Damien Mitchell’s “Re/Pair: A Fusion of Handcraft and
Digital Fabrication in Shoemaking,” 2024 at the Arts and
Humanities Graduate Student Exhibition at the Jan Shrem and Maria
Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.
The Master of Fine Arts in Design is a two-year terminal degree program that encourages an interdisciplinary approach to design research and practice. Students are given the chance to deepen their knowledge in one or more areas of design while also connecting their work to broader social, cultural, technological and environmental issues.
During their time in the program, graduate students develop a thesis project that showcases the kind of novel rigorous research that can only be developed at a top tier public research university. Students are guided in their work by a dedicated and renowned design faculty both within the department as well as with faculty and staff across the university. We offer generous funding to our graduate students including through Teaching Assistant (TA) and Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) positions.
Design Department faculty expertise includes exhibition, fashion, history, information, interactivity, interior architecture, immersion, lighting, product, textiles, theory, visual communication, wearables, and more. Students are encouraged to build connections across campus by working with faculty from the arts and humanities to social sciences and politics; from biological sciences and engineering to the professional schools of medicine, law, and veterinary.
Design is by nature an interdisciplinary field that touches on
many aspects of our lives. At UC Davis, our design faculty spans
across many sub-disciplines of design, and each of those
disciplines intersect an even broader web that connects
with the university and beyond.
The following descriptions of key areas are useful for better
understanding some of the disciplinary strengths within our
department. Applicants are encouraged to look closely at faculty biographies to see which ones
would be potential members of their thesis committee. During
their time in the program MFA candidates select a 3-person thesis
committee (which can include all faculty from design or 2 faculty
in design and one from an outside department). The current
program requirements and course descriptions can be found in the
Course
Catalog.
During their time in the program, students become familiar with a
variety of research methods reflected in the diversity of our
faculty. Students develop their research and creative practice
with an understanding of key design issues within history,
theory, research and methodologies. Through a series of core
courses, students progress alongside the members of their cohort,
while they simultaneously advance their individual theses through
upper-division courses, and graduate-level independent and group
studies. The MFA core courses include the following:
Theory and Issues in Design
Research Methods and Critical Writing for Design
Professional Practice and Ethics in Design
Studio Practice in Design
Studio Practice and Critique
Exhibition Design
The MFA program culminates in a written thesis, as well as a
thesis project and exhibition.
The following descriptions of key areas are useful for better
understanding some of the disciplinary strengths within our
department. Students work primarily with one or two faculty members. The current program
requirements and course descriptions can be found in the
Course Catalog.
Exhibition Design
The MFA in Design prepares students with an emphasis in
Exhibition Design for research, teaching and professional
leadership opportunities in a highly interdisciplinary field that
shapes museum, theme park, trade show, exposition, retail, public
and civic spaces. An expanding global economy demands a need for
exhibition design research that explores innovative approaches to
artifact display, interpretive and narrative environments,
signage and wayfinding, and engaging experiences for a broad
range of audiences that are fully immersive, interactive and
participatory. Visit Storied Spaces
for more information about the exhibition design concentration in
the UC Davis Department of Design.
The MFA degree in Design with an emphasis on Fashion includes
research and creative activities related to the development of
clothing for fashion and functional use as well as historical,
socio-psychological, and cultural contexts. Current research
areas in Fashion focus on sustainability, smart clothing and
wearable technology development, functional clothing and
accessory design for activity and environment-based challenges,
aesthetics, trend research and forecasting and studies of fashion
in relation to cultures and societies. Faculty advisers in this
area include Gozde Goncu-Berk, Susan T. Avila, Susan B. Kaiser
and Adele Zhang.
Study focusing on design history and theory at the graduate level
is open to MA students in the Art History program, Ph.D. students
in Cultural Studies, and other graduate students including Design
MFA students interested in taking seminars in the history of
architecture and design. Our faculty specialize in topics from
the nineteenth century to the present, and explore architecture
and design in its social, political and ideological contexts.
Undergraduate design history courses cover a broad swathe of
global history of design, including different design disciplines.
We are also part of a UC-wide consortium of architecture and
design historians exploring the history of California design.
The MFA in Interactive Design prepares students with an emphasis
in Interaction Design as a multidisciplinary creative practice
that integrates digital and physical media with academic
research, or experimental and practical approaches. The MFA at UC
Davis encourages interdisciplinary approaches including research
in the arts and humanities; computer science and data science;
electrical and mechanical engineering; and social sciences, among
other disciplines. It considers technology both as a medium that
expands creative possibilities for interaction and as a
phenomenon that invites critical discourse about the role of
technological change in culture. Placing technology in the
context of society with a strong conceptual approach to research
and creative strategies, students are encouraged to explore
diverse subject matters to create interactive objects and spaces,
installations, and social interventions. In addition to required
graduate core courses in Design, students interested in this area
can pursue courses (including independent and group studies) in
human-computer interaction (HCI), wearable technologies,
interactive objects, data representation, interface design,
large-scale installations, network-based design, machine
learning, public art, user experience, and design for social
change in the realm of social and political activism and
interventions. Additionally, students are encouraged to take
courses outside the department in Cinema and Digital Media,
Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology, and Science and
Technology, and participate in industry internships.
