BFA in Graphic Design
BFA Graphic Design Seniors. Class of Spring 2024 | Photo Cred: Emma Schluterman, BFA Graphic Design (May 2024)
BFA Thesis Exhibition – Graphic Design
Opening Reception: Monday, April 29th 6-8pm
Monday, Apr 29 — Friday, May 3, 2024 | Gallery Hours: 11am to 4pm
The BFA is a professional degree that prepares graduates to enter the workforce as designers and/or art directors upon graduation. In addition to the liberal arts core required by the university, our program establishes a strong foundation in basic visual and technical skills, design theory and graphic design history.
This degree requires two-thirds of the credit hours completed at the university in the graphic design curriculum, but does not require a minor or a foreign language.
Several more in-depth topics courses round out the curriculum, including typography, advertising, packaging, corporate identity, editorial, web and interactive media. A creative internship is also required during the summer between junior and senior year.
Our capstone classes, Portfolio & Marketing and Senior Thesis, divide their focus among research-based creative problem solving, finishing a competitive portfolio and job-hunting methodology.
BFA graduates enjoy an extremely high placement rate—100 percent over the past four years. Graduates typically work as creative designers or art directors at design studios and advertising agencies all over world, including Dallas; Austin; Houston; New York; Chicago; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Seattle; Miami; London, UK; Cologne, Germany; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Managua, Nicaragua; Panama City, Panama and Lima, Peru.
See the course catalog for degree requirements and course descriptions.
Degree Plans
BFA in Graphic Design Degree Plan
You’ll study in the heart of a major national design and advertising market. Our program has close ties with the local advertising and design communities.
Our location in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex gives you access to many opportunities and design leaders, including the largest art directors club in the world, the Dallas Society of Visual Communication (DSVC); the American Advertising Federation (AAF); and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), among others.
All BFA candidates complete a creative internship, and we encourage BS candidates to participate in the internship program. Students secure internships as hands-on designers in design studios or advertising agencies in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and around the world, including in England, Taiwan, Peru, Panama, New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Saint Louis, Austin, Houston, among others.
For the past four years, 100 percent of BFA graduates have received job placements. Graduates work at the best agencies and studios in the country and worldwide, including Pentagram, Deep Focus, Loyalkaspar, Warren Douglas Advertising, Twilio and The Magazine at Pace Communications.