Overview of Graphic Design

Maryland Institute College of Art

Graphic design is one of the most powerful art forms of our time. Design is commercial, social, public, and political. Design shapes the meaning and impact of books, magazines, Web sites, CD covers, posters, advertisements, logos, film titles, and countless other media.

MICA’s BFA in graphic design, enhanced by the presence of an MFA program that draws students from around the world, is at the heart of an exciting community fueling a culture of design at MICA. Graphic designers work alongside artists—an energized, creative environment in which to prepare for a career in this field.

MICA designers acquire the creative, technological, and intellectual skills to become the design visionaries of the future. You’ll be challenged to develop your own voice as a designer while shaping messages that communicate to various audiences and are relevant to contemporary culture. You’ll learn to shape the form and content of media across the spectrum of publishing, selecting elective courses to broaden your perspective. The graphic design curriculum is computer-based. You study digital imaging and photo manipulation, typography and layout, animation, and other techniques—and, as important, you develop conceptual sophistication, an understanding of how to communicate ideas visually.

The sophomore year emphasizes typography, the art of organizing letters in space and time. You will explore a rich interface between words and images, immerse yourself in concept development and the construction and manipulation of images, and develop mastery of Web technologies and an understanding of user-experience design. The core studio in your junior year emphasizes the interrelatedness of content and context, including continued development of word and image in time-based media. In flexible studios you work on assignments with practicing designers to integrate your knowledge of design practices, technology, and production. You also address issues related to audience response and consider design as a public, socially engaged medium.

In the senior year you concentrate on pre-professional practice, building your professional portfolio by solving realistic design problems in a variety of media. You have the opportunity to define and concentrate on personal areas of emphasis and to discuss your work and ideas with prominent professionals.

Professional Faculty

MICA faculty are practicing professionals, helping to shape the field of graphic design. Co-chair Bernard Canniffe has been immersed for nearly a decade in collaborative research with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Through the MICA/JHU Design Coalition, MICA students are developing links with neighborhood groups to create meaningful, powerful health messages about such topics as HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, hypertension, asthma, and parental care that can improve the health of residents in East Baltimore. Co-chair Mike Weikert has had work featured in Print regional design annual and Trigger: Projects Initiated by Graphic Designers. The Flex Design Studio brings award-winning professionals into the classroom to assign and art direct real-world projects by MICA students. MICA also makes a special effort to expose students to international perspectives in design, with faculty exchanges with universities in The Netherlands and Great Britain. Undergraduate students also benefit from the Center for Design Thinking, engaging in groundbreaking projects that are shaping the field of design through publications, symposia, and research. The Center is led by director of graduate graphic design Ellen Lupton, curator at The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York.

Careers & Internships

MICA students and recent graduates regularly win highly competitive honors in graphic design, such as publication in How magazine and inclusion in AIGA’s 50 covers/50 books exhibition. Recent graduates are art directors at highly regarded firms, broadcast designers for shows like HBO’s Six Feet Under; designers at internationally renowned design groups, and entrepreneurs with their own design shops. A brief sampling of recent internships held by MICA graphic design majors:

Internationally Renowned Visiting Artists