About Graphic Design & Interactive Media
Visual communication across print, screen, and interaction. Courses carry the GRDS subject code and are offered through the College of Arts, Design & Communication. Numbers below 300 are introductory, 300–499 advanced undergraduate, and 500 and above graduate. Prerequisites are enforced at registration.
How the sequence works
Of the 9 GRDS courses listed, 3 are introductory (numbers under 300), 3 are advanced undergraduate (300–499). 1 course has no prerequisite and is a reasonable first step. Later courses assume the earlier ones, so read prerequisites before you plan a term — they are enforced at registration and an override from the Graphic Design & Interactive Media department is the only way around them.
GRDS 1100 — Design Foundations 3 cr
Composition, hierarchy, contrast, grid, and figure–ground worked through a series of black-and-white studio projects and critiques.
Prerequisite: none.
GRDS 1300 — Typography I 3 cr
Letterforms, spacing, type families, and setting text for reading; the history and anatomy of type; and typographic systems.
Prerequisite: GRDS 1100.
GRDS 2100 — Design Software and Production 3 cr
Vector, raster, and layout tools; color modes; prepress and export; and building files a printer or developer can use.
Prerequisite: GRDS 1100.
GRDS 2300 — Brand and Identity 3 cr
Developing a visual identity system — mark, palette, type, voice, and guidelines — from research through application.
Prerequisite: GRDS 1300.
GRDS 2500 — Interactive Design I 3 cr
Designing for screens: layout for multiple sizes, components, prototyping interaction, and handing off to development.
Prerequisite: GRDS 2100.
GRDS 3100 — Motion Design 3 cr
Timing, easing, and sequencing for titles, explainers, and interface motion, produced to a brief.
Prerequisite: GRDS 2100.
GRDS 3300 — Design Research and Strategy 3 cr
Framing a design problem, methods for understanding an audience, and arguing a direction with evidence.
Prerequisite: junior standing.
GRDS 3500 — Publication and Editorial Design 3 cr
Long-form layout, editorial systems, image and text integration, and producing a bound piece.
Prerequisite: GRDS 1300.
GRDS 4900 — Design Capstone 3 cr
A self-directed body of work developed with an adviser and presented in the senior show.
Prerequisite: senior standing.
Planning and advising
Your degree audit shows exactly how GRDS courses apply to your requirements; this list only shows what is offered. If you are choosing between two courses, deciding when to take a heavy one, or wondering whether a course will run next term, your academic adviser or the Graphic Design & Interactive Media program office can tell you. Course availability by term is set close to registration and is not guaranteed by anything on this page.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every course, prerequisite, credit value, and department on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real curriculum or a course you can enroll in.