Graphic design is the art of creating visual content to communicate messages using images and typography. We see it all around us in the form of printed materials, but designers also make digital content, design user experience (known as UX), as well as wayfinding and environmental design.
Our Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design provides a comprehensive education in design principles, applications, theories, history, and practice, emphasizing craft, concept, and research.
We equip our students to conquer creative challenges with a breadth of technical and artistic skills. We empower them to trust their creative impulses, embrace their interests, and direct their own learning experiences. We encourage them to be exploratory, experimental, collaborative graphic designers who can thrive in today’s world.
A Top-ranked Program
We are proud to be consistently ranked among the country's top public graphic design programs. We recently placed in the top 4% nationally—9th in the nation among public schools—and as the top program in Oregon by the Animation Career Review’s 2023 rankings of the best graphic design programs in the United States.
GDUSA Magazine, a source of news and information for graphic designers for 60+ years, named us in their 2022 and 2023 lists of top design schools.
The success of our program is reflected in our alumni. Our graduates work near and far, in small agencies and really big ones. They start businesses. They make products. They research and write. They are active participants in design and culture.
Become part of the design community
Many of our classes pair students with clients—small businesses, non-profits, and cultural institutions—giving students the experience of making work for the real world. We work to connect our students to the design community within Portland and beyond. Our students become integrated members of a global community of makers through a dynamic and diverse program of visiting designer lectures, field trips, in-class demos, portfolio days, and internship opportunities.
Our design faculty, who are all active makers and educators, are key to our success. Portland State’s Graphic Design students become part of the larger design community through their tireless efforts and deep connections.