OVERVIEW
Design
For over two decades, York University’s Bachelor of Design Honours degree (DESN) has set the bar for learning the discipline of design within a university environment. Recognized throughout North America for our standards of academic, research and professional excellence, Design at York offers students a rich, multi-disciplinary experience and pathways to careers in an exciting, ever-evolving field.
At the heart of DESN is the studio environment, where students gain essential professional and technical skills and a strong foundation in design methods and conceptual processes. Students have access to state-of-the-art resources and tools and work placement opportunities via our strong industry connections. DESN alumni often go on to contribute to top design firms and agencies worldwide, enroll in national and international graduate study programs, and succeed as entrepreneurs.
HIGHLIGHTS
Top 6 reasons to apply
Stellar reputation
Our award-winning students are sought out by companies including Facebook, Google, Wikimedia, IBM and Shopify
Personalized attention
Smaller class sizes with intimate studio learning environments
Customizable pathways
Information Design, Interaction Design, and Visual Communication, enhanced by courses in design history, theory, and criticism
Professional orientation
Applied, studio-based learning that prepares graduates for professional design practice
Strong industry connections
Recruitment visits with leading design firms
Valuable work experiences
Placement in professional design settings
WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
Admission
ASSEMBLING YOUR PORTFOLIO
Your portfolio should comprise 10 to 12 samples of original work that demonstrate a wide range of ideas and competency with different media and tools. At least one piece in your portfolio should present word(s) and image(s) that communicate a message.
In addition to the types of work listed below, 8-10 images from a sketchbook or concept/idea book are required.
Your portfolio should contain your best work from at least 3 of the areas below (1-6 are highly recommended for inclusion).
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR PORTFOLIO
1. Two-dimensional design work e.g. designs for posters, logos, letterheads, book/magazine covers and interior page spreads.
2. Typography e.g. poetry or words using an expressive font or page layout, typeface designs, expressive lettering, projects with text settings designed for clear communication. Drawings and experiments with typographic form.
3. Interactive media e.g. web site design and/or other interactive work.
4. Motion graphics e.g. video or animation using images and typography. Short pieces with a strong message are preferred.
5. Drawing & Illustration e.g. direct observational drawings are preferred (not drawn from photographs). Imaginative drawing is also welcome. It is good to demonstrate the use of a wide variety of media (pen & ink, charcoal, pastel, coloured pencil, marker pen, collage, digital drawings).
6. Photography e.g. B&W prints, colour prints, hand-tinted prints, digitally manipulated.
7. Painting e.g. representative and/or non-representative in oil, acrylic, watercolour, gouache.
8. 3D Design/Sculpture e.g. scale models from plan drawings, craft and fibre experiments.
The sketchbook or concept/idea book is a very important component of the portfolio. It should contain a variety of studies and examples of your media/tools experiments and demonstrate an exploration of visual and annotated ideas, comments and critiques. It will represent a variety of things that interest you and the ongoing development of ideas. Include 8-10 pages from your sketchbook as a single file.
Request Video Description Transcript
Have questions about the portfolio review for this program?
Ask us at evalampd@yorku.ca.
YOUR CHOICE OF THREE AREAS OF CONCENTRATION OR A MIX, COMPLEMENTED BY COURSES IN DESIGN STUDIES
Create your own pathway or specialize
OVERVIEW
Interaction Design is a specialized field that intersects with visual communications, information design, human-computer interaction and computation. Students are exposed to emerging research in interface design (UI), user experience (UX) design, participatory research methods, inclusive design and usability studies. They also have the opportunity to hone their skills in systems thinking, creative problem-solving and design strategy.
Central to Interaction Design is the notion of digital connectivity, which today supports a full range of human activities within the educational, business, health, entertainment, environmental, industrial and artistic sectors. Interaction Design’s products are numerous, including mobile applications, interactive environments, web-based products, digital services, kiosk interfaces and networked devices.
Highlights
Immerse yourself in Design at AMPD
Explore interaction design through a human centric focus such as designing for users’ experience and UI (user interface) design.
Learn to design interactive mobile applications, physical products and mixed reality interfaces.
Conceptualize, design and evaluate engaging user experiences across digital, physical and blended or mixed systems.
Develop user-centred design processes to inform the connection between people, technology and environment.
Sample courses
- Interaction designer
- User Experience (UX) researcher
- User Interface (UI) designer
- Information architect
- Service design specialist
- Digital strategist
- Product design director
- Sensory interactive designer
- UX project manager
OVERVIEW
In the field of Information Design, designers visually capture, organize and categorize quantitative and conceptual information, making it more understandable and meaningful for users. Information Design encompasses a range of practices, offering students ample opportunity to utilize cross-disciplinary approaches.
