I-Design Program
With WSU’s I-Design major, you will develop your creative identity through problem-solving skills, new media and technology, group effort and global cultural experience.
Using the Design Thinking approach, the I-Design major offers an adaptive design education that is customized for the WSU environment and blends several areas of study.
The major requires “international exposure” that may be fulfilled as a semester-long study abroad or a multi-week-long summer faculty-led travel experience.
As the creative field continues to grow, the program will allow you to become a leader in multiple design-related industries and your community.
Begin Your I-Design Journey
I-Design builds on a foundation of studio and digital art. The next level contains basic graphic design theory and design history studies.
You will use classic studio skills along with modern tools, such as professional design software, to gain and improve skills.
Once accepted into the program as a sophomore, you will start learning advanced modern design theory and practices.
Coursework & Curriculum
Students in the I-Design major expand their knowledge and skills through their coursework, covering:
- design history
- critical theory
- new approaches
- engaging techniques
By the end of your undergraduate education, you will build a professional portfolio to reflect your learning.
Inquiry, research, group effort, analysis and assessment are core components of the design curriculum. Learners will become a critical, artistic thinker responding to modern socio-cultural topics through presentations, videos and more.
The I-Design major includes a focus elective, allowing you to customize your program with an area of interest:
- Studio Practices
- Conceptual Illustration
- Technology & Interactivity
- Business & Marketing
- Sustainable Applications
- Community Development
- Integrated Studies
WSU’s I-Design program has 5 main objectives that each begin with the letter “I.”
You will be expected to move above and beyond traditional academic scholarship.
You will seek outside subject areas and use various types of problem-solving skills in your design studies and personal practice.
You will learn to collaborate with thinkers from other disciplines.
The program provides you with strategies, skills and concepts to create and sustain group effort and new ways of thinking, resulting in increased performance.
The design program employs an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning. This increases academic engagement and fosters a deeper insight through the development of a hands-on, minds-on and ‘research-based disposition’ toward teaching and learning.
“How to Learn” vs. “What to Learn” inquiry honors the complex, linked nature of knowledge construction. It strives to provide chances for both instructors and students to build, test and reflect together on their learning.
Students in the program must complete a one-credit independent study personal experience. The study needs to be substantial and directly immerse the student in a new culture.
Examples include many of the study abroad/travel study programs. Other examples include domestic multi-day involvement in the design, culture, art, history, architecture, traditions and lifestyle of a new culture or social group. This strengthens student adaptation to the current global design industry.
Advisor and program approval are required before the cross-culture experience.
You will develop a strong creative identity with a focus on various study areas. This allows for exploring and combining your strengths and areas of interest with your design discipline.