University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
The Design Department at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth bases its curriculum on the idea designers and visual artists must have comprehensive education and outstanding professional skills and be highly articulate, literate and actively engaged in every step of the design process. Students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Design program have all the university's resources at their fingertips and complete a rigorous curriculum that fuses the verbal with the visual, and the perceptual with the conceptual. Faculty members bring a wide variety of philosophies to the classroom and urge students consider how design relates to other disciplines. Portfolio reviews are done in the spring of both the sophomore and junior year. This process helps students learn to present their work articulately and concisely and identifies strengths and weaknesses.
The BFA in Visual Design requires the completion of 130 credit hours. Students choose from several career-focused options: Graphic Design/Letterform, Photographic/Electronic Imaging, Illustration, Photographic/Electronic Imaging, Ceramics, or Jewelry/Metals.
MFA students in Visual Design are pushed to explore visual communications extensively, and the program's priority is on communications and problem-solving. MFA students select from the following programs: Digital Media, Illustration, Photography, Typography or Graphic Design. CVPA professors are skilled in traditional and electronic design technology.
In order to be considered for admission, applicants must meet portfolio requirements.
