Graphic Design
Degree RequirementsPDF Document, 1 page, 35KB 

An important message to all 2009-2010 Art major applicants:
For those students interested in the areas of Graphic Design and Digital Media, a new set of degree options will be made available to you beginning in the fall of 2009.  Instead of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees previously offered in these two areas, students will be able to choose between a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies with a visual communication emphasis and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art with an emphasis in graphic, digital and emerging media arts. Through these changes Viterbo will be able to more effectively serve students who wish to study these areas from a communications perspective and those who wish to explore them from an arts perspective. Applicants for 2009 will be screened for proper placement based on the student's interest.
Questions about the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art with an emphasis in graphic, digital and emerging media arts should be directed to Sherri Lisota (608-796-3753).
Questions about the new visual communication emphases in Communication Studies should be directed to either Venancio Luz (608-796-3752) for Design Communication or Jeff Nyseth (608-796-3758) for Digital Media.

The BFA in Graphic Design has two tracks: one with a layout emphasis, and one with illustration emphasis. Both tracks follow a comprehensive sequence of courses beginning with an 18-credit Art Foundations program in the first year, in which drawing, 2D and 3D design and color studies are combined with an introduction to art history. Foundations prepares students for the later Graphic Design courses by teaching principles of design and aesthetics along with the cultivation of hand-eye skills essential to the profession.

Both the Layout and Illustration tracks include course work in layout, design, typography and computer illustration. Students gain technical knowledge and production skills working with the computer and professional software applications including Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Flash in all of the Graphic Design courses taught at Viterbo.

CAREERS IN GRAPHIC DESIGN
Graduates from the Viterbo Graphic Design program have gone on to work in such areas as advertising design, illustration, medical illustration, package design, multi-media, art directing, and marketing in the business side of design. A number have gone on to graduate school, as a stepping stone to further advancement in their field. Graduates from the Viterbo program have a high rate of success in finding jobs in their field. :::