Mission
The GDES program is designed to offer students the opportunity to become creative graphic designers by providing them with the best academic experiences. The FAD department provides the best expertise in teaching and learning, with continuous updates in Graphic software and technological skills and innovation in the processes of creativity needed for students to succeed as individuals and as contributors in the betterment of their own lives and the surrounding communities, a generation of innovative and human-centered designers capable of producing visual communicative messages that are functional, creative and ethical.
Objectives
- Provide students with a spectrum of design courses, from studio to print and multi-media software, from history and theory classes to technical and hands on projects.
- Prepare students to thinking, to plan and to execute their ideas with proper skills and technological faculties to succeed in the workplace.
- Provide students with the proper tools to deal with the client and the printing press, to develop a portfolio and a CV that compete in the marketplace.
- Provide students with a solid theoretical background and strong practical tools of design that will give them ample command of the design field.
- Prepare students to various working platforms and diverse environments through personal communication skills.
- Prepare students to be ethical designers and social individuals who accepts diversity and embrace multiplicity.
Program Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the BA program in Graphic Design, graduates will:
- Display capabilities in formulating meaningful visual messages that can communicate with a specific target group.
- Display competency in software and technical skills pertinent to graphic design.
- Acquire and articulate graphic design lexicon and terminologies used to communicate with other designers or coworkers from other fields of expertise.
- Implement and produce communicative visual designs from relevant themes and valid concepts.
- Demonstrate the ability to design for digital media with openness on new alliances and developers and in collaboration with the end users.
- User experience / user interface designers.
- Apply methodological technics of design and design-thinking strategies to produce marketing and communication messages for companies, services and products.
- Apply the elements and principles of design to produce interactive visuals and working compositions of images, shapes and texts.
- Acquire and articulate conceptual thinking methodologies and prove the ability to scrutinize, synthesize, and construct successful solutions.
Demonstrate awareness and involvement in the sociopolitical, cultural and ethical issues. - Demonstrate the ability to research and access information through conventional and/or database archives, and be able to filter and use this information in specific design jobs.
- Understand the relationship of graphic design to other disciplines like advertising, marketing and public relations.
Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design
credits
courses
semesters
years
| course code | course title | credits | prerequisites |
| first year / sophomore (33 credits) | |||
| fall (15 credits) | |||
| ARTS200 | Foundation Drawing I | 3 | ENGL051 |
| ARTS210 | Color Theory – Painting | 3 | ENGL051 |
| ARTS260 | Design Fundamentals – 2D | 3 | ENGL051 |
| CSCI200 | Introduction to Computers | 3 | ENGL051 |
| ENGL201 | Composition and Research Skills | 3 | ENGL151 |
| spring (18 credits) | |||
| GDES270 | Design Software I | 3 | CSCI200 |
| ARTS320 | Rendering and Perspective Techniques | 3 | ARTS210 – ENGL051 – ARTS200 |
| ARTS270 | Design Fundamentals – 3D | 3 | ARTS200 – ENGL051 – ENGL101 – ARTS260 |
| ARTS250 | Foundation Drawing II | 3 | ENGL051 – ARTS200 |
| ENGL251 | Communication Skills | 3 | ENGL201 |
| COMM285 | Theories of Perception | 3 | ENGL151 |
| second year / junior (32 credits) | |||
