Design (DESN)

Design is one of the most pervasive and influential forms of human communication, shaping everything from ancient symbols carved in stone to the digital interfaces that define modern life. This course offers a survey of design’s history, examining design’s evolution across cultural, artistic, and technological revolutions. This course traces the ways in which design has functioned as a critical tool for information exchange, artistic expression, and ideological influence. Beginning with the origins of writing systems and illuminated manuscripts, we will progress through the development of typography and printing during the Renaissance, the industrialization of design in the 19th century, the radical experimentation of modernist movements, and the global impact of digital media in the 21st century. This course examines both the dominant cultural ideas embodied by design, as well as the counter-narratives it generates to express diverse cultural identities.

Introduction to Visual Communication Design is an introductory course that focuses on design principles, methods, application, and technology. The course explores historic and contemporary applications of design in 2D, 3D, and time-based media. Students will develop a foundational understanding of visual communication design primarily through assigned studio cases, creative problem-solving, and studio work. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work. The class is a prerequisite for all other courses in the major.

Typography is an introductory course that focuses on typography, its history, and its use as a critical element in design. Students will learn about the origins and constructions of typography, gain experience in utilizing and applying typography in diverse contexts, and develop an awareness of how type influences human perception and understanding. This class is primarily structured around assigned studio problems. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work. The class is a prerequisite for many intermediate and advanced courses in the major.

Visual Communication Design Studio is an introductory course that explores the practice and processes of design through applied projects that will develop the student's compositional, conceptual, and technical skills. Students will gain a deeper understanding of color, composition, and image making across a variety of design contexts and media. This class is primarily structured around assigned studio problems. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work. The class is a prerequisite for many intermediate and advanced courses in the major.

MATERIALS FEE. This course explores the application of design principles and methods in digital media. The course will look at time-based experiential design in the context of web-enabled media including web, mobile, social, motion, and emerging digital contexts such as augmented reality. Students will gain a deeper understanding of design processes, digital design principles, time-based design principals, and current design/prototyping tools. This studio-based design course is structured around hands-on exercises that guide students through the design process and introduce them to the broad landscape of digital media design.

MATERIALS FEE. Rapid Visualization is a cross-disciplinary course in contemporary illustration and rendering techniques that serve studio art, design, engineering, marketing, and architecture. A gateway course for the Industrial Design major, it introduces students to the techniques and methodologies for designing products, gear, furnishings, packaging, and spaces. Through collaborative brainstorming, class discussion, and critique, students develop a vocabulary and critical framework for describing a product’s formal attributes, materiality, and market positioning. The course is intended for students entering studio practice for the first time as well as for advanced students who wish to deepen their visualization and illustration skills.

MATERIALS FEE. This introductory industrial design studio emphasizes the fundamental principles and practices of industrial design, including design process, form development, and prototyping craftsmanship. Students will learn to utilize a wide range of resources, including shop prototyping tools, to translate ideas into three-dimensional interactive prototypes. A series of fundamental design problems are introduced during the course of the semester, encouraging students to think and work in three-dimensional media. Emphasis is placed on the accurate transformation of imagination from mind to 2D and 3D representations and design solutions.

Design thinking has emerged as a powerful methodology to catalyze breakthrough innovation for an array of complex business, social and humanitarian challenges. Business and industry have embraced design thinking as one of the most potent drivers of innovation, growth and prosperity for its’ deeply human-centered approach to problem solving. During this fast paced, hybrid, hands-on journey through the design thinking process, students will immerse themselves in a series of overlapping modules that introduce the various phases in the design thinking process and familiarize students with the tools and techniques. This course will unleash your creativity and ingenuity in addressing problems through a human centered framework and mindset, applying this methodology to a vast array of human-centered problems, and complementing disciplines from science and engineering to business and the liberal arts. This course fulfills a Core Curriculum Liberal Arts 4 Way of Knowing (Arts) as well as the gateway to the Collaborative Innovation minor and cross-listed with other minors including: Sustainability, Computing & Digital Technologies, Education, Schooling & Society, Entrepreneurship and Anthropology.

This course is an introduction to various digital design techniques and workflows used by industrial designers. Students will explore design processes integrating digital tablet sketching and computer-aided design (CAD) in order to develop and effectively communicate design concepts. The course is aimed at students seeking to expand their 3-D visualization skills into a digital medium. Software introduced will include Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and SolidWorks 3D.

