Design Studies Careers + Outcomes
Students in design studies go on to careers both inside of the practice of design and outside of it. Below are a selection of recent graduate stories:
Kayla O’Daniel: Her thesis research was on the culture of creativity, looking closely at how businesses can encourage a more creative culture through the way that they structure their business plans and organizational development. She is currently attending Parsons, The New School for her Masters in Design Studies.
Amron Lee: Her thesis research focused on urban renewal and regeneration, with specific focus on the difference between historic preservation and historic re-use. Including historical research, contemporary GIS mapping research and local interviews with urban planners and historic preservation leaders, Amron created a deep and insightful case study of Raleigh as a timely moment where its own history is in danger of being lost through the urban development process. In addition to her capstone paper, Amron also developed a website that outlined
Career Opportunities
Our graduates fill a variety of roles including:
- Art Educator
- Museum Education and Programs
- User Experience Researcher
- Information Architect
- Design Researcher/Strategist
- Grant writing for Non- Profits
- Curating, Research, Writing
- Entrepreneurship –Small Business Owners
- Design Stylist
- Identity and Branding Design
- Media Production Managers
- Website information Manager
- Event Managers -Production
- Exhibition Design
- Museum Curator
- Museum Conservation
- Museum Object Handler
- Public Programs Manager for Non-Profit
- Historic Preservation
- Art Historian
- Critical Writing and analysis for publishing
- Development Officer for Art and Design Non-Profit Organization
Outcomes
Students in the Bachelor of Design Studies Program will:
- Articulate critical and informed opinions about design systems, processes and objects verbally and in written form;
- Apply critical and creative problem-solving and design thinking:
- In the evaluation of design systems;
- In proposing innovative solutions to fields outside of design;
- In framing and responding to “wicked problems” inside and outside of design;
- Utilize research skills to form critical opinions about the design, production and application of design artifacts and experiences;
- Understand the relationship between culture, context, and usability as they relate to human needs and wants;
- Understand this relationship as it affects what is produced and consumed;
- Evaluate this relationship to generate and manage new innovations in fields outside of design;
- Guide innovative processes that emphasize access for all users;
- Project a critical opinion about the perceived and potential affordances of design objects related to human needs and wants; and
- Advance a cross-disciplinary perspective on the future of design theory and practice.