MICA's one-year Graphic Design MA program provides intensive study of the language and practice of graphic design with an emphasis on visual research, design process, typography, and working across media. The program helps students build a portfolio for professional work or further study in an MFA program. Our students come from a variety of backgrounds including complementary fields like liberal arts, fine arts, illustration, architecture, media studies and journalism as well as design disciplines.
Students meet weekly with faculty for individual and group lectures, demos and critiques. Students participate in the larger graduate and undergraduate design culture at MICA through elective coursework, art and design lectures, teaching internships and community-engaged projects.
The Graphic Design MA program is approved for STEM OPT, allowing students the eligibility to apply for a 24-month OPT extension.
Degree Plan
Fall
GDMA Studio 1, 6 credits
Type Intensive, 3 credits
Design Theory and Practice, 3 credits
Elective, 3 credits
Spring
GDMA Studio 2, 6 credits
Transmedia Type Lab, 3 credits
GDMA Professional Workshop, 3 credits
Elective, 3 credits
Courses
Graphic Design MA Studio 1 and 2
In the fall, Studio projects include constraints designed to build graphic design skills yet encourage experimentation with content and media. In the spring, GDMA students create and exhibit a self-directed thesis project, and write and design a publication describing their process and research.
Design Theory and Practice
MA students attend this class with other graduate graphic design students, building their knowledge of design history, discourse and professional methodologies through a mix of readings, writings, lectures and discussions. Topics change every year and have included design thinking, writing to communicate, copying, creativity + ethics, interaction + experience design, inclusive design, design authorship, speculative design, sensory design, sustainable design and design + labor.
Graphic Design MA Professional Workshop
This course focuses on documenting, presenting and promoting one's work and curating a portfolio. Lectures and visiting designers discuss professional practice, working in different markets and studio models.
Typography Courses
Typography is the backbone of design! In the Fall students take Type Intensive, a fast-paced course to strengthen skills in hierarchy, syntax, grids, information systems, and using typefaces. In the Spring, Transmedia Type Lab emphasizes best practices for applying type in specific media. In both courses, projects investigate typography as an expression of language, identity, and interactivity.
Sample Electives
Design for the Web / User Experience and Interface / Visual Identity / Motion Graphics / Cinema 4D & Processing / Publication Design / Graphic Design - Illustration Collaborative Studio / Typeface Design / Signs, Exhibits and Spaces / Package Design / Letterpress / Screenprinting / Creative Impact Studio / Systems Thinking for Social Change / History of Graphic Design / Entrepreneurship
Faculty
Sandra Maxa Director, Graphic Design MA, smaxa@mica.edu
In addition to teaching and advising in the MA program, Sandra teaches studio classes in the BFA graphic design program and develops collaborative studio projects with community partners. She has taught at Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design and Rutgers University and is co-author of 2 editions of the well-known book Typographic Design: Form & Communication and co-authored and designed the 7th ed. of Meggs' History of Graphic Design. In 2015, she was awarded the MICA Trustee Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching. Her design research explores the connection between mapping and narrative through visual investigations of place and memory. Sandra holds a bachelor's degree in Art / Graphic Design from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a MFA in Visual Communication Design from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is partner at Q Collective, a multi-disciplinary studio that creates identity and interactive projects, books and exhibitions for (mostly) nonprofit clients.
2026-2027
Sara Austin
Hayelin Choi
Michelle Ghiotti
Brockett Horne
Ellen Lupton
Maureen Weiss