<p>hey guys. im a freshman at notre dame and i think i finally know what i want ot pursue. i started out doing history for pre-law mainly because of my family, but i've always loved art and design. so, im interested in both graphic and industrial design, and will probably combine it with psychology. i will be a semester behind everyone but i guess thats ok. anyway, anybody have any ideas? thanks.</p>
<p>First both graphic design and Industrial Design are 4 year programs. You won't be able to double major unless you are willing to spend 7 years.</p>
<p>University of Cincinnati has a great, highly ranked program in Industrial Design. There are no rating for graphic deisgn that I know of;however, I hear from kids in their program, it is fabulous. Also, unlike that of other schools, they have guaranteed paid coops as part of their program, which gives you 1.5 years of paid experience.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon doesn't have GD per se, but they do have strong programs in both ID and Commication Design (CD). They are a bit pricey, however.</p>
<p>Pratt Institute has strong programs in ID and in Communication Design too.</p>
<p>RISD also has a very strong program in graphic design. RISD also has ID,but I have had mixed reports about their ID program.</p>
<p>Art Center College of Design is alledged to have the best ID program on the west coast. I don't know about their GD program.</p>
<p>MICA in Baltimore has a Communication Design program. What makes MICA interesting is that they are very interdisciplanary in nature. In essence, you can structure your own curriculum.</p>
<p>This post should get you started. Good luck.</p>
<p>Considering that you are already at a regular university as opposed to an art school I would recommend going to a place like Carnegie Mellon who offers both majors in design and things outside of design, because from experience, you don't want to lock yourself in going to an art school if you do not have experience or know for sure that design is THE ONLY THING YOU WANT OUT OF LIFE.</p>
<p>I go to an art school know, and I question if going to an art school was the best idea for me, because once you're in there, you're there, and if you fall out of love with your major the only other alternative is a design/art major. when you have other interests than design and art, such as psychology it may be hard for some people, like it is for me, financially to keep switching schools just to pursue those other interests.</p>
<p>If I were you I would personally focus on industrial design. I find it hard to think that money is well spent on learning something like graphic design, especially when I think about the over 50% of schools in the us probably offer that major and there's people majoring in it left and right, because it seems like fun and lucrative, when in reality, competition in that field is insane.</p>
<p>An important component for industrial design is an aptitude called 3-D structal visualization, you might want to see how you fare on an aptitude test. </p>
<p>Industrial design may better suit your interest in psychology, especially regarding interface design. All things, and not just computer software, have interfaces which should be pragmatic and as intuitive as possible in order to make them accessible and useful to people. Ergonomics, physical anthropology, and psychology are part of this equation. Industrial design accommodates our needs physically, from form to function in accordance with cultural expectations and gratification.</p>
<p>Graphic design is similar, but in regards to information and specifically, language. Graphic designers make information accessible to people by imposing some level of organization (grammar) to visual artifacts; text, images, shapes, etc and shaping meaning via semantic and semiotic values. If someone expressed an interest in linguistics I would point them in this direction. A graphic designer should also understand psychology and culture, because he/she must "speak" to the language of the audience in order to make the message useful and meaningful.</p>
<p>There is some overlap. For example designing a web page has an informative need as well as a functional requirement. A designer not only must design how information is dispersed and organized, but how it is made accessible through interaction with an interface, which is virtual and as real as a TV remote. </p>
<p>In effect, everything we touch and respond to (interaction) has an interface, including people.</p>
<p>You might want to look at this book/website, "Designing Interactions" although its focus is limited to digital applications.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.designinginteractions.com/book%5B/url%5D">http://www.designinginteractions.com/book</a></p>
<p>I agree totally about the 3-D perception.</p>
<p>BTW. here's a list of Design Schools (with various foci) published in Business Week: <a href="http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/talenthunt/index.asp?chan=innovation_special+report+--+d-schools_special+report+--+d-schools%5B/url%5D">http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/talenthunt/index.asp?chan=innovation_special+report+--+d-schools_special+report+--+d-schools</a></p>
<p>Babson offers design?</p>
<p>I posted this to another thread, but did not want it to be overlooked, so I will post it here as well:</p>
<p>Taxguy and others...you may be interested in downloading this theisis paper. It compares many schools like UC and SCAD and Pratt, etc. I did not read it so, I do not know the conclusions. I found it by Googling, PACE + "Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education" +SCAD.</p>
<p>I skimmed it, but for those interested in Industrial Design as a major it may supply them with excellent information.</p>
<p>Copy/paste to your browser if the link is broken. It is a PDF document, not a Web page.</p>