BFA Graphic Design and Interaction
New Program for Fall 2027!
More details coming soon...
Program Description
The Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Graphic Design and Interaction in the Department of Art and Design equips graduating students with professional competencies required for a wide range of contemporary design roles. This program includes a synthesis of visual communication, interaction design, and systems thinking that prepares students to create effective design solutions across print, digital, and interactive media. Students develop proficiency in typography, composition, color theory, systems thinking, motion design, creative coding, information architecture, and experiential design. Through a structured design process incorporating design thinking and user-centered approaches, students work individually and on collaborative teams to research, ideate, prototype, test, refine, and implement creative solutions across traditional and new media formats. Supporting coursework helps students situate their emerging design work within a broader field and develop more responsive and more socially responsible design.
Graduates are prepared to enter professional positions such as graphic designer, user interface (UI) designer, user experience (UX) designer, interaction designer, product designer, motion designer, and information designer. The curriculum’s applied emphasis on research, prototyping, and collaborative practice also supports career pathways in service design, design research, creative direction, and content strategy.
The program also provides a strong foundation for graduate study in design, human-computer interaction, media arts, or related research disciplines.
The BFA program requires 70 units of study in the Department to complete the major. There is no application procedure to enter the Bachelor of Fine Arts program beyond declaring as a BFA student.
Program Learning Outcomes
Students who graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design & Interaction will be able to:
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Integrate and apply design solutions for technological interfaces by selecting and combining principles, tools, and technologies across print, screen, and interactive media to produce cohesive and purposeful design solutions informed by a human perspective.
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Generate, prototype, and iteratively refine innovative design outcomes using design thinking methodologies, user-centered design research, and creative problem-solving strategies that incorporate principles of usability, perception, and human-computer interaction.
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Analyze and interpret design practices within historical, cultural, theoretical, and geographical contexts, recognizing diverse and emerging perspectives.
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Communicate, justify, and present design decisions effectively using visual and verbal methods tailored to a variety of audiences, articulating how a human perspective and user research inform product design and the creation of technological interfaces.
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Demonstrate ethical responsibility, accountability, and collaborative teamwork when designing solutions, including product design and user-centered design, that address real-world challenges.
Admission Requirements
There is no application procedure to enter the Bachelor of Fine Arts program beyond declaring as a BFA student.
Required Courses
Lower Division Foundation
21 units of lower-division required:
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ART 100 - Fundamentals of Drawing - 3 units
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ART 101 - Photography I - 3 units
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ART 102 - 2D Processes - 3 units
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ART 103 - 3D Processes - 3 units
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ART 152 - Web Design I - 3 units
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ART 226 - Histories of Design - 3 units [Breadth Area: GE-3A]
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ART 251 - Interaction Design and UX - 3 units
Upper Division Foundation
34 upper-division core units are required:
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ART 301 - Sketching Interactions - 3 units
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ART 323 - Art and Media in Modernity - 3 units [Breadth Area: Social Justice]
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ART 326 - Contemporary Visual Studies - 3 units
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ART 330 - Typography I - 3 units
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ART 331 - Design Concepts and Narratives - 3 units
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ART 336 - Information Design - 3 units
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ART 351 - User Experience Theory and Design - 3 units
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ART 426W - Writing about Contemporary Visual Studies - 3 units [Breadth Area: GE-UD-3;UWR]
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ART 435 - Advanced Design Studio - 3 units
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ART 439 - Professional Practices for Designers -2 units
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ART 440 - Forum - 1 unit
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ART 440 - Forum - 1 unit
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ART 493I - Graphic Design and Interaction Senior Project - 3 units
Restricted Electives
Students choose one (1) set of courses for 12 units:
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ART 332 - Design for Production - 3 units
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ART 333 - Traditional Graphic Arts: Messaging and Materiality - 3 units
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ART 335 - Design Strategy and Collaborations - 3 units
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ART 430 - Typography and Publication - 3 units
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ART 352 - Responsive UX UI - 3 units
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ART 356 - Tangible Interfaces and Internet of Things - 3 units
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ART 357 - Designing with AI - 3 units
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ART 452 - Experiments in UX UI - 3 units
Art Elective
Students choose one (1) ART course for 3 units.
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New and updated courses:
Art 301 - Sketching Interactions (3 units)
Sketching as a tool for thinking in graphic and interaction design. Observe behavior in the field, map experience, generate many divergent directions, test them in critique, and build annotated storyboards and prototypes into a presentation-ready design rationale.
Art 333 - Traditional Graphic Arts: Messaging and Materiality (3 units)
Develop techniques in traditional printmaking processes while exploring the historical evolution of printed matter and its cultural contexts. Employ graphic arts methods to address topics of social justice, sustainability, and audience/user representation.
Art 352 - Responsive UX UI (3 units)
Design of interface systems that hold up across phones, watches, and specialized displays. Build component libraries and design tokens, author every interface state, implement working front ends with AI tools, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and test for accessibility.
Art 356 - Tangible Interfaces and Internet of Things (3 units)
Design and construction of objects that sense and respond. Programming microcontrollers, move from breadboard to soldered circuits, fabricating enclosures, testing devices in context across build cycles, and weighing what a connected object collects, discloses, and leaves behind.
Art 357 - Designing with AI (3 units)
Design of applications that incorporate generative artificial intelligence. Students direct and evaluate AI systems, compare hosted and local deployment, map application architecture, ship a working web application, and examine reliability, bias, environmental cost, authorship, and their own dependence.
Art 430 - Typography and Publication (3 units)
Advanced layout and typography design. Projects include historical and contemporary approaches to typographical design solutions, foundations of typeface design, and implementation of human perspectives, research, and conceptual thinking towards publication design for physical and digital media.
Art 435 - Advanced Design Studio (3 units)
Advanced collaborative studio addressing briefs from community, nonprofit, and industry partners. Teams lead a full research-through-validation process, evaluate decisions against inclusive design and behavioral frameworks, build high-fidelity prototypes, and deliver a public exhibition and written case study.
Art 439 - Professional Practices for Designers (2 units)
Portfolio development, ethical practice, client collaboration, career planning, and presentation skills. Refine personal branding, document processes. Search and prepare for internships, employment, or graduate study in design fields.
Art 452 - Experiments in UX/UI (3 units)
Studio in experimental, speculative, and critical interaction design. Prototyping wearable, aural, spatial, and extended-reality interactions where sight, sound, and touch carry both control and feedback, then grounding a sustained team project in primary research and evaluation.
Art 493i - Graphic Design and Interaction Senior Project (3 units)
Development of sophisticated and conceptually rich design solutions for technological interfaces, including print, screen, and/or interactive media. Emphasis on creative problem solving, evidence of user-centered design research, and attention to professional design standards.