Graduate Admissions

Portfolio

The MFA program in Art is open to candidates working in any medium in the broad field of studio art. Applicants must present 15 to 20 samples of your most current work in any media type, which may include painting, sculpture, mixed media, conceptual art, video, interactive art, or immersive experience. Each submitted piece should include title, medium, and any relevant information that you feel is important for the Admissions Committee to consider.

Work submitted in your portfolio should be focused and represent the body of work that is most pertinent to your further interests and studies. Please cross-reference any gallery exhibitions and the title of the piece/exhibition with your artist’s resumé.

Written Essays

Artist’s Statement

An Artist’s Statement (750 words or less) that provides key insights into your artistic practice and influences. Your statement should also discuss the artists and the types of art that have had the biggest impact on your thinking about art. These need not be visual artists, but if not, give us some idea of how their influence is manifested in your work.

Short Essay Questions: Educational goals

Provide short responses to the following questions:

• (i) Why have you decided to pursue a graduate degree in art? Why have you chosen to apply to ArtCenter’s Graduate Art MFA program?
• (ii) What kind of artist do you want to be, and how would you like the Graduate Art faculty to help you to achieve this aspiration?
• (iii) What knowledge do you have of the program’s faculty and alumni and how has this affected your decision to apply to the program?

Resume

Include a short resume covering educational and relevant experience including any exhibition history.

Letters of recommendation

At least one letter of recommendation is required and up to three can be submitted. You will be prompted to enter the name and email address for one to three people who will be providing letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Portfolio

Submit 6-10 Graphic Design projects that demonstrate your ability to combine image, typography, and layout to communicate your ideas. Acceptable projects could include posters, brochures, editorial design, package design, motion graphics, web design, identity systems, brand strategy, and more. Each project should exhibit an individual point of view or a unique approach to problem solving and the portfolio should be edited to highlight your best and most relevant work. We are interested in seeing work that is rooted in your personal curiosity and unique point of view as a designer—projects that say something important to you, visual problems you long to solve, brands you would like to articulate more effectively. Where applicable, include a brief written description of the project. Collaborative or commercial pieces should clearly state the applicant’s contribution or role.

Written Essays

Statement of Intent (750 – 1,000 words):

Outline your motivation for pursuing graduate study in Brand Design & Strategy at ArtCenter. Provide detailed information about your relevant personal, educational, and professional experience in graphic design and provide an overview of your current skill level with graphic design software, typography, publishing, and any relevant media-specific skills (coding, spatial design, etc.). You should also briefly discuss your goals beyond completion of the program and describe how a graduate degree from ArtCenter will help you achieve your career objectives.

Resume

Include a resume summarizing your educational and professional background. It should highlight relevant academic studies, project work, awards and achievements, and work experience.

Letters of recommendation

At least one letter of recommendation is required and up to three can be submitted. You will be prompted to enter the name and email address for one to three people who will be providing letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Portfolio

Submit 2-4 films that demonstrate your ability to craft narrative stories for an audience. The total run time of the films you submit should not exceed 20 minutes, and films should be presented in their entirety—not edited down and included in a reel.

Narrative films must feature distinct storylines, plot development, and character arcs. Submitted work can include short films of any genre (shorts, documentaries, commercials, or music videos) but all work must demonstrate your narrative storytelling abilities. Your work should also demonstrate a high level of proficiency in cinematography, lighting, staging, editing, sound, and other technical aspects of filmmaking. At least one of your projects should employ sync sound with dialogue.

Submit only projects on which you played a key creative role as director, cinematographer or editor.

Personal Video Essay

In a video statement accompanying your application, tell us (1) what inspires you to make films, (2) what kinds of films you aspire to make, and (3) a brief description of your favorite filmmakers and why you feel they are important. Your video essay should be 2-3 minutes in length and should demonstrate your ability to communicate your ideas verbally, similarly to how you might pitch an idea for a project. We recommend your video feature you on screen articulating your ideas without a script, keeping visuals and editing to a minimum as we will see your filmmaking acumen in your portfolio.

