Graphic Design

An image depicting work at the School of Art + Design.
As the world changes, the world's art changes with it. Graphic design sits at the intersection of traditional arts and emerging technologies. The screen or the printed page, online exhibitions or physical galleries, client-based contracts or personal projects—whatever your interests, the study of graphic design prepares you to challenge and shape the way we see the world around us.

A student of graphic design is a student of communications, methodology, theory, and process. Our curriculum offers dynamic and demanding training in the ideas and techniques of contemporary graphic design. But we also encourage you to look beyond our walls. As we see it, the best work in graphic design is informed and enhanced by the artist's exposure to other fields of art and theory. The result of this multidisciplinary emphasis is the emergence of original and significant designers.

Accessibility is a priority for our faculty members. In all of our courses, you work closely with professors to develop skills that will push you forward as a unique designer and thinker. As practicing designers themselves, the professors offer poignant insights into the latest trends and technologies in the graphic design industry.

Graphic design provides rich artistic training with clear professional value. In our increasingly visual world, graphic designers are in high demand. What sorts of jobs might graphic design prepare you for?

  • Publication designer

  • Website designer

  • Multimedia designer

  • Environmental designer

  • Consultant/Freelancer

  • Typographer

  • Illustrator

  • Teacher

  • Studio artist

  • Motion graphic designer

  • Project manager

Resources in Graphic Design

The graphic design program provides a variety of resources that allow you to stretch your education beyond the classroom.

  • Ninth Letter is an award-winning literature and arts project combining the efforts of the School of Art + Design and the Department of English. Ninth Letter exists in two forms: a nationally distributed magazine and a well-trafficked website. Undergraduates in graphic design may participate in conceptualizing, developing, and producing the pages for the publication and the site. During the last few years, Ninth Letter has received honors from UCDA, the Type Director's Club, Step In Design, and SXSW.

  • The on-campus Krannert Art Museum boasts an archive of over 8,000 works of art and rotating exhibitions of traditional and innovative artworks.

Graphic Design Curriculum Requirements

The curriculum in graphic design prepares you for a career in the practice of visual communications. The curriculum combines graphic design courses with Art + Design foundation courses, art history courses, electives, and general education units required by the university.

Graphic Design degree requirements are listed under the College of Fine and Applied Arts on the University of Illinois Programs of Study website.

Core Faculty

  • Eric Benson

    Eric Benson

  • Jennifer Gunji-Ballsrud

    Jennifer Gunji-Ballsrud

  • John Jennings

    John Jennings

  • Jimmy Van Luu

    Jimmy Van Luu