BFA Graphic Design

Graphic Design at CCA is dedicated to conceptual exploration and practical problem solving. We teach students to become leaders in the field by emphasizing craft, creativity, and collaboration, and we encourage them to engage with pressing social issues and think critically about how their work shows up in the world.

Draw Inspiration From The Bay Area

The classroom is where the work begins, not where it ends. The Bay Area is known for its legacy of craft and social justice and is one of the world’s most innovative technology and design hubs.

Students have the opportunity to intern for technology companies, design studios, and cultural institutions. Situated within a top art college, the Graphic Design program also benefits from an atmosphere of hands-on making and experimentation.

Students are constantly giving and getting feedback and testing their ideas with faculty, visiting experts, and peers.

Discover A Range Of Tools At Your Fingertips

Graphic Design students have access to a dedicated studio space with all the right tools to bring your project to life.

From printers and scanners to guillotine cutters and binding equipment, you’ll have the basics to test out your idea for a magazine, see what your work looks like printed, or even produce custom stickers and buttons.

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our interdisciplinary program also boasts access to one-of-a-kind laboratories and studios where you can take your design work to the next level: try out a Risograph printer, laser cutter, table saw, or 3D printer.

Designing Outside Of The Box

With graphic design, interactive design, and other classes that take you across disciplines and into the digital realm, you’ll want to think—and make—using tools and software perfectly matched for your project.

In the Hybrid Lab, for example, you'll have access to equipment to test out electronic ideas, explore virtual reality, and experiment building hardware components.

We also partner with the college’s Education Technology Services to pilot a range of embedded technologies in our studio spaces.

Skills That Prepare You For Professional Practice

• Motion graphics

• User experience and user interface design

• Editorial design

• Environmental graphics

• Interaction design

• Typography

• Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop

• Print, motion-based, and interactive media

• HTML, CSS, and JavaScript