Masters in Graphic Design

Masters Degree in Graphic Design

The increasing popularity of a Masters Degree in Graphic Design isn’t at all surprising. In recent years, this advanced degree focusing on combining artistic talent with technical skill has become one of the most sought-after by companies ranging from advertising firms to publishing houses.

If you have a strong eye for detail and an artist’s sense of esthetics, a Masters in Graphic Design could be your stepping stone to a wonderful career. Anyone with a natural sense of color and an innate understanding of what is pleasing in proportion and style is a potential candidate for a graphic design masters degree. With it, he or she can focus on both the technical and artistic aspects of communicating through visual media. If you have a bachelors degree in any form of art or multi-media communications, you can enter a graphic design masters program in order to increase your knowledge and understanding as well as learn new ways to apply your skills.

What Do You Learn in A Masters Degree in Graphic Design Program?

The focus of a good graphic design masters program is the application of artistic and computer aided skills to the interpretation of commercial and technical information for the public. You will learn a variety of software and hardware assisted art forms as well as technical rendering, photography and illustration. The masters program focuses in particular on complex design principles and the processes that bring them to life.

A typical Masters Degree in Graphic Design program offers courses such as understanding perspective, color theory, still life and live modeling, photography, commercial art & design and multimedia communications. Students will work with a wide range of software and computer tools to develop high level skills that include understanding and interpreting trends in design and art, graphic communications methods and advanced theory and practice of graphic design. In order to complete the program successfully, students will usually have to visualize, develop and create an independent design project from concept to completion.

The successful individual with a Masters in Graphic Design can interpret cultural and societal responses in order to develop the most appropriate format of multimedia communications to convey a desired message.

What Can You Do with A Masters in Graphic Design?

A graphic design masters degree can open a variety of doors for the artistic individual. While some of the most common careers are in some form of advertising, there are numerous other options such as photo-journalism and website design that focus on visual art. Advertising executives can go farther with a Masters Degree than their counterparts with a four year degree, particularly in areas such as media relations and publishing. Artists, animators and illustrators are all increasingly using software and computer aided tools for everything from concept to execution in today’s marketplace. Understanding the importance of good design and being able to interpret and apply it through accepted principles for both commercial and technical users is the core of a Masters Degree in Graphic Design.

Schools offering a Graphic Design Masters Degree

(Organized by State - Updated 2010-02-10)

AL-University of Alabama Burmingham AZ-Arizona State University CA-University of California Irvine
CO-Colorado State University FL-Florida Atlantic University FL-Florida State University
FL-University of Florida FL-University of Miami GA-Georgia Southern University
GA-Georgia State University IA-Iowa State University IA-University of Iowa
ID-University of Idaho IL-Bradley University IL-Depaul University
IL-University of Illinois Chicago IL-University of Illinois Urbana Champaign IN-Indiana State University
IN-Purdue University IN-University of Notre Dame KS-Kansas State University
MA-Boston University MA-Suffolk University MA-University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
MI-Wayne State University MN-Minneapolis College of Art and Design MN-Minnesota State University Mankato
MN-University of Minnesota MN-University of Minnesota Duluth MO-University of Missouri
NC-East Carolina University NC-Elon University NC-North Carolina State University
NE-University of Nebraska Lincoln NJ-William Paterson University NM-New Mexico State University
NV-University of Nevada Las Vegas NY-Cornell University NY-Rochester Institute of Technology
NY-SUNY Oswego OH-Bowling Green State University OH-Ohio University
OH-University of Cincinnati OK-University of Oklahoma OK-University of Tulsa
PA-Temple University PA-University of Pennsylvania SC-Clemson University
TN-East Tennessee State University TN-University of Memphis TN-University of Tennessee Knoxville
TX-Lamar University TX-University of Houston TX-University of Texas Arlington
UT-University of Utah UT-Utah State University VA-Virginia Commonwealth University
WI-University of Wisconsin Madison WV-West Virginia University