Have you ever pondered how people live(d) in a world without television, YouTube, smartphones, and automobiles? Why have bellbottoms come and gone twice in the last 50 years? Will we be forced to relive the fashion mistakes of the 1970s and 1980s? What new stuff will people invent and sell next? In asking and answering these questions, we must focus on one underlying query: What does our stuff really say about who we are and who we want to be? This course combines lectures, discussions, and interactive small group activities to explore the nature and breadth of peoples' relationships with their things. We will investigate why and how people make and use different types of objects, and how the use of these material goods resonates with peoples' identities in the deep past, recent history, and today. Since everyone in the class will already be an expert user and consumer of things, we will consider how people today use material objects to assert, remake, reclaim, and create identities, and compare today's practices to those of people who lived long ago. Class members will learn about how anthropologists, including ethnographers (studying people today) and archaeologists (studying past peoples) think about and approach the material nature of our social, economic, and political lives. We will discuss why styles and technologies change through time, and why, in the end, there is very little new under the sun in terms of human behaviors and the way people produce and consume goods. The topical breadth of this workshop encompasses most social science disciplines, including history, economics, psychology, and anthropology, and resonates with classics, art history, and gender studies.

This course is an introduction to the skills, techniques and history of furniture design. The focus will be on the process of designing and building furniture from the conceptual design, to the making of the final piece. Students will be introduced to hand tool techniques, woodworking machinery and traditional instruction in wood preparation, joinery and finishing. Sketching, model-making and various design strategies will help to develop an understanding of materials and processes, culminating in two projects. The history of modern furniture design will be explored as a means to investigate contemporary form development. Through presentations, hands-on lectures, technical demonstrations, and project assignments, students will explore the relationship between their conceptual vision, traditional furniture making techniques and the final built objects.

This course is an introduction to various digital design techniques and workflows used by industrial designers. Students will explore design processes integrating digital tablet sketching and computer-aided design (CAD) in order to develop and effectively communicate design concepts. The course is aimed at students seeking to expand their 3-D visualization skills into a digital medium. Software introduced will include Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and SolidWorks 3D.

This one-credit course will focus on Adobe Creative Suite software. The class will meet once per week throughout the course of the semester. Programs and topics to be covered will be Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, proper file preparation, and font access and usage.

This one-credit course will focus on Adobe Creative Suite software. The class will meet one evening per week throughout the course of the semester. Programs and topics to be covered will be Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, proper file preparation, font access and usage as well as others.

This once weekly lab session is a mandatory requirement for students enrolled in the Design Thinking course. These sessions focus on practical application of the topics and materials presented in class with students working in teams to employ techniques and methodology on assigned projects. This hands-on lab will having students exploring the research, brainstorming, ideation, iterative prototyping and presentation techniques that lead to creative innovation and disruptive breakthroughs applicable to students of any discipline.

The goal of the course is to compare the processes by which social scientists and filmmakers/photographers engage in social documentation. Students explore how global social problems such as rural and urban poverty, race and gender inequalities, immigration, and violence are analyzed across the social sciences and depicted in a variety of documentary film and photography genres. The course also explores the role that documentary photography and film play in promoting rights and advocating for social change, particularly in the realm of human rights and global inequality. It examines the history of documentary film and photography in relationship to politics and the development of concerns across the social sciences with inequality and social justice. It also looks at how individual documentarians, non-profit organizations, and social movements use film and photography to further their goals and causes as well as issues of representation their choices raise. The course is unique because it requires students to engage in the process of visual documentation themselves by incorporating an activity-based learning component. For their final project, students choose a human rights or social problem that concerns or interests them (and which they can document locally - no travel is required), prepare a documentary exhibit on the chosen topic (10-12 photographs), and write an essay analyzing how social scientists construct and frame the given problem. Students also have the option to produce a short documentary film.

Brand and Identity is an intermediate course that focuses on the design of cohesive brand and identity systems. The course builds on the use of color, typography, imagemaking, and design principles gained in previous design courses to establish consistent, identifiable, and meaningful brand/identity systems. Students will gain a deep understanding of the process and principles used to design logos and assemble typography, color, illustration, imagery, and graphic elements into powerful brand systems. This studio-based course is structured around hands-on projects and exercises that guide students through the design process and introduce them to the strategy and ethics of brand and identity systems.

