Study Graphic Design at School of Visual Arts

SVA is a graphic design school in New York City whose mission is to educate designers who aspire to be professional artists. The renowned faculty at SVA?s design school consists of more than 100 working professionals at the top of their fields who work closely with students to help them gain an in-depth understanding of scale, texture, symmetry, tension, line, color, tone, balance, contrast, pattern and the principles of perspective. Request information at admissions@sva.edu to learn more about the graphic design school at SVA.

Now more than ever, great design matters. It has to stand out in the avalanche of posters, ads, flyers, direct mail pieces, books, magazines, Web sites, etc., or else disappear from sight.

At SVA, you become a graphic designer who matters by developing a personal visual vocabulary that is strong in the formal principles of design and solves problems through the process of clear conceptual thought.

You start with the basics. What's mandatory is an in-depth understanding of scale, texture, symmetry, tension, line, color, tone, balance, contrast, pattern and the principles of perspective. These, in a sense, are the alphabet of your visual vocabulary. Typographic design skills are essential, and you will develop not only fluency in the range and uses of available typefaces, but insight into how people perceive textual communication. You'll know the "why" along with the "what."

The newest, most sophisticated tools help cut through the media clutter. Digital video is a discipline that has growing value in the commercial market. Learning to add sound and movement to your message will involve a skill set that encompasses the latest generation of software, as well as hands-on familiarity with our state-of-the-art editing facilities.

Another rich career area is 3D graphic design. Mastering crafts like woodworking and welding, with materials from fiberglass to Bondo, can lead to jobs in industrial design, model making, toy design, packaging and product design, to name a few.

Industry access is no farther than your nearest faculty member. Every one of our more than 100 instructors - the biggest faculty of its kind - is a working professional at the top of his or her field, from typography innovator Carin Goldberg to the dean of graphic designers, Milton Glaser, who has been teaching at SVA since 1961.

If you graduate from SVA with just the best graphic design skills, we will have failed. Our mission is to plant you in soil where you can grow as a thinker. The power of your visual communication is concept-driven; all the rest is execution. We want to turn you on to the wonder of problem solving that fulfills not just the client's needs, but yours as creator.

Once you've cultivated independent thought, you'll find your point of view. From there an individual style; from there a rewarding career.