Graphic Design Program

Are you interested in design school, friends and family of  a student, already a working designer, or one of our own bulldog alumni? Come to this years Senior Portfolio Showcase on April 6, 2018 @ the Ferris University Center: 805 Campus Dr, Big Rapids,  MI 49307 RM. 202.

DESIGN SCHOOL SOUNDS COOL, I'M READY TO SEE WHAT IT'S ABOUT.: Stop by between 1 and 3pm, see Senior work and meet with Juniors to get a feel for what it's all about and tour where we create.
I'M ALREADY IN THE INDUSTRY, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT.: Meet with the newest members of the design industry, their young, fresh and eager to show you their work between 4 and 6pm.
BEEN THERE DONE THAT, THOSE  ARE MY OLD STOMPING GROUNDS.: Hey design bulldogs, stop by between 4 and 6pm. After the review come to the first design alumni event in over 10 years. Email dsgn@ferris.edu for more information.

event info

Real Advice from Real Professionals

Every year, the graphic design program hosts an annual portfolio review to showcase their hard work and skills as a young professional. To prepare for this, students meet with premier designers from the West Michigan area to receive feedback on work at the Critique event. Start Garden, a Grand Rapids based company that works to make accessible platforms that turn ideas into actions, opened their doors this year, allowing students to utilize their space. Students met with designers from Herman Miller, Mighty in the Midwest, and many others, collecting feedback on their work and prepping to enter the industry. Allie Crippen — “This was a really great way for students to network with elite design professionals from all over West Michigan and a great way to prepare for interviewing.”

dsgn_ferris

Impromptu Trip to Toronto

The juniors hopped in the car and road tripped to Toronto for some design inspiration. While in Toronto they toured studios and stumbled upon a Nike Pop-up shop in an old abandoned house.

"Toronto provided a lot of different experiences unique to the city such as the Nike Pop-up for a new shoe release. When walking into the pop-up show you are immediately immersed in a world created around this one shoe. Whether it be the pulsing Nike logo, the pink walls, or the employee attire, everything was designed for this one experience. After the Nike Pop-up shop my class and I headed to Q30 for a studio tour. At Q30 they showed us the real world uses of the process we learn in school but in a much deeper way. The two case studies we looked at used many of the steps we learn about within our classes and validated to us that what we are doing is applicable for the real world. They also showed us the importance of teamwork with their very specialized team including UI/UX developer, a writer, two project managers, and a hand full of graphic designers."

Eddie Johnson, Junior, 2018

DSGN at Ferris State @FerrisDSGN·

April 10, 2019

Some of our students flew to California for the 2019 AIGA Conference. What an awesome experience! @ Pasadena, California — in Pasadena, CA, United States https://t.co/kTYfrBl7gs

See some of our work

Take a look at projects from all class levels ranging from packaging projects to user experience website interactions.

let's see the work

Rosetta Stone

"If you’ve heard the saying, ‘nothing good comes easy’, that is Ferris’s Design program. I am forever thankful for all of the doors FSU’s Design Program opened in my life."

Stephanie Bailey, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC

how our program works

Throughout our program students are taught to use a 5 phase process. This guides the students to explore multiple ideas to find the best solution. The process includes multiple steps within each phase, however on a project to project basis, things can adjust, because we know in life not every project is the same.

see why we're different