Course General Description

This course expands the boundaries of traditional graphic design, rooting students in a vital understanding of the relationship between medium and message. This area of study prepares you for the broadest possibilities and most challenging engagements in today’s creative industries. You will learn the history, principles, and major theories of design while acquiring both technical skills and those of ideation, critical evaluation, and revision to create provocative, relevant design solutions. The curriculum encourages integrated design solutions across media and fosters the development of research, critical thinking, and creative practice skills while being grounded in communication theory. Through independent and collaborative projects, students will meet complex conceptual challenges and offer insightful solutions with handcrafted style.

School General Description

PNCA is the only art and design college located in one of the most progressive cities in the United States. For all of its one hundred-plus years, PNCA has nurtured the talent in its students for radically reimagining everything, transforming the lives of our students and everyone they touch. Our studios and galleries continue to give rise to a vibrant community of innovators and culture-makers who shape the cultural landscape. The artists of the Museum Art School, later Pacific Northwest College of Art, have shaped the visual arts landscape of the region for more than one hundred years. They have become the teachers, professional artists, gallery owners, and art museum curators who have filled the galleries and molded young artists while making Portland the visual arts mecca that it is.