School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design

Define tomorrow’s design strategies while training at the intersection of information design, human-computer interaction and computation. You will learn to manage and communicate complex information through an interdisciplinary curriculum for meaningful human experiences in our increasingly visual world. Experience small class sizes, state-of-the-art facilities and placements with leading design firms, technology start-ups and cultural institutions like Facebook, Google, IBM, and more. 

The AMPD Advantage: 

• Small class size promotes a personalized studio learning experience. 
• Award-winning reputation with top employers like Facebook, Google, IBM, and Yelp, seeking AMPD design students for internships and new graduate employment.  
• A global network of alumni leading the industry in companies like Shopify, Airbnb, Uber, LinkedIn, Wikimedia, Bruce Mau Design, IDEO, The New York Times Magazine, The Toronto Star, and Pentagram. 

Program Overview  

The Design (BDes) program provides a comprehensive design education. After completing a two-year common core, students can concentrate on one of three pathways: (1) Interaction Design (UX/Ul); (2) Information Design; (3) Visual Communication Design; or create a personalized blend. The curriculum is further enhanced by design history, theory, and criticism courses.   

Interaction Design (UX/Ul) Stream 

The Interaction Design stream is for students excited to explore a human-centred and systems thinking approach to design physical, digital and mixed reality interfaces. They will learn to use design processes to discover the connections between people, objects, technologies, and environments.   

Through hands-on creation, students will design and evaluate engaging user experiences (UX) and user interactions (UI) for mobile applications, tangible products, and digital services. Students graduate with the skills to investigate and apply speculative design as a cultural practice to design for future societal implications.  

Information Design Stream 

Discover how information design makes data meaningful, visualizes processes, reveals connections and enhances user understanding with Information Design. Students will graduate with the in-demand knowledge of applying data visualization as a powerful tool to increase audience understanding in an increasingly data-driven world. Students will also develop interpretive expertise and experiment with conceptual approaches to data-driven design. 

Visual Communication Design Stream 

Students in the Visual Communication Design stream will create branding systems, signage, packaging, magazine and book designs, and motion graphics. The program encourages exploration of how meaning is shaped and interpreted with text, images, and symbols. The curriculum engages new techniques and experiments with methods of image-making, 2D composition, aesthetics, and typography. Graduates will enter the industry prepared to develop new graphic forms and visual systems that communicate to audiences.