UI/UX Design is an intermediate course that explores the design of interfaces for traditional and emerging interactive media. Students will gain an understanding of design principles and methods that are critical to the performance of these interfaces. The class will focus on applying color, typography, scale, imagery, and design patterns across a variety of platforms that might, include mobile, web, environmental, augmented, or virtual media. This class is primarily structured around assigned studio problems. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work.

MATERIALS FEE. This studio course focuses on development of environmental graphics and design systems in urban environments for three-dimensional spaces. It explores large-scale graphic renditions that ergonomically relate to the human body. The students work collaboratively to adapt design skills for the built environment, connecting people to the spaces they navigate and inhabit through visual messaging and building of narratives with an emphasis on transformation. Projects explore signage, large scale graphics, and environmental experiences.The design process explores messaging, story-telling and understanding the use of multi-sensory tools and technology to create and deliver poignant, effective and transformative stories and experiences.

Information Design is an intermediate course that focuses on the design of information for a variety of purposes and context. Students will utilize previous knowledge of typography, composition, imagemaking, and concept development to solve problems that are informationally driven. Outcomes may include the design of instructions, data visualizations, warnings, forms, and curriculum that are used to inform, persuade, or collect information from users. Through user-centered methods students will discover how to test and improve performance of designed artifacts. This class is primarily structured around assigned studio problems. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work.

Motion design is an intermediate course that explores the design of time-based media. Students will utilize previous knowledge of typography, composition, color, imagemaking, and concept development in order to solve problems across the 4th dimension of time. Students will develop an understanding of how to apply narrative, visual, and aural principles to convey powerful messages in a variety of contexts and scales—including web, film, augmented reality, or projection-based outcomes. This class is primarily structured around assigned studio problems. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work.

Applied Multimedia for Journalists - The main focus of this course is that students will learn how to shoot and edit videos. It will briefly touch on how to produce audio stories and podcasts. Students will also study the legal and ethical issues surrounding the use, creation and publication of digital media. The use of drones and the legal issues surrounding them will also be discussed.

MATERIALS FEE. This studio course focuses on the design of interactive products and the context of their use in larger systems. The course will explore methods and principles for planning, researching, and designing user-centered interactive products such as, but not limited to, mobile apps. Students will gain a deeper understanding of design research methodologies, the potential of connected technologies (IoT) and Big Data, prototyping for mobile and small screens, and the effective presentation of interactive design interventions. This studio-based course is structured around projects and exercises that guide students to better understand complex human problems and how interaction design might be used to turn existing experiences into preferred.

From early silent films to contemporary video games, media have not only been informed by but have actively shaped our culture, including how we think about sexual and gender minorities, who have always been present in screen cultures. This course examines GLBT/Queer representational practices across a wide variety of media forms. It will cover foundational understandings of both queer studies and media studies in order to provide students with the necessary tools to engage with a diverse array of media texts, including texts such as Life is Strange, The Last of Us series, The L Word, and RuPaul’s Drag Race. Students will discuss and write about both primary sources and theoretical works that ask them to consider the politics of representation as well as the promises and perils of self-representation. This class will feature blog posts, lectures, class discussion, class activities, presentations, and frequent writing assignments to develop critical thinking and compositional skills.

MATERIALS FEE. This upper-level Industrial Design Studio delves deeply into the styling and branding of products and spaces. Using a variety of contemporary and emerging industry methods, students will leverage digital visualization tools to generate professional-level design concepts and collateral. The class is structured to give ample opportunity to practice various workflows for concept generation and realization, with specific emphasis on the Adobe Suite, Sketchbook, Solidworks, Keyshot, and generative AI Tools. Modules are designed around the technical instruction to expose students to major movements in manufacturing and product design history, contemporary studio practice, and the branding of new merchandise. Through studio exercises and self-directed projects, students develop proposals for soft goods, tech, apparel, exhibits, attractions, environments, sporting equipment, tools, lifestyle accessories, furniture, and more.