The portfolio and personal video essay will be submitted as Vimeo (preferred), YouTube links or as a video file in the online application. Please title this file as “Personal Video Essay.” You can also submit your links or video file after submitting your application.

Written Essay

Submit a graduate proposal that defines a filmmaking project that will engage you during your course of study. While the proposal may be preliminary, it must nevertheless be specific and take the form of a story treatment (750 words or less) for a potential film project.

Resume

Include a short resume covering educational and relevant experience.

Letters of recommendation

Letters of recommendation are not required. You will have the option to enter the name and email address for one to three people to provide letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Portfolio

Students should have a background in furniture, lighting and/or fixture investigation and be experienced in the fabrication process in both hand and digital skill sets. Submit at least three completed full-size prototype furniture, lighting and/or fixture projects, including sketching, model making and documentation of the complete design development process. The latter should include variations on ideas, as well as demonstration of the path that led to final decisions. Related artwork can be included if it informs the understanding of your background. Your projects can be submitted as PDF documents or as a link to your personal website.

Written Essay

Provide a written statement (1,000 words or less) that delineates your motivation for pursuing a graduate program and your reasons for the choice of track. This should include topics and areas of interest as well as specific goals to be undertaken in the program. You should also describe specific skills and competencies you want to achieve. The statement should also include your goals beyond completion of the program and describe how a design education will relate to your career objectives.

Resume

Include a short resume covering educational and relevant experience.

Letters of recommendation

Letters of recommendation are not required. You will have the option to enter the name and email address for one to three people to provide letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Portfolio

Submit 6-10 Graphic Design projects that demonstrate your ability to combine image, typography, and layout to communicate your ideas. Acceptable projects could include posters, brochures, editorial design, package design, motion graphics, web design, identity systems, brand strategy, and more. Each project should exhibit an individual point of view or a unique approach to problem solving and the portfolio should be edited to highlight your best and most relevant work.

We are most interested in seeing work that is rooted in your personal curiosity and unique point of view as a designer—projects that say something important to you, visual problems you want to solve, brands you would like to articulate more effectively, etc. Where applicable, include a brief written description of the project. Collaborative or commercial pieces should clearly state the applicant’s contribution or role.

Written Essay

In 750–1,000 words, provide detailed information about your relevant personal, educational, and professional experience in graphic design. The essay should outline your motivation for pursuing graduate studies at ArtCenter. Include an overview of your current skill level with graphic design software, typography, publishing, and any relevant media-specific skills (coding, spatial design, etc.). You should also briefly discuss your goals beyond completion of the program and describe how a graduate degree from ArtCenter will help you achieve your career objectives.

Resume

Include a resume that outlines your educational and professional background and relevant experiences and activities, including community work.

Letters of recommendation

At least one letter of recommendation is required and up to three can be submitted. You will be prompted to enter the name and email address for one to three people who will be providing letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Portfolio

Submit 3-5 projects that demonstrate your design and innovation abilities. Projects should present the development of commercial products by showing not only the final design but also the research, strategic thinking, and process work involved in establishing and fulfilling the design objectives for the project. We are interested not only in the design decisions you make, but also in your articulation of why the project is a viable one to pursue developing in terms of the problems it solves and the market it serves.

We want to see you identify important opportunities and needs, as well as develop desirable solutions from this process. Taking a systems approach to design solutions, show us how you research, investigate, and analyze design topics, considering and planning for related business dynamics and technology considerations as you envision and produce desirable 3D objects/products with a high level of consideration for style, proportion, shape, material, color, and more.

The presentation of each project should include elements of research/inspiration/problem identification, process/ideation, and final renderings or images of models and prototypes.

