Curriculum

Courses
  The rapid development of information technology has had a profound effect on graphic design, and attached more and more importance to visual communication. In response to this, the Department of Graphic Design prepares students to become information communication designers who are not only creative, but can plan and oversee projects effectively. For this purpose, they need a broad general knowledge, an open-minded approach to problem-solving, sound judgment, and a contemplative personality.
The department has developed the curriculum to meet the challenges of the changing times, adding some subjects covering digitization, multimedia, and networking. As a result, students can acquire a practical balance of analog and digital design skills.
In the first and second years, students learn analog techniques, such as drafting, spatial composition, and photography, and digital techniques like computer operation. In the third and fourth years, the department offers four courses from which the students can select one area: the Advertising Design Course, which gives instruction in advertising design, creative direction, corporate identity design, and package design; the Advertising Film Design Course, which focuses on planning, creating, directing, and editing commercials and multimedia; the Communication Design Course, which is devoted to editorial design, typography, three-dimensional graphics, and computer graphics; and the Expression Design Course, which offers instruction in photography, illustration, and animation.


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Curriculum

First-year and second-year students take general courses. In the third and fourth years, students follow a specialized curriculum consisting of three components: (1) projects and planning, (2) theory and criticism, and (3) technical skills and expression.

Year 1
To gain wide-ranging “handcrafted” expressiveness of high caliber, the student studies the fundamentals of visual arts—including training in basic portrayal, color, and composition—and learns to operate a computer. The student also takes courses related to fine arts, such as painting, printmaking, and sculpture.

Year 2
As the study of expressive vehicles expands from hands to tools and machines, the student learns the basics of design media and their techniques. In addition to studying photography, printing, digital typography, and computer operation, the student uses modern methods to practice representation and composition, the basics for upper-division courses in visual communication design.

Year 3
Each student selects a specialized program within the domain of visual communication design.
Advertising Design Program: Focuses on expressive techniques for advertising. Subjects include advertising design for print media (such as posters, newspapers, and magazines) and multimedia, creative direction, corporate identity design, and package design.
Advertising Film Design Program: Focuses on skills for communicating film information, including the planning, direction, and editing of commercials. Subjects include training in the production of commercials and multimedia advertisement design.
Communication Design Program: Focuses on diverse techniques for visual expression. Subjects include editorial design, typographic design, 3D graphics, and computer graphics.
Expression Design Program: Focuses on illustration and photography. Courses include conceptual illustration, technical illustration, illustration using three-dimensional materials, animation, and photography.

Year 4
After completing the selected specialized curriculum in the third year, the student mainly takes major courses to complete a graduation project as the culmination of the four-year program.


Curriculum

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Courses

Graphic Design Program
Approaches to Modeling, Three-Dimensional Modeling, Computer Skills, Basic Design, Photography, Basic Training in Typography, Advertising Design (Corporate Communication, Public Communication, Product Communication, Cultural Communication, and Sales Communication), Advertising Film Design (Commercial Filming Projects, Creative Direction, and Multimedia Projects), Visual Language Design, Three-Dimensional Visual Communication, Computer Graphics (Algorithms and Applied Graphics), Planning of Signs and Symbols, Editorial Design, Typography, Expression Design, Illustration (Conceptual and Three-Dimensional, Real and Technical, and Animation), Graduation Project

General Education Program
Survey of Design Theory, Survey of Printing, History of Modern Design, Theory of Advertising Expression, Theory of Visual Images, Marketing Theory, Media Psychology, Survey of Japanese Art History, Survey of Western Art History, Survey of Asian Art History, Theory of Twentieth Century Art, Theory of Photography, History of Design, History of Advertising, Advertising Concepts, Principles of Graphic Design, Information Theory, Economics, Sociology, Information Engineering, English for Graphic Design, Foreign Languages, Physical Education, other courses
   
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