Our mission is centered on preparing students to become successful innovators and designers, who improve the natural and social environment, advance environmental sustainability, and enhance the human experience through focused education and innovative learning and teaching methods. Staff in the Art and Design Department has a broad range of skills and expertise and their extensive experience, passion and commitment, supports and informs each of our courses.
Students who successfully complete a degree in Graphic Design will be able to:
21 cr. General university requirements
12 cr. General education requirements,
9 cr. Elective courses
82 cr. Mandatory requirements
18 cr. Core courses
55 cr. Major courses
9 cr. Major elective courses
The course provides excellent preparation for a rewarding freelance or studio career in Graphic Design.
Graduates should expect a rewarding career as Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Communications Specialist, Publication Designer, Multimedia Design, Art Director, Creative Director, and Advertising Designer. Our graduates find work with highly respected companies in the Middle East and worldwide.
Core Courses (18cr.)
|
Course code |
Course name |
Credits |
|
DRA201 |
Drawing & Illustration 1 |
3cr. |
|
ART203 |
Color Theories |
3cr. |
|
ART206 |
Photography |
3cr. |
|
GRA201 |
Fundamentals of Design 1 |
3cr. |
|
GRA202 |
Fundamentals of Design 2 |
3cr. |
|
ART204 |
History of Art |
3cr. |
Major Courses (55cr.)
|
Course code |
Course name |
Credits |
|
GRA 302 |
Visual Perception |
3cr. |
|
ART 205 |
History of Graphic Design |
3cr. |
|
GRA 203 |
Intro to Computer Graphics |
3cr. |
|
GRA 204 |
Typography 1 |
3cr. |
|
GRA 205 |
Typography 2 |
3cr. |
|
GRA 206 |
Graphic Design 1 |
3cr. |
|
GRA 207 |
Computer Software I for Graphic Design + Lab |
3cr. |
|
GRA 208 |
Graphic Design 2 |
3cr. |
|
GRA 209 |
Printing Variables |
3cr. |
|
GRA 210 |
Computer Software II for Graphic Design + Lab |
3cr. |
|
GRA 211 |
Art of Calligraphy |
3cr. |
|
GRA 212 |
Story Board |
3cr. |
|
GRA 213 |
Packaging |
3cr. |
|
GRA 303 |
Graphic Design 3 |
3cr. |
|
GRA 304 |
Graphic Design Internship |
1cr. |
|
GRA 396 |
Motion Graphics |
3cr. |
|
GRA 399 |
Advanced Web Design 3cr |
3cr. |
|
GRA 400 |
Senior Project |
3cr. |
|
ART407 |
Professional Practice |
3cr. |
Major Elective Courses (9cr.)
|
Course code |
Course name |
Credits |
|
GRA397 |
Interactive Media Design |
3cr. |
|
GRA301 |
Advanced Photography |
3cr. |
|
GRA215 |
Graphics in the environment |
3cr. |
|
GRA214 |
Principles of social media marketing |
3cr. |
|
ART201 |
Fine Arts |
3cr. |
This course introduces students to the basic principles and elements used in two dimensional design solutions with emphasis on the use of line, shape, pattern, and rhythm. Course work will offer students the opportunity to develop an aesthetic vocabulary, abstract problem solving skills and the ability to evaluate the design process independently and critically.
Stimulates an interest in and furthers the understanding of the techniques and principles of photography. Introduces students to camera lenses, types of black and white film, proper film exposure, black and white film processing, and basic printmaking.
This course introduces students to the aesthetic, historical, perceptual, scientific, and psychological aspects of color and light and the implication of color principles and theories to interior design. Students will explore color through experimentation, observation, and evaluation. Contemporary design projects will be analyzed for their use of color theory.
It is a continuation of Fundamentals of Design 1 with an emphasis on applying three dimensional design principles on architectural settings. . Students develop concepts and express them volumetrically in three-dimensional projects and massing models. Design vocabulary and analytical skills learned in previous design courses will be applied and expanded.