MATERIALS FEE. This intermediate-level studio in industrial design is structured to provide a comprehensive introduction to the foundational principles of the product development process. Its primary objective is to cultivate and enhance students' expertise in human-centered design methodologies and the rigorous validation cycles essential for successful implementation. Throughout the course, a significant emphasis will be placed on exploring and mastering the distinct phases of the design process that are currently standard in the industrial design field.

MATERIALS FEE. This intermediate-level studio in industrial design continues a student’s immersion in the product development process with an emphasis on mastery of the core skills of our discipline through a series of shorter projects. The goal of the course is for students to develop fluency in their sketching, form development, 3D modeling, storytelling and presentation skills. The course will emphasize visual brand language, CMF( color, materials and finishes) product semantics, and modern form development while building a strong portfolio of work.

Interested in pursuing a career in feature animation, special effects, or video games? This class will be your first step in learning the tools and techniques of 3D digital content creation for the entertainment industry. Students will learn the basics of modeling, texturing, animation, lighting, and rendering using the industry-standard program, Autodesk Maya. Through video tutorials and production lessons, students will get hands-on, practical experience in the major areas of digital content creation in Maya. Students will also learn foundational principles of animation and 3D design through weekly lectures, screenings of feature animated films, and interactive play-throughs of modern console video games. This class will require a significant amount of individual work in the DPAC 3D Animation Lab outside of class time.

MATERIALS FEE. Digital Surface Modeling is a beginner-to-intermediate level course focused on fundamental approaches to creating 3-dimensional geometry in CAD (Computer Aided Design) software for communicating design intent. The course explores essential elements of design, such as ergonomics, material selection, and manufacturing approaches, while practicing foundational skills in creating surface geometry. While core CAD skills will be the primary focus throughout the semester, we’ll also explore and discuss the value that surfacing brings to product development through a series of lectures, course discussions, and minor assignments.

MATERIALS FEE. Research for Impact is an engaging and dynamic course that investigates wicked problems through creative research methods that provide insights and opportunities for project stakeholders to produce lasting change. Students are equipped with essential quantitative and qualitative research skills and methodologies, empowering them to explore, analyze, and help confront complex design challenges. Students will craft inventive research toolkits, which they will utilize in real-world scenarios to uncover deep needs and foster opportunities for a more inclusive design and research process.

This interdisciplinary course explores the relationship between the production of material goods and their environmental impacts. Modules are designed around specific industries, such as fashion, electronics, furniture, construction, and packaging, allowing students to examine the unique technical, economic, and social conditions in each category. Students will trace products back to raw materials and forward to their "end-of-life" (whether that be re-manufacture, regeneration, or landfill), while employing various techniques for assessing impact. Students will hear from sustainability professionals about their approaches and visit production facilities to see firsthand how goods are made. Significant time in the course is given to an independent project in the West Lake Design Studio, allowing individuals to apply their unique backgrounds and skills to the teardown and redesign of a particular product or service.

This interactive course immerses students in the world of analog game design, providing foundational skills applicable across various platforms—from simple preschool card games to kids skill and action, family board and party games, even digital games. Students will learn to think and work within multiple disciplines to design engaging, well-balanced games that extend beyond entertainment into real-world problem-solving. Through a hands-on, play-based approach, students will engage in game-playing and game-testing sessions while exploring key topics such as brainstorming, target market research, narrative development, game mechanics, sketching, and prototyping. The course includes curated readings from established designers, authors, and inventors to supplement learning. Working both independently and collaboratively, students will refine their designs while balancing gameplay mechanics. Students will present their own playable game prototypes which will be showcased at the course’s conclusion.

Sound and music for digital media is an often overlooked art form that is critical to the effective telling of a story. Writer-director George Lucas famously said that "sound is 50 percent of the movie-going experience." Director Danny Boyle mentioned in a n interview that "the truth is, for me, it's obvious that 70, 80 percent of a movie is sound. You don't realize it because you can't see it." At its root, sonic design creates mood and setting - it engages the audience on a primal, emotional level, in ways that imagery alone can not achieve. A cleanly recorded and creatively edited sound effects track can immerse an audience in a fictional world. Music, whether used sparingly or in grandiose fashion, can enhance or subvert the visual component of a film or video game to create cinematic magic. Through feature film screenings, video game play-through sessions, and hands-on production assignments using Adobe Audition CC, students will learn how to direct the emotions of an audience through creative recording, mixing, and editing of sound effects and music.

