The Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Graphic Design is the professional degree focused on a more intensive study of coursework in the field of graphic and communication design. This program trains professional artists and designers to the highest level possible for undergraduate students and will be especially valuable for those who plan to pursue graduate studies in art and design. Admission to the B.F.A. in Graphic Design requires a portfolio review; for more information, please consult the department website. B.F.A. students are required to go through the sophomore review successfully and to maintain at least a 3.0 in their major to remain in the program. Students must plan on spending their senior year on the Mechanicsburg campus to execute a body of work for their senior exhibition.
Graduates from Messiah’s Graphic Design program can:
ART 110 / 3 Credits
An introduction to creative problem-solving in art and design through a range of approaches, processes, and research methodologies. Students will be introduced to studio techniques and digital working environments that are the industry standard in the professional practices of art and design.
ART 121 / 3 Credits
An introduction to the elements and principles of three-dimensional design and foundation level processes of organizing materials in space. Emphasis is placed on developing technical proficiency in the wood shop.
ART 171 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the materials and processes of drawing. Observation, spacial organization, and the development of imagery are stressed.
ART 182 / 3 Credits
Study of the elements and principles of two-dimensional design, with an emphasis on color.
ART 237 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the formal, historical, and communicative aspects of typography within the practice of graphic design and visual communication. Students will develop technical, professional, and conceptual skills, and will explore the creative and expressive use of typography.
ARTH 111 / 3 Credits
This course introduces students to the field of art history-what it is, what it does, and how it does it-by exploring methods of looking at, analyzing, evaluating, and contextualizing art and ways of articulating thoughts and instincts about art, as well as by examining issues of quality and beauty and developing personal criteria and judgment.
ARTH 205 / 3 Credits
This course introduces key developments in the history of design starting from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. The class will trace important figures and movements, as well as the cultural influences, technological developments, design theories, and practices that have shaped the evolution of design. Students will build an understanding of the formal vocabulary of design and critically probe aspects of style, form, and representation to better understand how design functions and communicates in visual culture.
ART 483 / 3 Credits
Execution of original work in design and digital art areas with advanced technical proficiency in preparation for senior exhibition. Graphics course.
ART 493 / 3 Credits
Explores the relationship of the Christian faith to contemporary art and to the student's individual area of study.
ART 494 / 3 Credits
Creation and exhibition of work from the student's area of concentration(s). Preparation of resume, slides, and portfolio.
INTE 391 / 1-3 Credits
This practical work experience will provide juniors and seniors with a means to explore career options and to enhance their skill set under the professional supervision of the Internship Center staff.
/ Credits
This practical work experience will provide juniors and seniors with a means to explore career options and to enhance their skill set under the professional supervision of the Internship Center staff.
ART 493: Fulfills Writing in the major requirement.
ARTH 150 / 3 Credits
Survey of works of art and architecture from prehistory to the year 1400.
ARTH 151 / 3 Credits
Survey of works of art and architecture from the year 1400 to the present.
ARTH 209 / 3 Credits
A chronological survey of the key elements of Modern Art from the beginning of the nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century.
ARTH 309 / 3 Credits
A thorough investigation of Contemporary Art made since 1945, covering relevant themes, art theory, and historical references.
COMM 382 / 3 Credits
In this reading-intensive course, we will explore how digital media imitate, advance or withdraw from accomplishments of older devices, how artifacts of specific media become desirable outcomes in others, and how these past processes impact the design and innovation of new tools. We will define new media and discuss the varous applications of digital technology in contemporary culture (filmmaking, YouTube and social networks, e-books, blogs, architecture and museums).
ARTH 210 / 3 Credits
Survey of one area of non-Western art, selected from one of the following areas: African, Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Oceanic), Indian and Islamic, and Ancient American. The course will consider objects and buildings as both artistic creations and cultural artifacts.
