Graphic Design, BFA - University of Houston
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School of Art

Graphic Design, BFA

Cheryl Beckett
Associate Professor
Program Coordinator
E-mail: cbeckett@uh.edu
Office: Fine Arts, 302D

The Graphic Design program at the University of Houston prepares students for a career in design through a comprehensive investigation of design practices, theories, and methods. Success is fostered through individual inquiry and group collaboration to promote critical and imaginative thinking. A tight cohort within a sequenced curriculum provides content flexibility, ensuring the most innovative education within a continually shifting media environment. Design research, interdisciplinary collaboration, professional cross-pollination, team building, community outreach, ethical inquiry, and sustainable practices are all tools that position our students to become top competitors in the national design job market and leaders within the profession. Engagement with the broader Houston community and its leaders gives our designers real-world experience and situates their practice in a larger sociocultural framework. At the undergraduate level, emerging designers utilize these skills and approaches as they begin their careers in the field. At the graduate level, personal research initiatives advance the designers' practices to prepare them for the next phase of their careers in design.

community

BFA in Graphic Design

Design students engage with design and community leaders through lectures, social gatherings, and interdisciplinary project collaboration. The Graphic Design program is well supported by UHGAP, an outstanding alumni organization, whose goal is to provide additional educational and scholarship opportunities for students. 

On average the design area brings in five visiting artists, critics, curators , or arts professionals each semester. Through lectures, critiques, workshops, and site-specific projects, students are exposed to a variety of artistic perspectives and provided first-hand experience in professional art-making practices.  

Download an information sheet about the Graphic Design, BFA degree.

Advancing Into the Major (Block)

Advancing into the Graphic Design Major (Block) is determined by a competitive portfolio review. Students interested in becoming a Graphic Design Major should contact Cheryl Beckett (cbeckett@uh.edu).

Student Work

  • Senior Block, 2016

  • Senior Block, 2018

  • Senior Block, 2019

  • Chris Izaguirre

  • Senior Block, 2021

  • Senior Block, 2021

  • Senior Block, 2021

Visiting Artists/Speakers

The Graphic Design Program regularly welcomes the field’s most innovative designers and thinkers to campus for extended visits. This is a key component of our program as it builds networks and connections between faculty, students, and the professional world. Recent visitors include Ian Lynam, De Nichols, Bud Rodecker, Lucille Tenazas, Richard The, and Ben Van Dyke.

Faculty

Facilities

The Graphic Design Program is located on the third floor of the Fine Arts Building adjacent to the Arts & Technology Center. Students accepted into the block program have 24-hour access to studios and labs. Seniors and Graduates have dedicated individual studios with areas for collaborative work, critique, and craft.

  • Gallery Space

  • Graduate Studio

  • Graduate Critique Room

  • Gallery Space

  • Arts & Technology Center

  • Arts & Technology Center

  • Senior Block Studio

  • Arts & Technology Center

Careers

Our most dedicated graduates enjoy dynamic careers making and exhibiting art. For these artists, the BFA degree is only the beginning of a lifetime of learning and dedication to the profession, as they establish independent studio practices and begin their professional careers. 

These graduates follow the path of productive, impactful artists, by expanding discourses in contemporary art and contributing to the cultural vitality of Houston and other important art centers. 

Many find employment in fine art-related fields in institutions such as museums, galleries, and non-profit spaces; and in support industries including art handling, documentation, and preservation. Others complete teaching certification requirements through the College of Education and teach in public school systems. Students who are interested in teaching at the college level must first earn an MA or MFA degree. 

feature image

Image Credit, Top: BFA, Graphic Design Exhibition; Bottom: Mural at Fine Arts Building Designed by Graphic Design Students.