Communication Design program at Parsons School of Design.
Sara Raffo, Assistant Chair of Graphic Design
Assistant Chair Sara Raffo specializes in civic design, data visualization, and interaction design. In addition to teaching, Sara partners with local governments, community planners, and designers who create inclusive, human-centered environments all around the United States. A longtime supporter of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, she has developed and led national STEM conferences and conducted grant-funded studies that champion the integration of art and design thinking.
Curriculum
We think with our hands
Synthesize concept, creativity, and craft
Graphic Design at CCA provides a robust understanding of professional practice, as well as a fluid skill set for pushing the discipline’s boundaries through interdisciplinary means. Courses teach industry-standard software, the methods for moving projects from concept to creation, and the expression of ideas through visual and graphic elements. View sample course descriptions.
Investigate ideas through every dimension
Before diving into their chosen major, every undergraduate participates in the First Year Experience. Students explore a wide range of materials and tools over the course of two semesters. Faculty from different disciplines guide studio projects, group critiques, and theoretical discussions, setting students up for success throughout their major coursework.
BFA Graphic Design
Core Studio
- Drawing 1
- 3.0 units
- 2D, 3D, and 4D
- 9.0 units
Graphic Design Major Requirements
- Graphic Design Tools
- 3.0 units
- Graphic Design 1–3
- 9.0 units
- Typography 1–3
- 9.0 units
- Interactive
- 3.0 units
- Advanced Interactive
- 3.0 units
- Media History 2: Current Issues in Design
- 3.0 units
- Professional Practice Workshop
- 3.0 units
- Internship
- 0.0 units
- Graphic Design Electives
- 3.0 units
- Advanced Design Studio
- 6.0 units
- Senior Thesis
- 3.0 units
Additional Studio Requirements
- Upper Division Interdisciplinary Studio
- 3.0 units
- Critical Ethnic Studies Studio
- 3.0 units
- Studio Electives
- 9.0 units
Humanities & Sciences Requirements
- Writing 1
- 3.0 units
- Writing 2
- 3.0 units
- Introduction to the Arts
- 3.0 units
- Introduction to the Modern Arts
- 3.0 units
- Foundation in Critical Studies
- 3.0 units
- Media History 1: History of Visual Communications
- 3.0 units
- Critical Ethnic Studies Seminar (2000 level)
- 3.0 units
- Literary and Performing Arts Studies (2000 level)
- 3.0 units
- Philosophy and Critical Theory (2000 level)
- 3.0 units
- Social Science/History (2000 level)
- 3.0 units
- Science/Math (2000 level)
- 3.0 units
- History of Art and Visual Culture (2000 level)
- 3.0 units
- Humanities and Sciences Electives (2000 or 3000 level, at least 6 units must be 3000 level)
- 12.0 units
Total 120.0 units
Careers
The next generation of leaders
Our students graduate from the program with the skills they need to develop their own independent practices or work in larger, collaborative settings. They successfully land roles for companies and studios like IDEO, Google, MacFadden & Thorpe, Wolff Olins, Bonfire Labs, Frog Design, California Academy of Sciences, Atlassian, and Snap Inc. Wherever they go, they make well-crafted, thoughtful, and inclusive work.
Potential career paths
- Graphic designer
- Interaction designer
- Visual designer
- Web designer
- Product designer
- Type designer
- Book designer
- UX designer
- Service designer
- Motion graphics designer
- Editorial designer
- Identity designer
News & Events
What’s happening in our community?
How to Apply
Imagine new contexts for design
The Graphic Design program is a place for many different kinds of students. We look for the curious and creative, those who are eager to achieve a high level of refinement while pushing the boundaries of their craft. At CCA, you’re free to develop an expansive practice, including the exciting fields of physical computing and net art. Your studio work will move audiences to feel, think, and act in completely new ways.
Find your creative community at CCA