COMM 321 / 3 Credits
This course looks closely at the media productions of members of groups known today under categorizations such as 'aboriginal' and 'indigenous.' The course explores media and theory relating to ethnographic and collaborative works produced by ethnographic filmmakers alongside aboriginal communities. It also examines media produced independently by indigenous cultures from around the globe, in hopes of seeing commonalities and differences in them, as well as the ways their cultures have affected their production and storytelling techniques.
COMM 327 / 3 Credits
The formal, aesthetic, historical and theoretical developments of Latin American cinemas will be examined. The course will focus on the way in which particular cinematic strategies of expression emerge from specific cultural contexts and consider how specific national cinemas participate in and influence larger developments within cinema.
ART 217 / 3 Credits
Students will explore and develop an awareness of digital printmaking techniques through image series, book structures and large format printing. Various software, drawing, and image capture will be covered. Critical evaluation and aesthetic understanding of the print/book as a physical object, and consideration of papers, substrates, for archival quality editions will be studied.
ART 336 / 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of skills and concepts that are necessary to design effective and compelling visual communication in the context of new and emerging digital technologies. Areas of exploration may include web design, linear and interactive-based online animations, design or screen-based multi-media presentations, and interface design for on-screen and hand-held devices.
ART 337 / 3 Credits
This course explores design projects that reflect 'real-world' professional practices found in design studios, agencies, in-house design departments, and publishing houses. Students will gain experience in prime design projects such as corporate identity and branding design, advertising design, and editorial design. These practices will be considered within the context of client and user-based communication objectives. Students will learn the preparation of digital files for commercial printing and mass production, design presentation skills, consider portfolio development options, and create self-promotional materials for career and vocational advancement.
ART 338 / 3 Credits
Development of conceptual, technical and aesthetic capabilities-utilizing a range of digital software and processes-to effectively create images that illustrate, communicate, and interpret ideas and content for various clients and audiences.
ART 345 / 3 Credits
This course builds on the foundation of skills from ART 336 to further develop concepts that are necessary to design effective and compelling interactive communication in the context of new and emerging digital technologies. Areas of exploration may include responsive web design, user-experience design, and advanced interface design for on-screen and hand-held devices.
ART 347 / 3 Credits
Application of design principles-technical, professional, and conceptual skills-to publication graphics including logo design and application, brochures, booklets, banners, type applications, posters, campaigns, journal design, and more. Students will be linked with non-profit and on-campus design needs to produce printed design work for their portfolio.
ART 352 / 3 Credits
This course explores digital image capture and using color as an aesthetic tool in the hands of the creative commercial or expressive fine art photographer. Students will gain an extensive understanding of RAW file capture, digital workflow and editing, creative camera controls, controlled lighting possibilities and in-depth imaging software skills using PhotoShop, Bridge and Lightroom. Areas of investigation will also include scanning traditional film negatives to incorporate into and with digital captured files, photographic inkjet printing techniques, and the use of creative inkjet printing materials. Historical and contemporary issues related to color photography will also be explored.
ART 386 / 3 Credits
This course builds on Graphic Design I and II. The course brings together serious thought about design issues and solves demanding and complicated design problems.
ART 420 / 3 Credits
There is a need for designers to be content providers throughout visual media. Students will design books, magazines, and more in this course. Through the design processes of several projects, one will be fully produced and delivered to its intended audience. Service projects where the designer initiates and exercises control over the product will be encouraged.
ART 431 / 3 Credits
This course introduces students to the formal, expressive, and communicative aspects of graphic design and typography within the context of motion, sound, video, and animation for time-based electronic media and technologies. Students will explore design projects that develop skills and concepts in narrative sequencing and editing, utilizing a range of digital software.
COMM 333 / 3 Credits
This course explores how communication constructs and maintains organizational functioning at a variety of levels, as well as the skills and strategies of business communication in the era of social media, big data, and the internet of things. Students learn about recruitment and socialization, conflict, communication technologies, coworker and team communication, leadership, and predominant theories of organizational communication. Students also learn techniques of writing in new media, and basic skills in data analytics.
COMM 341 / 3 Credits
Students will learn about a diverse array of communication theories and distinguish differences among basic types of communication theories, including social scientific/objective, interpretive/humanistic, and critical. Communication theories in the subfields of interpersonal communication, media, rhetoric, intercultural communication, and organizational communication are examined.
