Develop the principles, practices, and portfolio to engage audiences through visual solutions in any medium—from branding systems, advertising, packaging, and publications to websites, mobile apps, and UX.
UW-Stout's Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Graphic Design & Interactive Media offers a progressive curriculum and hands-on learning experiences in a vibrant creative culture to prepare you for a career as a graphic designer in print design and interactive media industry. You’ll study with faculty who are practicing designers with diverse experiences and high standards. Our graduates have a high employment rate and outstanding support from alumni.
Career-Defining Curriculum
Our curriculum will prepare you with the skills and flexibility to succeed and adapt in the rapidly changing graphic design and interactive media industry. You'll explore graphic design through the creation of advertising, publications, packaging, motion graphics and more and study interactive design across web, mobile app and emerging screen-based media.
Program Overview
There are a variety of different career paths you can take with a degree in graphic design & interactive media. The possibilities continue to grow in digital media.
"UW-Stout was an amazing experience for me. The professors and classes challenged me and taught me new ways to think. I flourished in the creative aspect of the program while learning the technical skills needed for a career."
~ Tiffany WeckwerthB.F.A. Graphic Design & Interactive Media
Use the Request Information form to receive a program summary and learn more about the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design and Interactive Media.
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UW-Stout's School of Art & Design is accredited by the National Association for Schools of Art and Design.
Industry-Experienced Faculty Instruction
Forget TA-taught classes and 200-person lectures. At UW-Stout, building close relationships with our industry-experienced and academically accomplished graphic design and interactive media faculty will play a key role in your polytechnic education and your career. Learn more about your future instructors!
Do More in Our Studios & Labs
Modern studio classrooms provide open, creative environments for learning. Extensive open studio hours allow access to these spaces outside of class periods.
Two galleries are housed in the School of Art & Design, a student gallery, and the John Furlong Gallery. These, along with other spaces on and off campus, provide student, faculty and outside exhibition opportunities throughout the academic year.
Professional Internship Placements in Graphic Design & Interactive Media
Take your education into industry and earn while you learn through UW-Stout’s award-winning Cooperative Education & Internship Program (CEIP) and other placements. Unlike traditional internships, our professional paid and pro bono credit-earning experiences connect you with leaders in your field, including national brands, boutique design firms, and other design-forward organizations, to ensure you’re set up for success long before you graduate. More than a third of Stout students accept positions after graduation with their internship employer.
Recent Internship Employers
- Advantage Signs & Graphics, Inc.
- Bay Island, Inc.
- Brand Ink
- Excel Studio
- Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum
- Imagine Print Solutions
- MGK Company
- Perkins + Will
- PetSmart, Inc.
Select Internship Position Titles
- Associate Marketing Intern
- Communications Intern
- Creative Intern
- Graphic Design & Digital Media Intern
- Multimedia Designer
- Print Production Specialist
- Product Design Intern
Portfolio of Student Work
Career Opportunities
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, multimedia artists and animators (which include digital media designers) earned a median annual wage of $99,060 and a median hourly wage of $47.63 in 2023. As a skilled designer, you'll find rewarding careers available in entertainment, advertising, and science and healthcare communications. Here are a few of our graduate's positions and employers:
Recent Employers
- FCB (Chicago)
- Hatch Design (San Francisco)
- Innopark (India)
- Mason Companies (Chippewa Falls, WI)
- National Public Radio (Washington DC)
- Ponzi Vineyards (Oregon)
- Strapped to a Meteor (Seattle)
- Target Corporation
- Volume One (Eau Claire, WI)
- WorkSimple - The Social Goal Management Company
- Ziba (Seattle)
Select Position Titles
- Advertising/Marketing Designer
- Application Designer
- Art Director
- Brand Strategist
- Communications Strategist
- Graphic Designer
- Interactive Designer
- Interface Designer
- Logo & Identity Systems Designer
- Motion Graphics Designer
- Packaging Designer
- Web Designer
New First-Year Students
Students admitted as Pre-Bachelor of Fine Arts (Pre-BFA) students will join an exciting community of first-year art and design students with classes and events geared towards preparing you for a successful application to the intended BFA program.
As a student accepted into one of the six BFA programs, please be aware of the following:
- You will be required to submit a portfolio in the spring semester of your freshman year to apply for acceptance into the intended BFA program. Portfolios will be evaluated by School of Art and Design faculty. Through your first-year experience, you will be given the tools and skills required to prepare and submit the portfolio, and the necessary support to navigate the application process.
Transfer Students
- All transfer students will be admitted as a Pre-Bachelor of Fine Arts (Pre-BFA) student. Upon acceptance information will be provided on how to submit a portfolio and essay to be reviewed by a committee of School of Art & Design faculty, who will determine direct admissions into the BFA major of your choice.
- Priority Deadlines:
- Spring Admission: October 1 at 9 a.m. CST
- Fall Admission: March 1 at 9 a.m. CST
- Submissions may be made after the priority date; however, there is no guarantee when it will be reviewed for a decision nor what art-specific coursework you may be able to get into after the review is completed and whether or not registration for the next semester has begun. There is a $10 application fee assessed at the time you electronically submit your portfolio.
Transfer students are considered for both fall and spring. This includes portfolio and essay submission by the priority deadline. Students applying for one of the BFA programs will remain admitted as a "Pre-BFA" student if you:
- do not submit a portfolio/essay
or - apply after the BFA program has closed
or - are not approved for the BFA program after submission of a portfolio/essay.
You may then apply for a change of major in subsequent semesters, depending upon available openings in the program. If needed, BFA Foundations courses will be available to "Pre-BFA" students pending seat availability.
Advisory Committee Members
| Calee | Cecconi | Assistant Professor | UW-Stout |
| Alex | DeArmond | Professor; Program Director | UW-Stout |
| Aaron | Durst | Director, School of Art & Design | UW-Stout |
| Robert | Fraher | Professor | UW-Stout |
| Ashley | Hohnstein | Senior Manager; Associate Creative Director | Target |
| Pat | Kavanaugh | Director, Project Management | Fjorge |
| Jesse | Lindhorst | Founder & Design Director | Friend & Fort |
| Katie | Lupton | Assistant Professor | UW-Stout |
| Shelley | Pecha | Professor; Chair, Design Department | UW-Stout |
| Justin | Peddycoart | Experience Architect | Salesforce |
| Jason | Schmitt | Dean, CAHS | UW-Stout |
| Colin | Schye | Director, Digital Product Design | Bionic Giant |
| Kristin | Shardlow | Principal; Owner | Kristin Shardlow Consulting, LLC |
| Nagesh | Shinde | Professor | UW-Stout |
| Kerri | Soukup | Executive Creative Director; Executive Vice President | Leo Burnett |
| John | Standish | Chief Strategy Officer | Artisan Venture Lab |
| Andy | Vitale | UX Design Director | Polaris |
| Ange | Wang | Senior Director, UX Instruction & Strategy | Prime Digital Academy |
| Student | Representative | President, AIGA Student Organization | UW-Stout |
| Student | Representative | Vice President, AIGA Student Organization | UW-Stout |
