The University of Alabama Department of Art and Art History is pleased to announce that it now offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in graphic design.
Since 1945, when the University introduced the BFA degree program, it has offered the BFA degree in studio art with concentrations in specific areas (ceramics, digital media/graphic design, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture). Now that the department has introduced the specialized degree in graphic design, it will give graduates added credentials in the field. The BFA degree in graphic design, like all the department’s degree programs, is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and meets NASAD’s most stringent standards for graphic design programs.
“This is an exciting time for our students,” said Assistant Professor Jonathan Cumberland, who heads the graphic design program at UA. “While we already have facilitated a high-caliber educational experience in graphic design in the past, our students will now have the degree that more properly identifies what they’ve learned during their time at UA. The graphic design BFA will provide new opportunities for growth within the program and enable our students to produce a competitive portfolio upon graduation.”
The BFA in graphic design is the professional degree for the graphic designer and the degree that design firms look for in hiring prospects. Graduates are prepared to go directly into design careers and the BFA degree also qualifies students who are seeking graduate studies in graphic design. Recent graduates from the program work as designers at Bed, Bath and Beyond, New York design agencies Bulletproof and Boucher + Co., the Center for American Progress, the southeastern regional firm Gro Marketing and Uptick Marketing in Birmingham, to name a few.
The department also offers the BFA in studio art, with concentrations in ceramics, digital media, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture, as well as the Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art and art history. Graduate degrees offered are the MA in art history and the MFA degree in ceramics, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. For more information about all of UA’s art programs, visit the degree programs page.