GRAPHIC DESIGN : DESIGN ARTS

Are you responsive to your environment?

Memphis College of Art is. The landscape of graphic design is ever expanding: technology and information, language and voice, and, audience and arena. It is this contemporary union of physical expression and linear theory which forms the foundation of the College’s unique design program. The evolution of graphic design is here.



GD200 Design System 1
 (3 credits)

This studio introduction to visual communication explores the unique meanings and principles of design and its supporting elements. As a companion to the first semester, students are instructed on a Macintosh platform utilizing the current professional design software: Adobe Creative Suite 3.
Prerequisite: All Foundation coursework


GD205 Design System 2
 (3 credits)

The second course in a sequential series for majors of the discipline, the primary focus is the expansion of introductory concepts secured in Design System 1. This formation extends the student’s natural artistic intuitiveness on an elevated conceptual and technical level. Areas of investigation include: pure typography; the grid as structure; and the development and realization of two- and three-dimensional design solutions.
Prerequisite: GD200


GD210 The Design
of Packaging
 (3 credits)

This course is an elective platform for majors of the discipline supporting the sequential Design Systems. The primary emphasis is an in-depth visual exploration of three-dimensional mechanical formats. Areas of concentration within the volume of packaging as design include: function and structure of the multiple; three-dimensional identity expansion; independent expression and communication; vanguard fluidity; ocular progression and convergence; viewer discovery; and societal consumerism.
Prerequisite: GD200


GD220 The Design
of Advertising
(3 credits)

This course is an elective platform for majors of the discipline supporting the sequential Design Systems. Primary emphasis is the investigation of societal consumerism within the context of a visual voice—the medium is the message. As Marshall McLuhan stated “Each medium, independent of the content it mediates, has its own intrinsic effects which are its unique message.” The media campaign is explored in its totality: the cross-discipline platforms of print, television, and external consumer venues are analyzed in comprehensive physical, verbal, and technical arenas.
Prerequisite: GD200

 

GD300 Design System 3
 (3 credits)

Design System 3 calls attention to the experimental integration of structures, imagery, and typography as form. Extended thought is placed on the systems of letterforms in relation to history and technology. A project example, Volume Discourse, examines the multiple utilizing the College’s Vandercook letterpress and digital technology.
Prerequisite: GD205


GD305 Design System 4
 (3 credits)

The intermediate level of study concludes with the continued application of physical and theoretical design principles with an emphasis in identity systems and emotional branding. Supplemental demonstrations, lectures, readings, and research activities compliment the course of study.
Prerequisite: GD300


GD400 Design System 5
 (3 credits)

The final year sequence commences with Design System 5, a comprehensive course in a professional and rigorous studio environment. The system accentuates a continued linear design methodology and its proven tenets. Concurrently presented multi-level projects are designed to simulate the vigor and expectations of a practicing professional.
Prerequisite: GD305


GD405 Design System 6
 (3 credits)

The conclusion of the formal program of the discipline, the student applies the collective knowledge to a defended, undergraduate senior thesis and exhibition. This endeavor requires the whole of the student and illustrates their verbal, academic, and artistic aptitude. Discipline centered, the thesis encourages trans-disciplinary influences.
Prerequisite: GD400