Design is about relationships, ones that impact our lives in ways both large and small. Designers craft these relationships and foster connections both between, and for, others.
Graphic designers focus on the visual and experiential aspects of communication. They create relationships between experiences and audiences, objects and people, clients and customers. They’re adept at exploring the connections between form and content, audience and context, message and interpretation.
They create work that grabs your eye from across a room, compelling you to look and read. They make you curious—curious about what’s on the next page of a book or what you’ll see next as you scroll down a webpage.
Our students come here to develop the skills and sensitivities they’ll need as professional graphic designers.
They come to learn about serifs, the arms, legs, beaks and finials of letters, line lengths, character and paragraph styles, margins, padding, bookbinding methods, rasters and vectors, grid structures, layers, headers, footers, tags, classes, and IDs, fixed vs. static positioning, Bézier curves, and more.
Our curriculum
In their first year, students are introduced to design practice, its methods, tools, and the language of type. They develop strategies to generate ideas for form and concept while gaining experience in thinking, making, analyzing, and discussing design.
After graphic design’s portfolio review, students who pass continue their studies toward a bachelor of fine arts. Those who don’t can apply a second time or take one more graphic design class and earn a minor.
Newly admitted students to the BFA Graphic Design program deepen their skills as they develop and implement design systems. Systems they explore include ones to:
- Define a typeface
- Structure a publication’s content
- Express a brand’s identity
- Deliver content across screens of all sizes
- Extend a brand’s identity into new areas
In their final year, students research topics, content, methods, history, and contexts to formulate ideas for their capstone projects. They think while they make and make while they think—each process informing the other as they plan, prototype, and bring their final projects to life.
Our students leave with a clearer sense of who they are—as creative thinkers, skilled makers, producers, team members, leaders, and lifelong learners.
Fashion brand promotion
Emilie Potje
Institutional Model brand presentation
Cassidy Zemmin
Portfolio Review
Admission to the BFA Graphic Design program is highly selective. We’re looking for students willing to develop a designer mindset and show the potential for success in our senior studio courses. Passing the Graphic Design Candidacy Portfolio Review is required for admission to intermediate and upper-level courses. Students who do not pass the review can apply a second time or choose to apply credits they have earned toward a minor in Graphic Design. Note: the minor is only available to students on programs of study 2025-26 or later.
Transfer Students
Incoming transfer students should be aware that it will take three years to complete the BFA in Graphic Design. We recommend that you transfer to Appalachian after your first year and come with some General Education requirements unfulfilled. Since much of our curriculum is studio courses, having some lecture style classes left to take provides some balance in your schedule. Visit our Transfer Admissions page for more information.
Computer Requirement
The Graphic Design program requires students who pass our Portfolio Review to purchase a computer capable of running applications in the latest version of Adobe Creative Cloud.
Hardware
We recommend Apple Macintosh MacBook Pro laptops. Laptops put a student’s work at their fingertips anytime and anywhere they wish to work. We also recommend purchasing a device with as much RAM as you can afford and a high-capacity external hard drive for external storage and backups.
The University Bookstore sells computers with an educational discount. If you purchase a laptop, consider purchasing an external display.
Software
Students enrolled in our courses will be provided with a subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, giving them access to many of the applications used in the industry—Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop— and access to Adobe’s font library.
Senior Capstone
ART 4432 – Graphic Design Professional Practice
Graphic Design Professional Practice is the final step in the transition from student to design professional. In this capstone course, students reflect on their design education and prepare to enter the field by building individual portfolio websites that showcase work from past courses and Graphic Design Senior Studio II, taking in conjunction with Pro Practice. The class also covers essential professional practices—like applying for jobs, preparing for interviews, and understanding the realities of working in today’s design industry—helping students confidently launch their careers.
Portfolio Websites
In Graphic Design Professional Practice, students create a professional portfolio website—either built from scratch or developed through an online portfolio platform. Throughout the process, they curate their strongest work, revisit past projects, and explore compelling ways to present their creative practice. The resulting site is a deeply personal project: a reflection of who they are as designers today and a glimpse of who they will become.