What it’s about:

The graphic design major is about visual communication-how it is created and how it is perceived. Graphic designers plan and create print, film, and electronic communications composed of images and typography; their work ranges from books to multimedia programs, CD covers to film titles, logos to Web sites.

What study of this major is like:     

Graphic design programs vary widely from colleges to college, and a course title in a catalog does not necessarily describe the course content. But regardless to content distribution or course names, the graphic design major should prepare you to solve design problems; understand audiences; handle tools and technology (including offset printing, photography, and interactive media); apply concepts such as visual organization, information hierarchy, symbolic representation, and aesthetics; understand design history, theory, and criticism from a variety of perspective (including art history, linguistics, and communication and information theory); and know basic business practices (such as organizing design projects and working productively with teams).

If you expect to go into advertising, you should enroll in a program that includes additional course work in marketing, audience and/or user evaluation, art direction, copywriting, and communications theory. If you want to work in time-based or interactive media, select programs with additional courses in storyboarding, computer scripting, sound editing, and interface design. For a career in planning and strategy development, seek programs that teach team problem solving; systems analysis; writing for business; and the application of management, communications, and information theories.

As a graphic design major, you learn primarily by completing hands-on projects in classes of 15-25 students. Design majors work long hours and must be self-motivated. Assignments are usually open-ended, with many right answers; they require you to think through different approaches and a variety of solutions. Your work is then evaluated by your classmates and instructors, based on how well you fulfilled the requirement of the assignment and on whether you showed an understanding of the audience and the context for which the item was intended. This approach is frequently used in all design and studio courses, and you have to learn not to take the criticism personally.

Exhibitions, auctions of visual work, costume balls, and design competitions are extracurricular activities in most colleges. Most design profession through clubs, portfolio reviews, field trips, internships, sponsored projects, or conferences. Generally, design programs have strong networks of graduates who can help you make the transition from college to work.

According to the accreditation requirements of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design requires at least 65 percent of your course to be studio art and design instruction, with at least 25 percent of those courses to be specifically related to graphic design. The B.F.A. is considered to be the professional degree for graphic design practice. In Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science programs (B.A.,  B.S.), you will find a higher percentage of general education/liberal arts courses, and a smaller percentage of graphic design courses as part of the total art and design requirements. Two-year associate degree programs prepare you for technical support positions in the field and for transfer to four-year programs in degree.

Career options and trends:

Art director*; graphic designer in design group or studio*; interactive/multimedia designer*; Web designer *; illustrator; exhibition designer; advertising agent; package designer; designer; design strategist/planner; print production pre-press designer.

In a knowledge-based economy, those who make information comprehensible are valued. Success in the field of graphic design depends on talent, education, and work ethic, and students who graduate at the top of their class find jobs. Rapid technological change has created specializations in the field; as a result, specialist are in demand and more graphic designers are likely to obtain a graduate degree.

Increasingly, basic layout and design work is being outsourced to design firms overseas. Higher-level graphic design jobs that focus on “strategic design”-developing communication strategies for clients and firms-require proximity and will remain in the United States. Graphic designers with skills in Web site design and animation will have the best opportunities, as will those with knowledge or experience in marketing and business.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors