Design (BFA) (Major)
The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program in Design is intended for the student who wishes to pursue a professional career in the visual arts. The program is organized into a four-year sequence of study that provides a solid understanding of art and art history. The student has an opportunity to explore a variety of curricular options and then chooses an intensive and professional major. For the Design major, students may choose to concentrate in Visual Communication Design, or Industrial Design. In addition to a primary concentration, BFA students are encouraged to select a secondary area of interest to broaden their thinking and to enrich their creative study. BFA candidates share a close working relationship with the department’s faculty who are active professional artists and designers. Intensive studio work is complemented by an academic education with strong art history and liberal arts component. The BFA degree consists of 66 credit hours in art, of which 54–57 are in studio/ design and 9–12 in art history.
BFA Freshman and Sophomore Years
Students beginning in the program are required to complete a studio core curriculum during their first two years.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ARST 10201 | Drawing I | 3 |
| ARST 40203 | Figure Drawing, Multilevel | 3 |
| ARST 10100 | 2-D Foundations | 3 |
| ARST 10601 | 3-D Foundations | 3 |
| ARST 20401 | Photography I | 3 |
| Two additional studio courses based on student's interest | 6 | |
BFA Junior and Senior Years
Students accepted into the BFA program begin a two-year primary concentration in one of the following areas: visual communication design or industrial design. The concentration requires 15 hours of study in a major concentration area during the last four semesters. Teaching in the major is highly individualized and stresses the creative development and preparation of the student for the professional world. In addition to pursuing a concentration, all BFA majors must enroll in the BFA Seminar and the Senior Thesis courses. The culmination of the BFA degree is the completion of a senior thesis. This two-semester senior project, directed by a faculty member, will be exhibited and approved by the faculty as a requirement for graduation.
Visual Communication Design Concentration
At its most basic level, visual communication design is a creative process that combines the visual arts and technology to communicate ideas. In the hands of a talented designer, these ideas are transformed into visual communication that transcends mere words and pictures. By controlling color, type, movement, symbols, and images, the designer creates and manages the production of visuals designed to inform and persuade a specific audience. By combining aesthetic judgment with project management skills, designers develop visual solutions and communications strategies. The professional designer works with writers, editors, illustrators, photographers, code writers, and printers to complete compelling designs that effectively communicate a message.
At Notre Dame, the undergraduate visual communication design curriculum begins with a foundation in the liberal arts. Such a basis is a design student’s best path to meet and solve the varied communication challenges inherent in today’s complex world. Because a design solution may emerge from the humanities, an algorithm, or a scientific discovery, the curriculum provides a student with the opportunity to be firmly grounded in the fundamentals of design and the visual arts, while also taking courses in science, math, history, philosophy, and theology. As students progress through the tiered design program, they develop as a designer, as an intellectual, and as a moral person, prepared to address the social, ethical, and political circumstances influenced by the design profession.
At its core, the Notre Dame visual communication design program asserts that the designer can make a difference not only in the strategic plan of a business but also in the world. During their time on campus, students develop projects that aspire to positively influence the lives of culturally diverse people, critique the ethical dimensions of contemporary culture, and give visual form to complex social issues. As design professionals, Notre Dame graduates will be responsible for the future of our visual culture.
Industrial Design Concentration
Industrial designers give form to virtually all mass-manufactured products in our culture. They seek opportunity and advantage through identifying and solving problems. Their creative contributions impact the utility, appearance, and value of our tools and environment. Their most innovative solutions lie at an intersection of what is knowable and what is possible. The industrial design profession demands excellent organizational skills, an awareness of visual and tactile aesthetics, human behavior, human proportion, material, process, and the responsible appropriation of resource, during and after use. Designers express conceptual proposals through a combination of well-developed drawing, physical modeling, computer modeling, writing, and verbal skills. Designers best serve the consumer through sensitive and innovative collaboration with art, science, engineering, anthropology, marketing, manufacturing, and ecology. Properly implemented, industrial design affords greater benefit, safety, and economy to all participants and recipients impacted by the product development cycle. Notre Dame’s Industrial Design Program (NDID) maintains student chapter affiliation with the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). NDID interacts with regional, national, and international corporate design and consulting offices in the form of annual conferences, sponsored projects, field trips, and internships.
Professional Track in Design
With similar requirements to the general B.A. degree, the Bachelor of Arts–Professional Track in industrial design is a liberal arts degree comprised of 48 credit hours. The curriculum focuses on helping students build their portfolio in pursuit of a design position immediately after graduation.