Department of Design

The Department offers 5 areas of focus: Design Studies; Animation/Illustration; Graphic Design; Industrial Design; Interior Design. The Department strives to maintain and develop comprehensive curricula that provide current, innovative, undergraduate training in the practice and theory of design in a broad spectrum of fields and specializations. All disciplines are highly structured, and they provide students with an unambiguous career path. Our faculty prepare students both conceptually and practically for a variety of careers in these fields.

Our Department is one of a very few public schools in the State that offer complete education in Animation/Illustration, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, and Interior Design in a single entity. All the design programs at SJSU have an excellent reputation in their respective disciplines and the resulting dynamic adds up to the strongest center of design education in the CSU and one of the strongest in California.

Important Notice: The Graphic Design, Industrial Design, and Interior Design Program admit every student as a BA Design Studies Major. Admission to the BFA Graphic Design, BFA Interior Design, and BS Industrial Design is by portfolio review only—after the completion of two to three semesters of coursework at SJSU.

Admission to the BFA in Animation and Illustration is determined at the time students apply for admission to the university. There is no internal transfer into the BFA in Animation and Illustration.