Written Essays

Essay 1: Please describe in 750 words or less: (i) your motivations for pursuing study in Graduate Industrial Design at ArtCenter, (ii) why you think it is a good fit for you, and (iii) what you envision you would ideally be doing five to 10 years after successful completion of the program.

Essay 2: In 2,000 words or less, please respond to the following prompt. If you were given a budget of $10 million and an uninterrupted time period of two years to work creatively on anything that you wanted to, what would you pursue and why?

Resume

Please submit a formal resume and bio covering educational and relevant prior experience.

Letters of recommendation

Letters of recommendation are not required. You will have the option to enter the name and email address for one to three people to provide letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Please Note: Students interested in the Innovation Systems Design (ISD) dual MS/MBA degree offered by ArtCenter College of Design and the Drucker School of Management apply after enrollment in the Industrial Design program. Applications are not considered at the time of entry to ArtCenter, but will be reviewed after the students’ second term of enrollment.

Portfolio

Submit at least 3 projects that that demonstrate the ability to conceive of and create interactive designs. Examples of screen-based interactive projects might include mobile or social applications, web sites, gestural interfaces, and games. Examples of physical interactive projects might include consumer electronics, smart products, art or environmental projects.

Be sure to include the following elements for each of your design projects:

Research/inspiration. Explain the design objectives for your interactive experience, include user research, personas, mind maps of key concepts, and/or visual inspirations that will inform your design. Be sure to state your role on the project as well as what tools you used in the project’s development.

Process/Ideation. Provide user flows, wireframes, mock-ups, thumbnail sketches of possible layouts, and/or sketches of physical objects relevant to your design. This work should demonstrate your development process and show us different design directions you explored.

Final Renderings or Prototypes. Demonstrate your final design through digital mock-ups, URLs, videos, and/or prototypes. Prototypes can be mixed fidelity, ranging from screen to emerging technologies. You should also include any reflections upon your discoveries.

People should be at the center of all interactions and your projects should be developed around creative concepts that investigate or challenge the relationships between people, environments and society. Collaborative pieces should clearly state the candidate’s contribution or role.

Projects can be professional, self-initiated, and/or class assignments. Other relevant work can be included as well, such as projects demonstrating your work in software, AI/MI, mixed reality, UX Research, strategy, entrepreneurship, and creative or critical writing.

Written Essay

Statement of Intent (750 – 1,000 words):

Outline your motivation for pursuing graduate study in the Interaction Design program at ArtCenter. Provide detailed information about your relevant personal, educational, and professional experience in interaction design and provide an overview of your current skill level with relevant software and design practices relevant to UI/UX design. You should also briefly discuss your goals beyond completion of the program and describe how a graduate degree from ArtCenter will help you achieve your career objectives.

Resume

Include a resume that outlines your educational and professional background and relevant experiences and activities.

Letters of recommendation

At least one letter of recommendation is required and up to three can be submitted. You will be prompted to enter the name and email address for one to three people who will be providing letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Portfolio

The design portfolio should be a curated body of work that demonstrates the applicant’s expertise and accomplishment in the conception and creation of sophisticated design in any media (e.g., wearables and physical prototypes, visual and graphic, interactive and software, spatial, narrative and experiential environments).

Submit 3-5 projects in any design area. Applicants are encouraged to include other relevant works such as creative or critical writing. We are specifically interested in seeing a range of projects that demonstrate versatility, criticality, rigor, point of view, willingness to discover. Projects can be professional, self-initiated and/or class assignments.

Brief written descriptions of the projects should accompany each piece. Collaborative or commercial pieces should clearly state the applicant’s contribution or role. Media Design Practices prefers all portfolios in the form of either a PDF or a website. The PDF or website should include stills, screen shots or photo documentation for all projects including print, interactive, motion or video. Where possible, dynamic media projects should be accompanied by links to working examples to ensure the full depth of the project is experienced.

