Info

Program

The Graphic Design Program emphasizes both practical and conceptual skills, and enables each designer to integrate a command of visual language with imagination, theory and technology.

Mission

The two-year MFA curriculum focuses on the advanced exploration of form, methodology and practice, informed by a consciousness of the following contexts: contemporary practice, craft, audience, theory and history, and the constantly shifting media environment. Individual critique within a communal studio structure helps designers to develop a personal direction and agenda, intended to influence work beyond graduate school. The first-year curriculum consists of a sequence of weekly seminars in which research and studio projects are examined and discussed. The second year in residence is dedicated to developing and realizing a major thesis project that contributes to—and challenges—the graphic design community at large.

In each of the two years, graduate students deepen and refine their work through a set of required and elective courses covering subjects such as type design, web design, typography, motion graphics, design theory and design history. Visiting designers who lead short-term projects are another important aspect of the CalArts program, which consciously seeks to broaden the types of experiences offered to students within the focused studio environment.

Two-year MFA graphic designers are required to pass a Thesis Review to complete the program and obtain the MFA degree.

Contact

Three years after finishing my BFA at Carnegie Mellon I decided to change the trajectory of my career. I wanted to do different types of work and learn to incorporate a personal voice into what I was making. When I looked into the MFA Graphic Design Program at CalArts, I felt inspired by the work of the faculty—all of whom became my mentors. There’s a definite rigor to the Program—a level of excellence that is insisted upon. Faculty are relentless in their pursuit to get students to excel, and to do work they didn’t think possible. They’re hard on you, in the best way. I think that process of examining my own work, critically, as well as the work of the team I have here at The Whitney, is one that I use every day, and contributes to the success of everything we do.