In this course, students work on developing observation and the discovery of form from real sources. The course introduces students to the visual language of drawing through observation and rendering a realistic image. In addition to traditional drawing techniques, this course will cover figure drawing. This course introduces drawing strategies, concepts, and specialized illustration techniques used by designers and illustrators Various materials and techniques are used to develop the technical means of expression. Most studio hours will be dedicated to learning and exercising. Each student develops observational skills rooted in traditional drawing media while striving to develop critical thinking and research skills. This course is designed to foster an awareness of drawing as a basic organizer of thought, feelings, and image making.
This course will help students to become familiar with core examples Western and non-western material culture, art, design, and architecture emerging out of Europe, the Americas, from 19th century with Romantic movement to the 21st century with post-modernism and contemporary Art and Artists. Students will consider the crucial role of these images and objects in the formation of their respective historical and cultural context. Through watching images, reading, class discussions and writing assignments, students will explore the following questions: What is Art? Is the appearance, or form of an art, object its most important element? What role does religion, biography, psychology, philosophy, society and politics play in the production of material culture, art making, design, and perception?
Visual perception is a function of our eyes and brain. We see images as a whole rather than in parts. The course will focus on form perception, color perception, gestalt perception and pictorial perception, combined with other factors that shape our understanding and perception including cultural and environmental factors, individual differences, purposes and needs.
In this course the attention will be given to the rise of graphic design and its impact in the 19th and 20th centuries. It’ll trace the emergence of design as a recognized practice, why things look the way they do, and how designers approached specific design problems in their work.
This class is for students to get well versed in the use of art and design computer applications. The components of digital design tools, vector and raster, are covered, culminating in the completion of a final project. The student will learn the fundamentals of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to explore the painting and drawing capabilities of each in an effort to learn about bitmapped and vector graphics, the foundation of all computer-related graphics.
This class will introduce you to the core principles of typography. Through a series of progressively complex studio assignments supported by readings, informal lectures, and brief software tutorials (see reverse), you will acquire a solid foundation for practicing purposeful and expressive typography. As we progress, we will look to de-emphasize notions of ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ typography, in favor of what is conceptually sound and formally interesting in relation to a specific context. Because typography is detail-oriented, creative thinking and craft will be of equal importance.
This class will introduce typographic treatments through different design projects for both print and screen media. Typography will be examined within cultural communication aspects. The course will encompass an in-depth examination of computer generated type and typographic detailing. The importance of Arabic typography will be highly pinpointed. Typography is explored as used in design and printed matters, to information, packaging and digital/multimedia
Design.
The Graphic Design I course will focus on exploring logo development & introduces the process of designing a logo and its implementation. This course will cover the basic Components/elements of a logo (Emblem, type, color…) emphasizing on creating an emblem & the stylization techniques; The interchangeable relation between the components and the principles of art that regulates them to make a logo unity and the application of a logo on different Media as part of a wider visual communication implementation called “Branding” emphasizing on corporate identity. This course will introduce the term “concept” as a creative tool that will influence the process of creating a logo & has a key part in creating a unique visual language. This course should expose some minimal different outside regulations that might influence a logo development such as the targeted audience & understanding the competitor’s image to be able to create their own creative methods on problem solving and to encourage students to adapt a research approach before starting any creative design.
Computer Software 1 is an intermediate level course that examines the role and application of computer graphics in visual communication with a specific emphasis on developing a working understanding of corporate identity and promotional design work. This course is a developed level continuation of GRA203 ‘The introduction to Computer Software’ course. Emphasis will be on Adobe Illustrator (Advanced), Adobe Photoshop (Advanced) and Adobe InDesign (Intermediate). Each lesson provides step-by-step instructions of designing and creating a specific project. The course includes exercises, assignments, quizzes and Exams.
