The Ferris Difference
You won't get lost in the scheduling, we have a plan.
Fall Semester
Spring Semester
year 1
Fall Semester
DSGN 100: Design Foundations
Art History or Cultural Enrichment
Scientific Understanding Elective
Quantitative Reason for Pro 2
English 1
Spring Semester
DSGN 110: Type & Technology
DSGN 120: Image & Technology
Intro Cultural Anthopology
Principles of Macro Economics
Fundamentals of Public Speaking
year 2
Fall Semester
DSGN 210: Typography & Visual Interfaces
DSGN 212: Visual Communications
Introduction to Statistics
English 2
Professional Selling/Principles of Management/Survey of Accounting
Spring Semester
DSGN 220: Interactivity & Development
DSGN 222: Principles of Experience Design
DSGN 291: Internship preparation
Principles of Marketing
Cultural Enrichment Elective/Foreign Language/Photography
Database Design Impl./Fundamentals of Programming Design & Logic or Public Relations Principles
year 3
Fall Semester
DSGN 300: Producing Design Systems
DSGN 310: Branding Experiences 1
Scientific Understanding Elective
Fundamentals of Programming or Marketing Research
Cultural Enrichment
Spring Semester
DSGN 301: Interactive Design Development
DSGN 320: Branding Experiences 2
Advanced Writing for Business
Summer Semester
DSGN 391: Internship/Study abroad
year 4
Fall Semester
DSGN 412: Professionalism &Entrepreneurship
DSGN 410: Design Project Center 1
A student run studio that produces real work for real clients: freshmindsthinkdesign.com
Social Awareness Elective
Contract and Sales
Spring Semester
DSGN 499: Portfolio Preparation
DSGN 420: Design Project Center 2
What do you need?
No portfolio required
No portfolio required, but of course you have to meet the minimum acceptance requirements.
…unless you have work to review
Did you attend design classes in high school? Show us your work, meet with us and we will fit you in the right starting place. Your high school Tech center may teach what you need to get credit for our DSGN100 course.
Computer requirements
Of course you want the best, and fastest Mac on the market, but take a look at our latest recommendations:
How we work
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.
Our fearless Leaders
Ferris is a unique program because our educators not only still practice design thinking, but have worked at premier companies like Herman Miller, Peopledesign, and Steelcase. They're extremely dedicated, and want what's best for the students, as well as the program. They are your professors, your friends, and your mentors.
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Alison Popp
Alison came to us from People Design (formerly BBK Studio) where she designed brand identities, online experiences and brochures for companies like Herman Miller, Spartan Stores, and Ogilvy Mather/Ford Motor Company. Her work has earned her recognition (over 70 times!) by different industry publications. These big time books include Communication Arts, How Magazine, Graphis, Print Magazine, Step, and more. Alison teaches many different graphic design classes since she started at Ferris State in 2005. She developed the course content for all of the interactive design classes.
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Jeff Ek
Jeff is busy as the Marketing Department Chair and Coordinator of the Graphic Design Program here at Ferris State. If you've got a question he's the guy to contact. He gets us set up with the labs, schedules, and a million other things. On top of all that he also used to be one of the Graphic Design Professors. Jeff has a Masters in Education and he has worked for the university for a number of years. Jeff is a nice guy. You’ll meet him first.
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Mike Hu
While many Ferris State faculty have roots digging into the college, Mike Hu’s aren’t even close to Michigan. Or the United States. Mike was born and raised in China before coming to the States a few years ago. He then went to the Savannah College of Art and Design to get his design degree. Mike is new to the Ferris State faculty since 2007 and teaches classes like Communication Design and Computer Graphics, teaching the stuff he learned in college and in his ten years in the field.
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Nic Mata
Nic Mata has a unique blend of design savvy and some super serious web development skill. He keeps students learning all things digital at the highest standard. When he’s not sharing his lessons on IA, UX, HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, MySQL and other nerdery, he designs and builds software for his clients at Workroom Design. Nic teaches students to experiment and not to fear anything technical and to appreciate the reward of a really good idea first and foremost.
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Tim Powers
Tim Powers previous jobs were being adjunct faculty at Ferris State University and Grand Valley State University. He is the owner of Powers Design, personal art practice. Tim has a Masters in Fine Arts- Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University/Cambridge, MA and a Bachelors in Fine Arts- Center for Creative Studies-Detroit, MI. As our AIGA student group advisor, he makes sure we are busy getting exposure and having fun doing it.