Akin to the popular TV show "Project Runway" this class will challenge the students with various costume making projects which they will design, drape the patterns, and create the garments. Sewing experience is recommended, but not required

This advanced topics course in visual communication design explores identity through the lens of design, community, history, and sport. The class will build on historical research conducted by students in the Baseball In America course in the fall of '22. The class will collaborate with the Centers for Social Concerns, Foundry Field (foundryfield.org), and community partners to examine the history of appropriation, representation, and access in sports and design. Students will implement participatory and co-creative design methods to understand how community involvement in the design process might stimulate dialogue, create a greater sense of community ownership, and empower local advocates in their work toward inclusion, representation, and access.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with experience in various aspects of programming for video game development. No prior programming experience is necessary and students will proceed at their own pace. In addition to several programming projects that utilize gaming APIs or frameworks, students will also be exposed to level design (map creation), 3D construction techniques, custom textures, sound design, and lighting effects. 3D game development will utilize the Hammer Editor, part of the Half-Life 2 video game modding Software Development Kit (Source SDK) and its associated tools. Additional third-party (and often free) utilities will also be necessary. Students will work on their own or in teams on a final project agreed upon with the instructor. Students will need to provide their own Windows compatible computer or laptop or a Mac running windows under BootCamp.

Required lab for DESN 30811: Draping the Design

Visual anthropology involves the cross-cultural study of images in communication and the use of images as a method for doing anthropology. This course proceeds through a non-linear integration of visual themes including water, earth, light, fire, flesh and blood with analytical themes including aesthetics, poetics, violence, history, materiality and subjectivity. We explore still photography, film, and popular media in domains from ethnography, social documentary, war photojournalism, to high art. Students watch, read and write about, and generate visual products of their own in multiple media.

As an emergent field of ethnographic theory and methods, design anthropology involves talking to people, figuring out what they want, and creating ways to improve our shared lives. These practices are focused on developing ideas and forms based on people’s needs while anticipating conscious practice and considerate use. Design anthropologists create potentials for future selves, anticipating projected needs and transcending potential limitations. This seminar introduces the emerging phenomenon and ongoing merger of the anthropology of design. It integrates sources in design anthropology, ethnographic design, cultural marketing, and other applied methodologies. We will engage with theoretical discussions, analytical approaches, practicing exercises, and portfolio development to explore the holistic depths of this nascent field.

Community-Based Design is an advanced Visual Communication Design course that focuses on the design of socially-driven interventions that impact communities at large and small-scale. Students will learn how design might work for, with, and through communities in a way that is empowering and sustainable for existing community advocates and organizations. Students will consider the impacts of extractive, top-down, externally driven interventions that fail to identify or activate local expertise. This course is structured as a hands-on, interdisciplinary studio that might be taken as the capstone for the Collaborative Innovation minor. Complimentary majors such as anthropology, sociology, peace studies or others are invited to join the class. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, stakeholder research, presentations, and in-class work.

Packaging Design is an advanced course that focuses on the design of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional packaging solutions. The course builds on the use of color, typography, imagemaking, and design principles gained in previous courses. Through a rigorous design process, students will explore the role of packaging in consumer markets and society more broadly—including cultural, environmental, and functional impacts. This class is primarily structured around assigned studio problems. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work.

Professional Practice is an advanced course and serves as the capstone for all Visual Communication Design majors. The course allows students to explore career paths and develop a cohesive personal brand and portfolio. Students will design several significant, independent projects that exhibit their growing knowledge of design practice, as well as guide students towards relevant career pathways in the design industry. This studio-based course is structured around hands-on projects and exercises, and students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work.

MATERIALS FEE. The course develops an understanding of what data means to humans and how does its visualization helps communicate ideas in the fields of medicine, technology and social sciences. The course touches upon measurement, collection and reporting, analysis but ultimately focuses on visualization. Visualization is when the data comes alive and is ready to be used to communicate a complex concept be it numeric, spatial, process or temporal. Types of data covered in this course include but are not limited to: geographical, cultural, scientific, financial, statistical, meteorological, natural, and transportation data. The goal of the exercises within this course is to understand how data can be used to tell a story as opposed to merely packaging and plotting a set of numbers on a page. The design process is therefore exploring the static, dynamic, interactive or 3-dimensional and performance formats of representation and understand why a certain format is more or less suitable for the nature of data, its analysis and therefore its representation. Students develop an understanding of how the graphics being used must correlate completely with the data and numbers that are being represented. The course traverses through these considerations to understand the various approaches that can be used to bring data to life and allow the viewer to understand a story that is being packaged within the representation. Is there revelation or a deeper understanding of a pattern once your data has been visualized and presented that had not been discovered earlier?