| fall (16 credits) | |||
| GDES300 | Typography I | 3 | GDES270 – ARTS320 – ENGL051 – ENGL101 – ARTS260 |
| GDES345 | Graphic Design Studio I | 4 | GDES270 – ARTS320 – ARTS260 |
| GDES370 | Graphic Design Software II | 3 | ENGL151 |
| ARTS215 | History of Arts | 3 | GDES270 |
| ARAB200 | Arabic Language and Literature | 3 | |
| spring (16 credits) | |||
| GDES394 | Graphic Design Studio II | 4 | GDES370 – GDES345 – GDES300 – COMM285 |
| GDES350 | Typography II & Art of Calligraphy | 3 | GDES370 – GDES345 – GDES300 |
| GDES315 | History of Graphic Design | 3 | ARTS215 |
| GDES420 | Web Page Design | 3 | GDES370 |
| ARTS350 | Photography | 3 | ENGL151 |
| third year / senior (34 credits) | |||
| fall (19 credits) | |||
| GDES445 | Graphic Design Studio III | 4 | GDES394 – GDES350 |
| Elective | 3 | ||
| GDES440 | Packaging | 3 | GDES394 – ARTS270 |
| GDES365 | Illustration II – Story Board | 3 | GDES394 – ARTS250 |
| COMM325 | Animation Software | 3 | GDES370 |
| CULT200 | Introduction to Arab – Islamic Civilization | 3 | |
| spring (15 credits) | |||
| GDES495 | Graphic Design Senior Project | 4 | GDES445 |
| GDES480 | Professional Practice | 2 | GDES445 |
| GDES450 | Advanced Animation | 3 | COMM325 |
| Major Elective | 3 | ||
| Elective | 3 | ||
| major elective courses | |||
| ARTS300 | Painting | 3 | ARTS210 – ARTS200 – ENGL051 – ENGL101 |
| COMM200 | Introduction to Communication Studies | 3 | ENGL101 |
| COMM205 | Introduction to Western Civilization | 3 | ENGL151 – COMM200 |
| COMM220 | Rhetoric & Persuasion | 3 | ENGL151 |
| COMM225 | Workshop | 3 | ENGL101 |
| COMM255 | Theories of Mass Media | 3 | COMM200 |
| COMM265 | Performance Theory & Practice | 3 | COMM200 |
| GDES355 | Sketching for Graphic Design | 3 | |
| GDES395 | Character Design | 3 | ARTS250 – ARTS200 |
| GDES415 | Creative Advertising | 3 | |
| code | title | crds |
| first year / sophomore (33 credits) | ||
| fall (15 credits) | ||
| ARTS200 | Foundation Drawing I | 3 |
| ARTS210 | Color Theory – Painting | 3 |
| ARTS260 | Design Fundamentals – 2D | 3 |
| CSCI200 | Introduction to Computers | 3 |
| ENGL201 | Composition and Research Skills | 3 |
| spring (18 credits) | ||
| GDES270 | Design Software I | 3 |
| ARTS320 | Rendering and Perspective Techniques | 3 |
| ARTS270 | Design Fundamentals – 3D | 3 |
| ARTS250 | Foundation Drawing II | 3 |
| ENGL251 | Communication Skills | 3 |
| COMM285 | Theories of Perception | 3 |
| second year / junior (32 credits) | ||
| fall (16 credits) | ||
| GDES300 | Typography I | 3 |
| GDES345 | Graphic Design Studio I | 4 |
| GDES370 | Graphic Design Software II | 3 |
| ARTS215 | History of Arts | 3 |
| ARAB200 | Arabic Language and Literature | 3 |
| spring (16 credits) | ||
| GDES394 | Graphic Design Studio II | 4 |
| GDES350 | Typography II & Art of Calligraphy | 3 |
| GDES315 | History of Graphic Design | 3 |
| GDES420 | Web Page Design | 3 |
| ARTS350 | Photography | 3 |
| third year / senior (34 credits) | ||
| fall (19 credits) | ||
| GDES445 | Graphic Design Studio III | 4 |
| Elective | 3 | |
| GDES440 | Packaging | 3 |
| GDES365 | Illustration II – Story Board | 3 |
| COMM325 | Animation Software | 3 |
| CULT200 | Introduction to Arab – Islamic Civilization | 3 |
| spring (15 credits) | ||
| GDES495 | Graphic Design Senior Project | 4 |
| GDES480 | Professional Practice | 2 |
| GDES450 | Advanced Animation | 3 |
| Major Elective | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| major elective courses | ||
| ARTS300 | Painting | 3 |
| COMM200 | Introduction to Communication Studies | 3 |
| COMM205 | Introduction to Western Civilization | 3 |
| COMM220 | Rhetoric & Persuasion | 3 |
| COMM225 | Workshop | 3 |
| COMM255 | Theories of Mass Media | 3 |
| COMM265 | Performance Theory & Practice | 3 |
| GDES355 | Sketching for Graphic Design | 3 |
| GDES395 | Character Design | 3 |
| GDES415 | Creative Advertising | 3 |
Download Graphic Design Plan of Study
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