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The
International School of Art & Design at Finlandia University
will be the school of choice for motivated, creative individuals
who see art and design as socially significant activities. Faculty,
students, and alumni will contribute to the spiritual, environmental,
cultural, and economic well-being of local, regional, and national
communities. Unique, due to its synthesis of American and Finnish
curricula, the International School of Art & Design will provide
global leadership in entrepreneurial ventures intended to improve
quality of life.
This is our vision statement. It’s what defines us, not only as artists
and educators, but as vital contributors to our communities, local and global.
We’re looking for students who share our vision – students with a passion
for art and for life – self-motivated and dedicated students who understand
that anything worth having is worth working for. We’re looking for students
with a conscientious manner, unconventional approach and environmentally sensitive
awareness. We’re looking for students with a desire to become more than
they think is possible.
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Ceramic/Glass
Design
BFA
Art
exists in many forms. Today, artists working in the ceramics area are
expressing a myriad of ideas and pushing these ideas in many directions.
These directions lead to careers as production potters, ceramic sculptors,
glaze specialists, interior designers, or gallery owners - just to
name a few. The interplay of an artist’s ideas in collaboration
with the raw material is the key to advancing artistic expression.
Majoring
in Ceramic/Glass Design, you will define ideas in a timeless medium
that offers many exciting opportunities. As you progress through
the ceramics program, we will guide you through defining a direction,
understanding variables and requirements, conceptualizing and evaluating
alternatives, and testing and refining solutions. In working with
clay, water and fire, you immerse yourself in the mystical and
magical elements of the medium. You will explore using clay with
other materials such as clay and wood, clay and fiber and clay
and metal. You will learn the cultural history of clay as an expressive
and utilitarian material. Ceramics majors also have the opportunity
to study ceramics for a year at the Kuopio Academy of Crafts and
Design in Kuopio, Finland.
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Fiber/Fashion
Design
BFA
Look around. It’s likely there are a half dozen examples of
fiber within your field of vision - textiles that have been designed
and produced for clothing, upholstery, window treatments, and floor
coverings. These are just the obvious examples. Look again. Did you
know that automobile tires and conveyor belts are woven and that jet
airplane wings and fuselages have woven elements for lightness and
strength?
Your fiber
study at the International School of Art & Design at Finlandia
University will prepare you for a career in Fiber/Fashion Design
whether you choose to work in industry or own and operate your
own design business.
Inspired
by the spirit of design study in Finland, the International School
of Art & Design fosters the thoughtful integration of materials
and processes allowing you to explore and develop your own path
in the fiber arts. We begin with on-and off-loom studies of construction
methods with an attention to materials. Traditional materials include
wool, cotton, linen and silk and nontraditional materials include
paper, metal, plastics and found objects. You will then explore
surface design through dying, printing, and sewing. The technical
aspects of Fiber/Fashion Design allow an opportunity to learn fiber
from the inside out by studying the chemistry and physical properties
of the fibers available today. Students interested in garment design
will learn pattern making and clothing design. Those interested
in focusing on surface design will develop their own line of cloth
for interiors or garments, and those interested in pursuing the
limitless field of weaving will find our looms available and varied.
Each student chooses the path of study that is right for him/herself.
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Product/Interior
Design
BFA
Who designs the things we use every day? Look at the shoes you
have on, the watch on your wrist, or the chair you’re sitting
in. Think back to this morning: your bed, the alarm clock, your toothbrush,
the toilet, sink and shower, the cup, bowl and spoon you used at breakfast,
the coffee maker, the stereo, television, computer, car, bike,
the mailbox, park bench, telephone booth, camera, key chain, purse
or wallet. How many products have you interacted with today? All these
items are products that someone designed. That “someone” is
a Product/Interior Designer (a.k.a. industrial designer).
There
are as many types of Product/Interior Designers as there are products,
from the Balinese craftsperson who makes fishing hooks from bone
and sinew to the corporate designer working on the newest high-tech
components for medical research, or the computer industry, the
entertainment industry, the automotive industry. Take your pick,
because design touches everything in life.
