Communication Design

BFA in Communication (Graphic) Design

NEWS FLASH!
The Communication Design program is instituting 'THE ART TEST' for students to gain entry into one of the most comprehensive and challenging design programs in the area. It is optional for Fall 2013, but will be mandatory for Spring 2014. More details on the Art Test page.

These are exciting times! Technology is changing at breakneck speed – people have more options to access information, interact with the world, and be entertained than ever before. BUT we are still human and the message still needs to impact us on a personal level. 
 
We provide you with leading edge instruction in new media, industry current software, and traditional tools in this lively and rapidly expanding field. With this in mind, the Communication Design program at Buffalo State is constantly re-tooling the major to prepare you to design in and for this dynamic new environment!
 
Typical Communication Design students are driven, inquisitive, self starters, creative, and passionate. If that's you, then read on! 

Job Possibilities |Program Requirements | Portfolio Review | Important Information

By the time you graduate you will know how to:

  • design for print; magazines, books, packaging, way-finding, environmental graphics
  • put together conceptually creative and persuasive advertising campaigns
  • create logos and branding systems
  • illustrate with a variety of media from hands-on to digital
  • story board and create advertisements, Public Service Announcements, logo animation, kinetic typography and much more
  • transfer your designs into the digital 3D environment; create objects and environments, virtual packaging, product visualization, animate fly-throughs, logos, and typography
  • design for the web, creating intuitive and informative sites
  • mount an individual exhibition in a local gallery
  • design and create an individual portfolio, both digital and traditional.

The Communication Design program includes classes that help you prepare your portfolio and assistance in providing internship opportunities in the field. Most students do their internships locally, but some have been more adventurous and landed internships in London, Los Angeles, New York City, and other metropolitan areas.

The Communication Design BFA program is designed to prepare you for successful employment in an industry with a rapid influx of new technologies. Due to the demand for a higher level of skills from our graduates in these technologies, we continually evaluate our course offerings and update them accordingly.

Job Possibilities

The Buffalo State Communication Design BFA program has an excellent reputation. Graduates from the program are employed by many design studios, advertising firms, marketing agencies, web, news and printing companies in the Western New York area and across the country. Opportunities exist in newspaper, magazines, non-profit organizations, music, advertising specialties, or sign companies. In addition, many businesses that employ more than a dozen employees often have an in-house design dept. Or, with the skills gained, some of our more enterprising graduates have begun their own companies!

Buffalo State has employment and job resources available for students - free of charge to students and the local community:

BFA Program Requirements

Communication Design BFA Program Requirements (79 cr)
Minimum GPA in the major is 2.75

Foundation courses (37 cr)
FAR101 Drawing I
DES101 Intro to Design 2DI
DES103 Intro to Design 3DI
DES277 Computer Graphics I
DES377 Computer Graphics II
DES307 Color Theory
DES102 Intro to Design 2DII
FAR250 Art History I
FAR251 Art History II
FAR104 Themes/Issues Contemp Art
DES314W History of Graphic Design
DES414 Senior Seminar (4 cr)

Major courses (33 cr)
DES270 Vis Com I *
DES271 Typography
DES370 Vis Com II
DES374 Advertising Design
DES380 Illustration
DES378 Web Design I
DES473 Graphic Design
DES479 Multimedia
DES480 Illustration II
DES475 Graphic Design Practicum (Internship - 6cr)

Studio Electives
(9 Credits selected by Advisement)
DES220 Ceramics I
DES230 Introduction to Jewelry
DES242 Fibers I
DES250 Wood I


Buffalo State Undergraduate requirements: 120 hours Total

Download suggested semester-by-semester sequence for the CMD program (114kb PDF). 

*Portfolio Review

All current students must take the portfolio review the semester following completion of DES 270, Visual Communications I. For additional information regarding the portfolio review, please contact the Communication Design faculty in the Design Department, Upton Hall 212.

Students entering the Buffalo State Communication Design program in the Fall of 2013 may opt to take the Art Test instead of going the current route of the Portfolio Review. More information regarding this transition:  The Art Test

Links

Important information

Ultimately the student is responsible for fulfilling all courses required for graduation.

Advisement is mandatory. Students must sign up for advisement each semester they are at Buffalo State to facilitate timely graduation. Changing majors or entering the college as a transfer may lengthen the amount of time to graduation.

The Design Department reserves the right to retain students’ work for official purposes, such as exhibitions, catalogs, teaching aids, or permanent collections and to use images of the students and their work for publicity and recruitment. Students are expected to assume the costs of materials used in courses. Some studio courses may have an additional charge for materials used in class.