This class is an applied Graphic Design course where students learn to combine type and image into sequential design projects. This course deals with information design where students will explore new ways to present their concepts and ideas to the target audience. Students will be involved in social issues and present them through Design application that can serve their role.
This course is designed to give students an understanding of how Print Production functions within an Agency. Print Production has the responsibility of turning a creative idea into printed material whether that is a magazine ad, newspaper ad, brochure, outdoor sign, billboard or poster etc. The course will teach you how to brief an idea into the Print department in a concise and accurate way so that the Print producer/manager can execute the job and simultaneously achieve the three targets of Time, Quality and Cost. It will then examine how the Print Manager will go about producing the job. We will explore the steps required to achieve the end product. They involve:
-How to write the perfect print brief
-Technical information
-How to avoid mistakes
-Cost and quality implications.
This class will make students comfortable creating visual masterpieces with videos using the powerful non-linear tools that Adobe Premiere Pro provides. As the students ramp up their skills in learning the standard workflow to creating and editing digital video and audio, they will begin to tap Adobe Premiere high productivity features to complete the course’s final project.
This course introduces students to the history of Arabic calligraphy and Islamic geometric patterns. Student will research about calligraphy and its use and development throughout history, the use of calligraphy into the decorative and graphic forms. How to implement various types and forms of arabic calligraphy, using calligraphy as graphic elements, creating embelms, icons, watermarks and logotypes, in addition to arabesque and kufi patterns.
A storyboard is visual form of sequential writing of incidents, it can be manifested as a film, a commercial or an animation; in many respects, it is where the script is transformed from words into a visual story that has a meaningful scenario of incidents and characters whether conceptually or realistically, paving way for all the details of settings, blocking and acting are first realized in the body of a series of characters undergoing studied and chronological paths till and ending is accomplished emphasizing a certain thematic outcome.
This course will provide students with a comprehensive insight into the study of the elements and principles design and creation of packaging, as it forms an essential part of the product branding process. The many different ways and strategies by which brands come to be packaged, will be fully investigated and applied from initial research to sketching, to the study of market niches and products’ utility and functionality factors, up to developing brand concept, all through to the execution of the design idea and typographical character, and finally into production of the packaging itself, passing through the diverse types of packages, their technical drawings, and the physical materials that best fits the ideas. The course is a combination of traditional hand skills such as straight edges, drafting, illustration and drawing and digital skills such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are essential for producing most projects.
This course is an advanced course that presents the professional representation of the visual communication in the real life. From designing logos, brochures, posters and other BTL tasks for small businesses to designing a whole design identity and strategy for a big project. Students will be using different techniques to create the graphic work including their learning outputs on the software skills and hand artistic techniques.
The internship one-credit course is a part of the curriculum of any MUBS student. To complete this course a student has to spend a minimum of four weeks working in an operating business related to his/her major where, under academic and employer supervision, he/she participates in actual work functions. The student must keep extensive diary of work experiences to base the internship presentation upon.
GRA 396 Motion Graphics will introduce the student to Animation using the computer as a creative tool. The course will cover animation disciplines emphasis on motion graphics & broadcast animation such as Social Media Ads through various exercises using After Effects CC. Students will learn how to setup the program, best practice in terms of workspace and file management, and will begin to import images to animate. The first animation will teach them how to insert key frames, adjust position and scale, create motion paths, and loop content. Even though technical proficiency & working knowledge Using Adobe After Effects is an objective though this course; Creativity, innovation and conceptualization are a key role for a successful completion of the course. That is why GRA 396 will launch 3 main projects holding the big percentage of the final grade along with small technical in class exercises examining the student technical abilities.
