The Graphic Design MFA program at CalArts is a hub for experimentation and innovation in the field of graphic design. Each member of our graduate studio community is supported in developing a distinctive body of work driven by rigorous inquiry, fearless production, and robust discussion.
We develop makers and thinkers who shape design culture by challenging mainstream aesthetics, pursuing self-directed exploration and testing the boundaries of professional practice.
Weirdcore: The Unfamiliar Familiar, Freeze Shi
Two Lines Aligned, Ashleigh Kawaoka
Tool-Form, Jerry Qian
Reconstructing Grid, Freeze Shi
Don't Blink, Val Costa
Program Overview
MFA students in Grad Seminar I with professor Yasmin Khan Gibson.
The Graphic Design (GD) Program emphasizes integrating conceptual and formal skills or, more simply put, “thinking through making.”
This iterative approach enables each designer to blend a command of visual language with imagination, research, theory and technology. Classes in Graphic Design are small, intimate and critique-based, fostering debate and discussion. An inclusive, participatory studio culture is central to CalArts’ pedagogy, with all students working in residence in communal studios.
GD MFAs experience a broad range of graphic design platforms and media: print and publication design; UI/UX and visual design for web and mobile applications; design for XR and AR; experience design; motion graphics; branding and identity; and type design.
Our students move beyond mastery of design tools, into a workspace of visual experimentation and critical thinking alongside research, craft, technology & historical literacy
Program Philosophy
Students on a field trip to the MAK Schindler House for Lorraine Wild's Historical Survey of Graphic Design class.
CalArts GD MFAs are expected to develop a body of work that resists homogenization, and instead reflects a sustained commitment to each designer’s individual interests and priorities in the field of graphic design.
We ask our students to:
Work fearlessly and independently.
Discuss thoughtfully and generously.
Produce work that is rigorous, ingenious, and aware of its context.
Demonstrate an audacious commitment to their ideas.
Our program sits at the intersection of theory and praxis. Students learn that if they have a question, the answer is “yes.”
We help MFA students understand:
1.
What they want to do2.
Why they want to do it3.
Who they want to do it for4.
Whether or not it works, and how it works5.
Whether or not it engages an audience6.
If it was fulfilling…
Our Candy Wrappers, Vesper Ji
Styling Media, Ingrid Yu-Ju Tai
Encyclopedia of Postnatural Artifacts, Helen Xie
Fortochka, Dariia Zamrii
Seed Step, Val Costa