Interaction Design is an advanced course that focuses on the design of interactive systems that might include digital, physical, social, and political factors. Students will gain a deeper understanding of design research methodologies, processes, and prototyping methods for using design to address "wicked problems." This class is primarily structured around assigned studio problems. Interdisciplinary majors are invited to join the class as a means to develop diverse problem-solving perspectives. Collaborative Innovation Minors may take this class to fulfill their capstone requirements. Students will divide their time between lecture, critique, demonstration, presentations and in-class work.

MATERIALS FEE. Design problems are quickly becoming more complex, often extending well beyond “performance” challenges found in traditional design education projects. ID4 will bring together all the elements, principles, and practices of design introduced to you throughout your time here at Notre Dame, from early user research methods through final design refinement. Throughout the semester we’ll explore, practice, and call into question some of the core tenets of Design Thinking. In addition, we’ll introduce elements of design critical for product success, including business planning, leadership through design, and project management. This course is intended to provide a platform to explore two fundamental challenges: 1) Identify problems worth solving, and 2) Envision compelling solutions that add value to the world.

Service Design is an interdisciplinary course that explores the theories, methods, and practices involved in designing effective and human centered services. Students will be introduced to key concepts and frameworks used in service design, with a focus on creating seamless and customer-centric experiences at critical touch points. As a capstone course, it combines elements from design thinking, design research, visual communication, and industrial design to develop solutions that meet customer needs and create value for organizations.

MATERIALS FEE. This advanced course offers students an immersive exploration of the industrial design industry, equipping them with the tools they need to successfully navigate their journey into the world of design employment. Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to refine their previous design projects, craft a high-caliber professional portfolio, and develop self-promotional materials that are both effective and compelling.

This is a one-credit pop-up seminar for students in the College of Arts and Letters and Mendoza College of Business. Admission to the course will be based on a competitive application. We seek a small cohort of students who are interested in a deep interdisciplinary study of a major luxury brand: Thom Browne. Attendance at some evening events will be required, corresponding to campus events with Browne. Over six seminar sessions, we will speak with experts from different aspects of the enterprise. Potential topics include: - Craft: The history of suiting, how suits are designed and manufactured, and what differentiates mass market, high-end, and haute couture suiting. - "Reading" haute couture fashion and understanding innovation in haute couture. - Gender, capitalism, and the office "uniform" - philosophical questions raised by Thom Browne's suits. - The business strategy of artist-owned luxury brands. - Fashion writing and criticism, and the role it plays in shaping popular culture. - Dressing athletes - the connection between sports, fashion, and American ideals. Students will be expected to work through a collection of readings and media on Thom Browne's design to familiarize themselves with the work and key questions before the seminar. Work will involve preparation for discussions with experts during each of the seminar sessions, culminating in a visit with Thom Browne to the course. Students will also write a short critical, creative, or appreciative piece on some aspect of luxury fashion using a concept learned in the seminar.

This class seeks to introduce students to some basic concepts of computer-generated imagery as it is used in the field of visual effects, and to delve into some of the technical underpinnings of the field. While some focus will rely on artistic critique and evaluation, most of the emphasis of the class will be placed on understanding fundamental concepts of 3d modeling, texturing, lighting, rendering, and compositing. Those who excel in the visual effects industry are those who have both a strong aesthetic sense coupled with a solid understanding of what the software being used is doing "under the hood." This class, therefore, will seek to stress both aspects of the industry. From a methodology standpoint, the class will consist of lectures, several projects that will be worked on both in-class and out of class, scripting, many tutorials, and open discussion.