The MFA in Design prepares students with an emphasis in Interior
Architecture to perform work that expands the scope and nature of
design practice and theory. Ideal candidates are interested in
bridging interior architecture with other fields only available
at a top tier research university, such as landscape architecture
or the sciences. The main objective of the program is
preparing students to conduct interdisciplinary research,
reflecting faculty conviction that this mode of inquiry will be
essential for the next generation of leaders in design. While
potential research topics are limitless, a few areas of focus
include affordable housing, universal design, application of
technology to interior use (wayfinding, information access,
healthy environments, energy use), and the diverse expressions of
interior architecture found in world cultures.
The MFA in Design prepares students with an emphasis in Lighting
Design for leadership careers in lighting design, research and
teaching. Students will develop a graduate level foundation of
knowledge, skills and critical thinking capabilities. Students
will be prepared to enter into leadership opportunities and
careers in architectural lighting design, and/or teaching with
academia or relevant non profit agencies. With the increasing
interest in sustainability and low carbon architectural design
there has been a steady increase and demand for designers
knowledgeable in lighting for leadership opportunities.
The MFA in Design prepares students with an emphasis in Product
Design include courses; labs and opportunities for
entrepreneurship, research and industry collaborations. Using
ecological and human-centered design principles, we are dedicated
to solving some of the world’s largest environmental and social
problems. We offer courses in sustainable design, human-centered
design, industrial design, furniture design, wearable technology,
lighting design, materials and methods, digital design and
prototyping. Our prototyping lab has 3D printers, laser cutters,
and an electronics bench — the tools you need to bring a concept
to life. Our staffed woodshop is fully equipped to build out
ideas at the human-scale and beyond.
Foregrounding textiles during the MFA program at UC Davis
prepares students for a wide variety of careers including
academia, industry, non government organizations (NGOs), and
other entrepreneurial ventures. Textiles are intrinsically a
part of everyone’s material culture; as the textile field often
overlaps with fashion, interior architecture,
lighting/daylighting, industrial design, and/or interactive
design, students are encouraged to seek cross disciplinary
collaborations. The MFA program provides students the opportunity
for research and practice-based textile design work with a focus
on exploration, creativity, and problem solving.
Visual communication design focuses on the relationship between
form, content, and context. Critical making and critical thinking
skills are emphasized in the research and creation of artifacts,
environments, interactions, and experiences in print, screen,
time-based, and three-dimensional media. Interdisciplinary
studies in psychology, anthropology, cognition, history of media,
rhetoric, computer science, intercultural communication, and
other areas can be undertaken to inform the design research and
development process.
There are several workspaces in
Cruess Hall, including a computer lab, dye and sewing labs, a
prototyping lab, and a wood and metal shop.
Some services are fee-based. Check the Design Department’s
website under Resources to see
details about work spaces and equipment lists.
The UC Davis Department of Design launched a new Design
Makerspace in fall 2021. Undergraduate and graduate students
enjoy state-of-the-art labs for both design studio courses as
well as faculty and student research. The space hosts a
Prototyping Lab with 3D printers and laser cutters, a Makerspace
classroom with electronics workstations, prototyping equipment,
clay 3D printing and biodesign research equipment. The Design
Makerspace also has fully equipped wood and metal shops. The
space helps students to create everything from biomaterials to
smart products, jewelry, furniture, and large-scale
installations. The fabrication equipment is complemented by a
large Open Lab—a multipurpose space for student coursework
critiques, exhibitions, events, and a sustainable material
library. The newly landscaped Cruess Hall courtyard has space for
student projects, outdoor exhibitions, events, a solar charging
station and video projections.
Faculty in design lead research labs that offer graduate students
opportunities to collaborate during their time at UC Davis. For
descriptions of current research projects at these labs, visit:
Please carefully read through the UC Davis Graduate Studies Admission Process Overview page for complete information on the application process. When ready, please use the links on the right to access the Graduate Admissions Application.
A focus on innovation and excellence distinguishes UC Davis,
which is highly ranked in the nation and the world, according to
influential university ranking publications such as U.S. News &
World Report (national and global), QS World University Rankings,
the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and The
Princeton Review.
In 2024, The Wall Street Journal / College Pulse recognized UC
Davis as the third-best public university in the United States.
Washington Monthly magazine ranked UC Davis second nationally
among Affordable Elite Colleges in 2019.
The UC Davis Department of Design is the only comprehensive
academic design department at the University of California
system.
The UC Davis Design Museum opens its 2024-2025 season on Nov. 1
with “Sonic Horizons: A Sensory Immersive Video Installation.”
The exhibition runs through Nov. 22.
Devised and curated by graduate student Maral Salehian,
this multi-screen installation showcases nature videos centered
around landscape themes. This sensory-rich immersive experience
aims to promote well-being and inspire a deeper connection to
nature.
The Design Museum, part of the College of Letters and Science and
free to the public, is in 124 Cruess Hall.