COMM 342 / 3 Credits
Analysis of communication variables in cross-cultural situations, focusing on the individual, social, and cultural bases of human communication.
COMM 359 / 3 Credits
This course surveys the history and major theories of rhetoric from its foundations in ancient Greece to more recent postmodern manifestations. Students will gain a conceptual framework for speaking and writing persuasively as well as evaluating the structure and function of rhetoric in society.
ART 215 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the materials and techniques of oil painting, including preparation of supports. Emphasizes color, surface, and composition.
ART 226 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the techniques of relief printmaking, including woodcut, linoleum, and monotype.
ART 232 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the techniques of screen printing, including cut paper, film, glue-based, and photographic stencil methods.
ART 251 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the film camera and darkroom techniques. Emphasizes using the camera as a tool for seeing, understanding imagery, and composition.
ART 271 / 3 Credits
Continuation of study in observation and spacial organization and mixed media processes. Conceptional development is emphasized.
ART 330 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the techniques of intaglio printmaking, including dry point, engraving, collagraph, and etching.
ART 332 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the techniques of lithography on aluminum plates and lithographic limestone slabs.
ART 339 / 3 Credits
Consideration of the image as a means of communication. Emphasizes text/picture interaction, technique, and composition. Two-dimensional course.
ART 360 / 1-3 Credits
Selected 2D topics in art not currently included in course offerings. Topics may include special processes, unique projects, and theory.
ART 372 / 3 Credits
Introduction to the human figure as a subject drawing. Advanced techniques and experimentation with mixed media processes.
ART 205 / 3 Credits
An introduction to eastern and western techniques in hand papermaking. An emphasis is placed on the combination of paper with other materials such as wood, wire, foam, and steel in the construction of mixed-media sculpture.
ART 220 / 3 Credits
Introduces the basic wheel-thrown forms that are primarily utilitarian.
ART 221 / 3 Credits
Introduces the various techniques of pinching, coiling, and slab building, which are used in a sculptural manner. The investigation of mixed media is encouraged.
ART 262 / 3 Credits
An introduction to the process of assemblage art. Includes techniques in wood construction, welded steel, and 3-dimensional collages of found objects and mixed media.
ART 263 / 3 Credits
An introduction of the subtractive process as it relates to wood and stone combined with an introduction to wood construction and steel fabrication. Emphasis is placed on the combination of the subtractive and additive form.
ART 308 / 3 Credits
Installation Art and Public Sculpture investigates contemporary approaches to making sculptural environments. The course will combine a variety of elements to further explore the concept of the viewer interaction with various spatial contexts. Three-dimensional course.
ART 341 / 3 Credits
An introduction to the design and construction of furniture.
ART 364 / 3 Credits
An introduction to casting in various materials including clay, plaster, concrete, resin-impregnated glass, and metals.
ART 379 / 3 Credits
Selected 3D topics in art not currently included in course offerings. Topics may include special processes, unique projects, and theory.
| Experiential Learning requirement | met/major |
| QuEST requirements | Credits |
| First Year Seminar | 3 |
| Oral Communication | 3 |
| Created and Called for Community (W) | 3 |
| Mathematical Sciences | 3 or 4 |
| Laboratory Science | 3 or 4 |
| Science, Technology & the World | 3 |
| Two of the following (six credits total): Social Science, European History or United States History | 6 |
| Literature | 3 |
| Philosophy and Religion | 3 |
| Arts | waived |
| First Semester of Language | 3 |
| Second Semester of Language | 3 |
| Third Semester of Language or Cross Cultural | 3 |
| Non-Western Studies (ARTH 210, COMM 321 or COMM 327) | met/major |
| Bible | 3 |
| Christian Beliefs | 3 |
| Wellness course | 1 |
| Ethics, World Views or Pluralism | 3 |
| QuEST requirements |
49-51 |
| Major requirements | 75 |
| Total credits | 124-126 |