The program explores such subjects as graphical strategies for information design, design for virtual environments and large multi-user systems, human-computer interaction and the dynamic visualizations of live systems. Information Design projects include data-driven image generation (e.g., explanatory infographics), the creation of new symbols to represent data, and the development of interactive tools that facilitate users’ access to, and understanding of, information.
Highlights
Immerse yourself in Design at AMPD
Capture, organize, categorize and make meaning from visual information; translate data into usable and understandable visual displays, narratives and interfaces.
Practice visualization through mapping practices, ranging from conceptual approaches to practical applications using print and digital media.
Gain experience with data reporting and design methodologies to build engaging user experiences.
Explore how typography relates to information design in print and digital systems.
Sample courses
- Data visualization designer
- Design journalist
- Environmental graphic designer
- Knowledge visualization researcher
- Infographic design specialist
- Visual analytics expert
- Health design strategist
OVERVIEW
Visual Communication is a multidisciplinary field concerned primarily with the power and impact of visual messages to inform, instruct and persuade in today’s ever-changing world. Visual Communication designers work with diverse media, designing for both 2D and 3D print and digital applications. The field is the driving force behind the production of branding, signage and wayfinding systems, magazines, posters, print and kinetic typography, motion and broadcast graphics — to name just a few.
In Visual Communications, DESN students learn how to effectively transform complex and abstract ideas into visual forms, responding to specific contexts and audiences and creating and incorporating diverse visual languages into their work.
Highlights
Immerse yourself in Design at AMPD
Learn about branding and identity systems, signage, packaging, editorial and publication design, and time-based communication.
Study techniques and experiment with methods of image-making, 2D composition, aesthetics and typography and motion design.
Develop new graphic forms and visual systems that communicate and delight for audience engagement.
Explore how meaning is shaped and interpreted with text and images, and in the creation of signs and symbols
Sample courses
- Creative director
- Graphic designer
- Motion graphics editor
- Brand manager
- Editorial and publication specialist
- Design strategist
- Product design director
OVERVIEW
Whichever DESN pathway students choose, Design Studies courses at York enhance and add breadth to their design education. Taken concurrently with one of the three areas of specialization during years three and four of the program, Design Studies courses serve to expand and deepen students’ understanding of communication theories, sociological discourse, creative strategies and design history.
Projects and coursework in Design Studies allow students to learn and practice a range of design research methods, supported by the program’s location in a large research university. Courses that investigate historical and culturally specific modes of design, contemporary design theory and criticism provide myriad opportunities for students to consider the deep histories, dynamic futures and current professional practices in design.
Highlights
Do you want to develop a deeper understanding of design discourse, expand your theoretical understanding and augment your learning across all three DESN pathways?
Learn design research skills that foster deeper engagement with the practice of design across all areas of specialization.
Deepen understanding of specific design histories, cultures and movements and their global social and political contexts.
Critically examine the role that design and designers play in addressing complex visual and cultural problems.
All of this is augmented by six electives taken from courses offered across York University in the humanities, social and natural sciences.
Sample courses
- Design educator
- Design strategist
- Design critic/writer
- Graphic design researcher
- Design archivist
- Museum/gallery curator
- Independent design publisher
YEAR BY YEAR OVERVIEW
Learning Outcomes
Portfolio FAQS
York Bachelor of Design 2021/22 applicants
- Quality of the work: 60 points
- Ability to embrace process: 40 points
- The breadth and quality of investigation in your work (as demonstrated in the selected pieces shown, your idea/concept books, and your design process documentation),
- Evidence of the various creative thinking processes employed in your work,
- Demonstrated visual abilities in your work (typography, colour, composition, perspective, drawing),
- Technical skill in a diverse range of media and tools used,
- Communication skills as demonstrated by your ability to discuss your work and thought processes in your writing
- Care in the selection and presentation of your work.
- Two-dimensional design work e.g. designs for posters, logos, letterheads, book/magazine covers and interior page spreads.
- Typography e.g. poetry or words using an expressive font or page layout, typeface designs, expressive lettering, projects with text settings designed for clear communication. Drawings and experiments with typographic form.
- Interactive media e.g. web site design and/or other interactive work.
- Motion graphics e.g. video or animation using images and typography. Short pieces with a strong message are preferred.
- Drawing & Illustration e.g. direct observational drawings are preferred (not drawn from photographs). Imaginative drawing is also welcome. It is good to demonstrate the use of a wide variety of media (pen & ink, charcoal, pastel, coloured pencil, marker pen, collage, digital drawings).
- Photography e.g. B&W prints, colour prints, hand-tinted prints, digitally manipulated.
- Painting e.g. representative and/or non-representative in oil, acrylic, watercolour, gouache.
- 3D Design/Sculpture e.g. scale models from plan drawings, craft and fibre experiments.