The
International School of Art & Design at Finlandia is preparing
students to be in the next generations of world-class Product/Interior
Designers, designers who will be a mix of artist, inventor,
engineer, entrepreneur, computer geek, sociologist, philosopher,
prophet. They’ll be artistically mature, technically skilled,
and technologically savvy. They’ll be conscientious stewards
of the natural environment, and active crew members of spaceship
Earth. They will be the renaissance women and men of the 21st century
and agents of change in a changing world. Who will design the items
we use tomorrow? Maybe it’s you.
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Posters, packaging, digital...
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Graphic
Design
BFA
“Graphic Design is complex combinations of words and pictures,
numbers and charts, photographs and illustrations that, in order to
succeed, demand the clear thinking of a particularly thoughtful individual
who can orchestrate these elements so that they all add up to something
distinctive, or useful, or playful, or surprising, or subversive, or
somehow memorable. Graphic Design is a popular art and a practical
art, an applied art and an ancient art. Simply put, it is the art of
visualizing ideas.”
– Excerpt from “Egocentrism” by Jessica Helfand. The New Republic,
December 29, 1997
Graphic
Design is truly the most ubiquitous art form. From the beautifully
haunting records of ancient hunts on cave walls to the glowing lights
of the Vegas strip, it is almost impossible to isolate yourself
from its reach and influence. Try to imagine spending just one day
without relying upon or being entertained or informed by some form
of Graphic Design. Every TV program, commercial, movie, book, magazine,
newspaper, billboard, road/store sign, product package, and web
site depends on effective and attractive design to convey its intended
message. As a Graphic Design major you will learn not only the latest
industry-standard computer applications and printing techniques,
but, more importantly, how to solve any Graphic Design problem in
a creative, targeted and environmentally-sensitive manner with a
focus on the aesthetic component. Our students are encouraged to
see the world through different eyes, to challenge their preconceived
cultural and social perspectives, to reach outside their life experiences,
and explore the boundless limits of their own undiscovered potential.
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Painting, Drawing...
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Studio
Arts/Illustration
BFA
You
need a quiet space to explore the inner images held inside.
You need help discovering and mastering the forms and techniques
that allow you to express your visual truths, finding ways to communicate
these truths, engaging larger aesthetic and philosophical issues,
and ultimately, providing yourself a livelihood.
As
a Studio Arts major at Finlandia University, you will have the guidance
of a devoted artist/teacher and small classes where you will share
your work with fellow artists on their own journeys of discovery.
You will learn all the techniques and media of traditional
Drawing and Painting and find which best
serve your expressive needs. You will develop your sensitivity
to the beauty of line, form, and color. You will learn to
compose visually and become aware of how your composing reflects
your individual self. Through this process, you will be introduced
to the historical groundwork of drawing and painting and find your
place in the ongoing creative journey or artists world-wide.
An optional semester of exchange study in Finland, with give you
a global outlook and unique cultural experience. As a senior,
you will prepare an exhibition of your diploma works, marking your
transition from student to professional artist.
If
you like to tell stories and to express thoughts and ideas through
visual substance, the Illustration Concentration
will fit your needs. The Illustration curriculum aims to mastering
your technical and conceptual abilities of visual communication
through intensive training of idea formulating, problem solving,
and artistic skills. You will have instructions and guidance
in a variety of fine-arts and design techniques through which a
thorough mastery of drawing, technique, concepts, color theory,
and storytelling are developed. Through specific projects
in different illustration fields, you will have the chance to specialize
in an area of illustration. You can choose illustration projects
in editorial, advertising, book, or institutional areas. You
will develop a marketable portfolio that demonstrates a high level
of professional skill and an individual artistic style. The Studio
Arts/Illustration Concentration provides you necessary training
and experience to become a professional illustrator in product,
advertising, or publishing.
The
goal of our Studio Arts program is to graduate artists who demonstrate
professional skill, self-disipline, and a working knowledge of their
place within our culture. Some of our graduates continue work
in their own studios as professional artists; some find commercial
applications of their studio skills, while others go on to pursue
a Masters Degree at a respected graduate school.
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