I am applying to school right now and am wondering what the graphic design department is like at Calarts. I know the fine arts program tends to be conceptual and theoretical. Is this true of the graphic design department too? just wonder what the classes are like and the assignments? I am also applying to SVA, Cooper Union, RISD, Pacific north west and SUNY Purchase. If any one has insight on how some of the graphic design programs compare at any of theses schools it is much appreciated. I also heard Calarts has a lot of financial aid to give out, does anyone know if this is true? money is an issue for me.
@joyboi18 When my d visited CalArts, she was focused on illustration, so it may not be similar to graphic design but the overall vibe was that the graduates of would be working in their chosen field. The program was top-notch. The size and location of the campus wasn’t what she was looking for in a campus though.
Some thoughts about financial aid…Most private art schools offer decent amounts of merit aid which is great, but they are also very expensive schools, so 20K scholarships that seem like a generous amount of aid at first, really take the cost down to 30-40K. However, some of the smaller art schools are less expensive and give substantial aid. If you’re considering other areas of the country, there might good options out there (New England, Midwest) so something to consider.
I’m not sure where it is on the website, but when we visited this past summer CalArts had a really good video overview of all the programs and in a lot of ways it helped my son understand it wasn’t quite the right fit for him for what he wants to do. But that was good - we all really liked the school in general and tour, but it didn’t quite have the major he wanted. And yes, the fine arts dept was presented as highly conceptual. However, I remember getting the sense that the Graphic Design dept was similar to the Character Animation dept, in that it was very skills based, more commercial arts focused.
Also be aware that the whole college is basically housed in one huge building. We all thought that was actually a pretty cool concept space planning wise and for fostering creativity across majors, and enjoyed the tour. But for some folks that might not be the physical/more typical college campus experience they’re looking for.
For GD I would strongly recommend you take a visit at VCUARTS is Richmond VA. Great program, top ranked. According to USNWR #2 grad mfa program in the entire country behind only Yale. Also Richmond is great arts town.
Our D spent quite a lot of time at Cooper Union and I can not recommend them to anyone as I found many faculty problems and administrative issues.