Bachelor of Fine Arts - Art - Graphic Design

Program Description

The Department of Visual Arts and Art History at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) is dedicated to the advancement, practice and theoretical understanding of the visual arts. A central mission of the department is to enable students to understand art in the context of its rich historical heritage, incorporating continuing changes, innovations and accomplishments made by creative artists and art historians.

The department seeks to prepare both undergraduate and graduate students for professional careers in the creation and interpretation of the visual arts. Deeply related to this focus is a commitment to elevate and sustain the study of the arts as both a necessary mode of understanding and a dynamic expression of human experience as it relates to an increasingly complex global society. To accomplish this goal, students must develop technical skills related to a variety of artistic media as well as develop a comprehension of the creative impulse and the spirit that motivates it.

The faculty of the Department of Visual Arts and Art History, through its own significant research and creative activities, fosters the preservation of artistic legacies with an interest in originality and innovation within artistic and research practice. These educational goals are enhanced by visiting lecturers, workshops, internships, conferences and exhibitions held at two University galleries, the Dorothy F. Schmidt Center Gallery and the Ritter Gallery in Boca Raton, and activities at the other campus locations, including the Metrolab Studio in the Reubin Askew Tower in Fort Lauderdale.

The B.F.A. Graphic Design concentration provides students with the skills to pursue career opportunities in visual communication. The overall goal of the program is to sharpen students’ abilities in visual problem solving and translating verbal concepts into visual images, image-making and graphic techniques that communicate intended messages, moods and concepts. Graphic design projects for both the digital environment and print include posters, brochures, corporate identity systems, trademarks, books, packaging, magazines and website design.

Courses cover all facets of the visual communication process, from thumbnail sketches to finished pieces. Students are given assignments much like those they would encounter in professional settings. The program is planned to help students balance studies in art history and studio art with studies in graphic design and computer graphics. Through each course in the program, students are encouraged to develop an appreciation of the various philosophical and ideological positions that could affect their design perspectives.