Design Program

We are creative problem solvers who apply a disciplined process, and master tools and technologies, to develop solutions to both social and business problems. Students harness strategic, conceptual, and technical skills to create user-centered experiences that inform, educate, and persuade.

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

PORTFOLIO DAY 2020

Enjoy virtually reviewing portfolios and student work showreel. Videochat with us and share ideas to see if we are ready for the industry. For the first time, a national event.

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ferrisdsgn

Mindshare 2018

Seniors from the 2018 class, Jen Bancino, McKenna McIntyre, and Connor Vondette celebrate as the annual Mindshare Gala hosted by the Grand Rapids Student Advancement foundation, comes to a close. This annual event raises thousands of dollars for the education system in Grand Rapids, and our students work to brand the event has been a great experience full of learning opportunities. McKenna McIntyre — “This was a great opportunity to work with the Grand Rpaids Student Advancement Foundation. Being able to design for such a large project and see it come to life was very rewarding.”

DSGN at Ferris State @FerrisDSGN·

February 24, 2020

https://www.fastcompany.com/90449305/this-is-the-one-skill-designers-need-to-develop-most-in-2020 Agreed, Mr Norman.

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

GRSAF MindShare Event ’18

"After graduating from Ferris in the spring of 2013, I began working at Octopus Creative, a UI/UX focused design studio based in Santa Cruz, California. While there, I felt like I was doing exactly what I had been doing at school—which felt great to hit the ground running. I continued to learn, practice, and hone in my design style and user experience knowledge.

After a few years of working at an agency, I had the desire to understand things like the “why’s” and “who’s” of what I was designing for—leading me to want to solve more complex problems.

Following that desire, I ended up on a short contract role at Google, on the Maps team, in Mountain View. It was another great learning experience, and working with that team fully solidified the direction of I wanted my career to head.

Currently, I’m a Senior Product Designer at Box, a cloud content management software company in Redwood City, California. I lead the design and develop solutions across our partner integrations and developer platform team. In doing so, I focus my time on user research, concept testing, and working cross-functionally with several product managers and engineers on my teams. "

Zach Kelly, Senior Product Designer - Box, Redwood City, CA

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