Graphic Design, Bachelor of Science

Offered by the Department of Art

Mission

The Graphic Design major at Mansfield University is a comprehensive program within a small, public liberal arts university. A tremendous amount of individual attention is given to students, from professors and advisors, providing them with careful guidance throughout their time at Mansfield. The program, which is rooted in the Mansfield Creed of character, scholarship, culture, and service, is positioned within the Department of Art, yet incorporates exposure to other related disciplines - such as Business, Communications, Marketing, and Computer Information Science. This creates a well-rounded understanding of a designer’s role within the profession. Before receiving their degree, students studying in this major will complete an internship or a community-based practicum project, as well as a senior seminar capstone exhibition. Students graduating from the Graphic Design program will have a competitive positioning to be employed within the field of art and design, or be well-prepared to continue on for specialized study at the graduate level.

Vision

The Graphic Design program at Mansfield University strives to offer a challenging and enterprising approach to the expression of visual information. Through a belief that one can create a life that embraces integrity, cherishes learning, celebrates differences, and affects others, our graphic design graduates will use their collective creative voice as an influence for positive change. It is our goal to have students leave Mansfield University not merely with training in the practice of graphic design, but with an approach to thinking, communicating, and creating that will allow them to be solvers of complex visual problems, and catalysts for successful communication within society.

Values

• Lead our students in the discipline and profession of graphic design, with a philosophy that is rooted in art and art history, while embracing the terrain of communication and business.
• Educate the next generation of forward-looking graphic designers with adaptable, cross-curricular abilities and perspectives.
• Present the opportunity for students to engage in a program where they will have a competitive position to be employed in the graphic design field or be well prepared to continue on for specialized study at the graduate level.
• Foster a perspective for problem-solving methodologies and a broad approach to the role and influence design can have within society.
• Develop a work ethic of continuous learning and an ongoing utilization of current and changing technologies in the field of graphic design.
• Provide our students with an affordable opportunity to study and experience cultures where design plays a vital role, creates a positive impact, and exerts an influential voice for a conscientious society.

Goals  

• LIBERAL ARTS EXPERIENCE
  Facilitate art- and design-based programs that are central to the liberal arts experience, by promoting creative thinking, collaboration, and community engagement.
• CREATIVE PROCESS
  Demonstrate the value of the creative process through rigorous research, revision and critique.
• COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
  Nurture and sustain programs that provide art- and design-related experiences for students and community.

Graphic Design - Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

• GD-SLO 1>Elements and Principles
  • Employ the basic and advanced use of elements and principles within all forms of art and design.
• GD-SLO 2>Discipline-specific Vocabulary
  • Apply appropriate terminology associated with concepts, history, techniques, and processes used in art and design.
• GD-SLO 3 >Design Process
  • Practice design as a process employing intuition, reason and research to create work that effectively conveys ideas and information.
• GD-SLO 4>History and Culture
  • Distinguish between historic periods and styles within graphic design, including critical movements, figures, colors, typefaces, tools, processes, and imagery.
• GD-SLO 5>Tools, Skills, and Techniques
  • Demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the significance and use of contemporary and historic tools and technologies; including their roles in the creation, reproduction, and distribution of visual messages. Relevant print tools and technologies may include drawing, offset and digital printing, photography, computer software and hardware, bookbinding, exhibition, and signage and wayfinding practices.
• GD-SLO 6>Commercial Processes
  • Work effectively with tools and techniques used commercially in the production of graphic design media.

• GD-SLO 7>Problem Solving
  • Respond to a problem in search of an appropriate design outcome, supported by research and gathering of relevant information, and by generating and analyzing multiple versions of possible solutions.
• GD-SLO 8>Presentation, Review, and Critique
  • Conduct a professional presentation of design work, and evaluate and critique oneself and the work of others, from a variety of perspectives, including art/design theory and history, target audience, utility, and social responsibility.