Written Essays

Essay 1 - Statement of Interest (500 words or less)

In MDP we emphasize exploration over solutions. What questions have you explored as a designer? What motivates you as a creative maker? What are some specific ideas and issues you are excited to explore in your creative work at graduate school?

Essay 2 - (500 words or less)

Answer ONE of these questions:

1. Research takes many forms, whether focused on materials and their affordances, working with people, or reading academic material. Pick a recent project from your portfolio and discuss how research created a surprise or changed the direction of your plan. What did you learn from this experience? (Note: we are not asking you to tell us specific tech skills you want to learn.)
2. Critique and dialogue are essential for designers. What is your own approach to critiquing the work of your peers? What questions do you typically ask?
3. Select a work of design in the world that represents the kind of design you DON’T want to do. What is the project? What about it are you in opposition to?
4. Discuss a personal design project that you have created outside of school. What was the project, and what motivated you to do it?

Resume

Include a resume summarizing your educational and professional background. It should highlight relevant academic studies, project work, awards and achievements, and work experience.

Letters of recommendation

At least one letter of recommendation is required and up to three can be submitted. You will be prompted to enter the name and email address for one to three people who will be providing letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Portfolio

Students should have a rich background in spatial investigation and be experienced in the exploration of spatial projects in both hand and digital skill sets. Prospective students need to submit at least three completed spatial projects. These projects should be fully documented with indication of goals, research, hand sketch development, digital and hand model making. The conceptual design process should include variations on ideas as well as demonstration of the path that led to final solutions. Related artwork can be included if it informs the understanding of your background. Your projects can be submitted as PDF documents or as a link to your personal website.

Written Essay

Provide a written statement (1,000 words or less) that discusses your motivation for pursuing a graduate program and your reasons choosing this program. This should include topics and areas of interest as well as specific goals to be undertaken in the program. You should also describe specific skills and competencies you want to achieve. The statement should also include your goals beyond completion of the program and describe how a design education will relate to your career objectives.

Resume

Include a short resume covering educational and relevant experience.

Letters of recommendation

Letters of recommendation are not required. You will have the option to enter the name and email address for one to three people to provide letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.

Portfolio

Submit 3-5 projects demonstrating competency in designing transportation systems. This should include systems-level approaches to improving the function and experience of transportation in any mode and scale. Possible projects might include rethinking approaches to public transit systems and how they would fit into the built environment, designing innovative systems for handling freight or packages, or exploring airborne personal mobility.

Projects should emphasize how overall systems work, so while the design of mobility devices and vehicles might be a component of your projects, your design thinking should go beyond vehicular styling and address ways to improve the deeper mobility system experience or issues. Projects should demonstrate creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, originality of solutions, visualization/drawing skills, 3D exploration, good organizational ability, the ability to research, and a sense of curiosity and inquiry.

If your visualization/drawing skills are limited because of your previous experience, do not be afraid to use what drawing and sketching abilities you do possess to articulate the creativity of your ideas and your design thinking. Simple pencil or ball-point pen sketches and well-placed notes can sometimes do the trick.

Written Essays

Essay 1: Statement of Intent (750 words or less)

Provide a written statement that communicates your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree in Transportation Systems and Design and why you are passionate about designing solutions for transportation and mobility challenges of the present and the future. Tell us what areas of transportation interest you, what types of projects you anticipate undertaking in the program, and what specific skills and competencies you want to acquire. The statement should also articulate your career and creative goals beyond completion of the program.

Essay 2:

In a proposal of 2,000 words or less, please respond to the following: If you were the chief transportation officer for the city of your choice, in which you had adequate budget to pay for advanced transportation solutions, what would be your recommendations to make your city a better place to live, work and play? Explain your choice of city and what transportation challenges it faces, along with your specific solutions as they relate to the impact of transportation.

Resume

Include a short resume covering educational and relevant experience.

Letters of recommendation

Letters of recommendation are not required. You will have the option to enter the name and email address for one to three people to provide letters of recommendation on your behalf in the online application.