About
A curriculum built on big ideas.
Effective communication is required in order to meet the evolving demands of commerce, community, and culture. For this reason, the designer’s role has substantially expanded. Students must learn to craft impactful and appropriate messages within a broad range of design media and emerging technologies.
Our curriculum is built on big ideas and the process of interpreting messages through a myriad of media channels, using research, data, and strategy to achieve and measure real-world results.
Communication Design coursework involves exploring, researching, strategizing, and developing solutions through a creative process. Courses in our program include in-depth study of communication design theory, design history, visual design, illustration, photography, typography, motion, interaction, and user experience while utilizing the latest technology and design management tools.
Highlights
Measuring up for student success.
Tracks
The CSUN Communication Design Program offers a comprehensive curriculum with a strong emphasis on three specialized areas of concentration: Brand Design and Strategy, Entertainment Advertising Design, and Interaction & Experience Design. Each concentration provides students with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their chosen field. To ensure a smooth academic journey, we have prepared a detailed roadmap that outlines the recommended class selections below.
Brand Design and Strategy
Entertainment Advertising Design
Interaction & Experience Design
Course of Study
Your pathway to cultivating creativity begins here.
Communication Designers are in high demand to meet the ever-expanding needs of creative industries across the country and around the world. Career opportunities range from brand strategy and entertainment advertising to motion graphics, UX/UI, social media, and more. Just “keeping up” is no longer the standard, as technological advancements bring new ways of working creatively and collaboratively to develop effective messaging for a wide variety of customers and consumers.
Inquiries
Contact us to learn more about our program.
Beyond the Classroom
Collaboration, Connections & Friendships.
IntersectLA (IXLA) is an extraordinary collective of driven CSUN students, passionately dedicated to crafting transformative experiences that empower businesses, organizations, and communities. With a relentless focus on creative collaboration and innovative design, our interdisciplinary team strives to elevate and inspire.
Impact DesignHub is a cooperative studio course/ group where student designers work with community partners to solve design problems through design thinking. While obtaining cooperative non-profit agency experience in their undergraduate academic career.
SAGA is an inspiring and dynamic student club dedicated to fostering a thriving design community. Through engaging design challenges, exciting group outings, and thought-provoking speaker events, our passionate students actively encourage and promote the art of design. Stay up-to-date with our latest activities by following SAGA on Instagram @csunsaga.
Developed by CSUN creatives, Artpreneurship is a uniquely designed hybrid program to help creatives learn the language of business for a successful, impactful, and purposeful career. Learn how to utilize the arts to have a thriving career as an artpreneur. Students from CSUN and abroad can benefit from the unique creative programs and activities.
Core Faculty
A growing team of innovators, makers and thinkers.
Brand Strategy
Motion Designer
Engagement
Entertainment Design
UX/UI Interaction
Branding
UX/UI Interaction
Branding
Packaging Design
Visual Design
Alumni Work
See what our graduates have been doing.
News
See what we have been up to.
IXLA Creative Bootcamp: YouTube UX Summit
On August 10, more than a dozen IXLA student team members enjoyed an exclusive tour of Google’s Spruce Goose hangar complex, a historic building in Playa Vista once owned by reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. The tour was part of the 3-day YouTube UI/UX Summit.
IXLA Creative Bootcamp “The Feedback Loop”
This summer’s Creative Bootcamp was a resounding success, packed with informative speaker sessions, interactive learning workshops, and warm-weather fun! Nearly two dozen IntersectLA and SAGA members participated in the week-long event, now an annual tradition for...
Petrol Advertising: Fueling Our Ambitions
During the week of July 11-15, PETROL hosted the bootcamp, starting with a behind-the-scenes tour, where students met agency president and chief creative officer Alan Hunter, along with several of his superstar team members (“Petrolians”) to learn about the inner workings of the interactive entertainment industry.