This course introduces the fundamentals of website development. Students will learn about the structure and components of an HTML/XHTML + CSS based website. Learning how to design and create a fully functional website. The main objective of this course is for students to experience the authoring of a dynamic website using standard and/or dedicated web-authoring tool and server technology. Student are expected to integrate all design, technology, graphic design and presentation skills into producing a final interactive website, using a full line of software packages and technologies including Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Illustrator. This course entitles various and advanced aspects/topics in computer graphics in a Web context. Students will get to know the principles of Web and learn/use multiple software as well as theories and practices. As designers, working in a digital realm, students will gain knowledge of the interaction model and style, as well as the information’s architectural structure; eventually creating a graphical interface, the overall look and feel, the user experience and the interaction or HCI (Human Computer Interaction). Students will become skilled at balancing usability, visual communication, technology and aesthetics in relation to content; where media design is not only guided by technological progress but by the conscious use of an intuitive interaction coupled with technology. Students will earn competence with strategic vision, knowledge of technical aspects and basic project management skills in order to coordinate all the different stages in the development process.
The Senior Project at MUBS is a culminating experience in which students choose a topic of study and complete a product, write a thesis paper, and present their final work in August to a panel of experts. In the first semester of the course, students completed the planning required for a successful and rigorous senior project. This planning included idea generation, proposal writing, and background research. In the second semester of the course, the focus shifts to product completion and presentation preparation. Students are given ample time in class and during the afternoons to work on their projects and meet with their mentors to complete their work. The mission of the BA in Graphic Design is to expose students to a comprehensive, rigorous curriculum that will integrate theory, creative process and new technologies. By developing creativity, critical and conceptual thinking, and communication skills, the program will enable students to become successful, versatile practitioners in a global environment, or pursue further academic studies in the field of Graphic Design and Visual Communication.
This class will introduce you to the practical life after graduation. Starting from explaining in lectures how to prepare a proper professional resume and how to talk during a job interview with all the necessary communication tips a graduate needs to know, to later extend it to explain the daily life in an advertising agency and how the designer will be communicating with the other departments. Discussion of famous ads and how they built their strategies through the years, reaching to our local Lebanese brands and how do they behave. And in the end of the course the students will start to conceptualize commercials for advertising brands in the Lebanese market. This course will make students understand the perspective of marketing, strategy and design thinking when it comes to building a brand image and identity.
In this course, you will design compelling web pages and interactive media content. You will work with a variety of digital elements, including photographs, illustrations, text, narration, music, sound effects, animation, and video. You will research, plan and produce two complete media projects: a web site/mobile application and a multimedia work. You will use current editing tools (primarily Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe After Effects) to work creatively and explore technical possibilities. The course format includes short lectures, demonstrations, discussions, critiques, and projectbased activities during class. The central objective of this course is to think about interactive media and its technical, creative, aesthetic, and social possibilities in addition to becoming proficient in basic web design and multimedia authoring.
The goal of this course is to explore advanced techniques in Photoshop. Ideal for students eager to explore Photoshop, work with layer techniques, gain an understanding of how to do advanced photo repairs and color enhancements. Students will learn how to edit and use mockups, camera raw, animated GIF videos, double exposure, and masks. Exercise files will be provided for students to work along with the instructor, however there will be class time for students to work on their own files.
This class will introduce you to the Social Media strategies that companies should have while advertising for their brands, and how to stay effective all the time. The course addresses what social media is and how businesses can use it. Unlike other social media courses, we do not try to convince you that you must be using social media. Rather, this social media course gives you the tools and knowledge you need to make that decision for yourself. The class introduces social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, and social media tools such as blogs and wikis.
This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of Environmental Graphic Communication throughout history. Environmental Graphic Communication embraces many design disciplines including graphic, architectural, interior, landscape, and industrial design, all concerned with the visual aspects of way finding, communicating identity and information, and shaping the idea of creating experiences that connect people to place. In the broadest sense, Environmental Graphic Communication can be seen as man communicating his environment to himself and others through a variety of media from prehistoric cave paintings and ancient civilizations to post-industrial/post-language global signage systems.
This is an artistic course. It enables student’s self-expression, empowers creativity and improves manual skills. Moreover it aims to encourage the expression of feelings through color, modeling and art forms. It consists of a total of five projects described below.