Design Degrees Online

Welcome to the University of Charleston, where Interior Design students engage in art and design fundamentals with an in-depth design approach to three-dimensional space for human behavior in the built environment. The Interior Design profession has developed into a demanding and recognized professional field. The difference between interior design and interior decorating is evident in the UC Interior Design curriculum, which prepares students for professional licensing and certification.

The program addresses residential, institutional, and commercial design. Students integrate technology, professional practice, and liberal learning skills with creative problem solving while addressing resource sustainability and building and life safety code compliance.

Offered by the Department of Interior Design, the interior design program is based on a concern for human beings and the creation of interior settings that support human activities and values. Graduates are able to think creatively, solving problems with professional competence.

The Master of Arts program offers one of the few three-year tracks available nationwide–catering to individuals possessing a bachelor’s degree in something other than design.

The Bachelor of Arts program at Washington State University is the only four-year baccalaureate program in Washington accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation.

In early 2009, Design Intelligence ranked the graduate program ninth best program among all of America’s interior design programs.

MA in Interior Design
The Master of Arts program combines studio design experiences with qualitative and quantitative research to explore human behavior vis-à-vis interior environments, examine design theories, and experiment in design technology.
The MA degree requires a minimum of 30 credits, including the completion of a research thesis or project, and is offered in a two-year and a three-year option.

Industrial designers give form to virtually all mass-manufactured products in our culture. They seek opportunity and advantage through identifying and solving problems. Their creative contributions impact the utility, appearance, and value of our tools, toys, and environment. Their most innovative solutions lie at an intersection of what is knowable and what is possible.

The industrial design profession demands excellent organizational skills, an awareness of visual and tactile aesthetics, human behavior, human proportion, material, process, and the responsible appropriation of resources, during and after use. Designers express conceptual proposals through a combination of well-developed drawing, physical modeling, computer modeling, writing, and verbal skills.

Designers best serve the consumer through sensitive and innovative collaboration with art, science, engineering, anthropology, marketing, manufacturing, and ecology. Properly implemented, industrial design affords greater benefit, safety, and economy to all participants and recipients impacted by the product development cycle.

The study of interior design is more closely aligned with “interior architecture”, as opposed to interior decoration. The study of interior design is theoretical as well as practical, and is about creating interior environments/spaces for people in support of their activities – it is not necessarily about filling rooms with floor coverings, furniture, and window and wall treatments.
Everywhere you go, you see the influence of interior designers. The public’s demand for design services has grown rapidly and with that growth has come a wider range of specialization. Today you have the choice of specializing in residential design or non-residential design. Non-residential design, also known as Contract Design or Commercial Design, includes a broad range of project types including but not limited to: commercial and professional office design, health care, elderly care, education, museums, theaters, retail, government, recreation, restaurants, and hospitality. Individuals with training in interior design also may specialize in other areas such as set design for stage and screen productions, lighting design, color consultation, product development and marketing, teaching and research, journalism, facilities management, and historic preservation.

What Skills Would I Need?

Although artistic talent is certainly important, it is only one of many abilities a successful interior designer needs. You would also be expected to:
• Be sensitive to the client’s needs and have a thorough understanding of human behavior
• Approach a problem creatively and analytically
• Communicate ideas visually (using sketches, drawings, and study models) as well as orally and in writing
• Be meticulous about detail and accuracy
• Budget your time carefully and meet demanding deadlines
• Make cost estimates, understand purchasing and selling methods, and manage finances and business operations
• Have computer skills as a tool for design as well as for business management

What Can I Do Right Now To Prepare?

If you are still in high school, take demanding college-preparatory courses that require you to develop self-discipline and analytical ability. Include electives in art, art history, industrial arts, mechanical drawing or drafting, and computer science. Look for part-time jobs that will give you a chance to explore the field of design. Volunteer to help set and lighting design for school plays and community theater. Work for a building contractor, interior designer, or offer to do window displays for a local store.

• Purchase a sketchbook and practice observational drawing – draw anything you can see
• Keep an up-to-date record of your work in a portfolio
• Check your library or bookstore for books and magazines about interior design
• Seek out and talk to interior design professionals in your area

At Winthrop we always welcome students and their families to talk with the faculty and visit classes. Call our main office and make an appointment at your convenience.

The Design and Human Environment (DHE) graduate curriculum is designed to meet the academic and professional needs of a wide range of students. Current graduate students say they particularly like the individual and personalized attention from the faculty, both during the application process and as students in the department. They also cite the flexible nature of the program and the diversity of course offerings as important considerations. Students work closely with their advisors to actively create a program that will address their needs and interests.
Graduate Degrees Offered by the Department of Design and Human Environment
MA in DHE
MS in DHE
PhD in DHE
M.A.I.S.

Doctoral Program Emphases:
Design and the Near Environment (Apparel Design and Interior Design)
Human Behavior in the Near Environment (Clothing and Housing)
Cultural and Historic Aspects of the Near Environment

Master’s Program Emphases:
Cultural and Historic Aspects of the Near Environment
Design and the Near Environment (Apparel Design and Interior Design)
Human Behavior in the Near Environment (Clothing and Housing)
Merchandising Management
Textiles

Curriculum
Basic Drafting Practice / Interior Architecture / Interior Planing /
Modeling Practice / Theory of Color In Interior & Practice /
Environmental Human Behavior In Interior / Structural Design & Lab /
History of Interior Architecture / Material and Construction / History &
Theory of Modern Furniture Design & Practice / Presentation Technique /
Lighting Design & Practice / Advanced Interior Design Studio / Korean
Interior Architecture Theory / Cost-Estimation / Introduction to
Architecture & Interior Architecture / Environment Design in Interior /
Display / History of Modern Interior Architecture / Design Workshop /
Introduction to Building Structure

Core Curriculum

At the heart of a Mount education is the Core Curriculum, designed as an interdisciplinary Liberal Arts and Sciences foundation. Graduates possess not only the professional skills necessary for success in the workplace, but also qualities associated with a liberally educated person able to thrive in a complicated and diverse world. Some of those skills are thinking critically and creatively, communicating effectively, appreciating the complexity of human behavior, knowing the relation among various ethical systems, and appreciating the relationship of Roman Catholicism to other belief systems.

As part of the required 52 credit hours in the Core Curriculum, freshmen begin with a three-credit Foundations Seminar (interdisciplinary studies) course. Later, students take another three credits with an advanced-level interdisciplinary course. A majority of the credits of the Core Curriculum are distributed among discipline-specific courses that expand concepts introduced in Foundations Seminar. Students choose from courses in humanities, social sciences, history, natural sciences, mathematics, religious studies, philosophy, and ethics.

Overview

Interior designers use their talents and expertise to transform and enhance society. As an interior design graduate student, you’ll gain the knowledge, skills and passion for design that let you influence the way we live our lives – at home, in the office and in our public spaces. Innovation and creative problem-solving, an understanding of human behavior, attention to the rule of law, the protection of natural resources– they all play a role in the work of the interior designer.
Program Objectives

The Master of Arts in Interior Design will provide you with a comprehensive knowledge of design theory and history, communication and design skills, sustainable and socially-conscious design, lighting and furniture design, code adherence and professional practices. You’ll also develop fluency in the use of 2- and 3-diminsional design software and computer hardware, essential tools for the contemporary designer.”
Graduate Video Profile

If you want to learm more about the Interior Design graduate program, we encourage you to watch one of the video interviews with Mai Nyguyen, a recent graduate. In these clips, Mai talks about the faculty and the curriculum; what the thesis process was like, and how she prepared for her career as an interior designer.