You have learned the basics of 3D digital production in Maya, and your insatiable thirst for digital content creation cannot be quenched. Welcome to the next level---Advanced 3D Digital Production! In this class, you will move beyond the fundamentals of 3D production and tackle advanced concepts such as complex object and character creation, digital sculpting, high dynamic range (HDRI) image-based lighting, key frame and motion captured character animation, and more. You will create a portfolio of high quality #D assets which you can use for graduate school and job applications. You will dig deeper into the Maya toolset as well as learn new programs such as Mudbox and Motion Builder. Students will be treated as professional 3D artists, and expectations for timely, quality final deliverables will be high.

Permission required. This course provides an opportunity for the design student to earn credit at an approved design office.

Independent study in visual communication design under the direction of an individual faculty member.

Independent study in industrial design under the direction of an individual faculty member.

Independent study in graphic design: research or creative projects.

Independent study in graphic design: research or creative projects.

Independent study in graphic design: research or creative projects.

<br> <b>For non-degree international students only.</b><br> <br> Design has come more and more to describe not only the development of objects but the process by which one shapes the interactions and experiences of people with the systems, services, and organizations around us. A deeply human-centered approach to problem-solving, design thinking is centered around identifying and reframing complex problems, and solving them through a more creative, iterative, and hands-on approach. This course will follow a series of overlapping modules that will introduce the student to the various steps employed in the design thinking process and becoming familiar with the tools and methodologies used. The course will feature a hybrid seminar format with lectures and case studies followed by hands-on exercises and practical applications of the theories in the form of team projects. Students will be able to apply this methodology to problems of a variety of disciplines from science and engineering to business and the liberal arts. This course will be taught as a hybrid of synchronous online live meetings and asynchronous coursework

Independent study in product design: research or creative projects.

Independent study in product design under the direction of an individual faculty member.

Independent study in product design under the direction of an individual faculty member.

This course provides the framework in which seniors in the department prepare a substantial creative project, as the culmination of their three years in the BA program. Faculty members working with individuals or small groups of students help them define their topics and guide them, usually on a one-to-one basis, in the preparation and execution of their projects. Students will be expected to participate in the Annual Student Exhibition spring semester and draft a short essay about their creative research. Fall, Spring.

The BFA Thesis is defined by an independent thesis project, continuing for two semesters during the senior year. The thesis is a personal visual statement that is the culmination of a student's collective development within the department and can be the extension of an ongoing body of work or a defining project. A written statement defining the project, which is due at the end of the first senior semester, supports the thesis project. The thesis project culminates in the second senior semester with a thesis exhibition. The student signs up with a faculty member working in graphic design, who serves as an advisor for the thesis project.

The BFA Thesis is defined by an independent thesis project, continuing for two semesters during the senior year. The thesis is a personal visual statement that is the culmination of a student's collective development within the department and can be the extension of an ongoing body of work or a defining project. A written statement defining the project, which is due at the end of the first senior semester, supports the thesis project. The thesis project culminates in the second senior semester with a thesis exhibition. The student signs up with a faculty member working in graphic design, who serves as an advisor for the thesis project.

The BFA Thesis is defined by an independent thesis project, continuing for two semesters during the senior year. The thesis is a personal visual statement that is the culmination of a student's collective development within the department and can be the extension of an ongoing body of work or a defining project. A written statement defining the project, which is due at the end of the first senior semester, supports the thesis project. The thesis project culminates in the second senior semester with a thesis exhibition. The student signs up with a faculty member working in industrial design, who serves as an advisor for the thesis project.

The BFA Thesis is defined by an independent thesis project, continuing for two semesters during the senior year. The thesis is a personal visual statement that is the culmination of a student's collective development within the department and can be the extension of an ongoing body of work or a defining project. A written statement defining the project, which is due at the end of the first senior semester, supports the thesis project. The thesis project culminates in the second senior semester with a thesis exhibition. The student signs up with a faculty member working in graphic design, who serves as an advisor for the thesis project.

The BFA Thesis is the culmination of the honors program in design, with candidates completing a 6 credit independent thesis project under a faculty advisor’s supervision in their senior year. The thesis represents an opportunity for the student to conduct independent research on a topic of their choice, identifying the research questions, establishing the methodology, and executing a design project that meets the highest standards of the degree program. Students select and must be accepted by a faculty advisor working in the student’s area of interest to meet regularly with throughout the year. The thesis concludes in the spring semester with the BFA Thesis Exhibition for which students must mount an exhibit of their project.