Comparing Art and Design Specializations

"Art" and "design" cover many disciplines, and each school divides them in its own way. A department called illustration at one school may overlap with graphic design at another. This guide explains how specializations are commonly organised and what to look for when two options seem similar. It does not rank disciplines, and it makes no claims about jobs or earnings in any of them.

Schools draw the map differently

Two examples show the range.

RISD lists dozens of programs as separate departments, each with its own degree titles. In the page we read, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, textiles, ceramics, glass, and jewelry and metalsmithing offer BFA and MFA degrees; graphic design and illustration offer BFA and MFA; furniture design offers BFA and MFA; industrial design offers a BFA and a Master of Industrial Design; interior architecture offers a BFA and an MDes; architecture offers BArch and MArch; and there are programs such as Apparel Design, Art and Computation, Film/Animation/Video and Sound at undergraduate level. It also lists theory and history of art and design as a concentration rather than a separate major.

UAL organises by subject area instead, listing twenty areas on its subjects page, including fine art, illustration, photography, communication and graphic design, fashion design, textiles and materials, 3D design and product design, animation, interactive, film and sound, architecture, spatial and interior design, curation and culture, and creative computing. Within them the page's examples show BA courses at undergraduate level and MA courses at postgraduate level.

Neither is the "right" map. The lesson is that a title is a starting point, not a definition.

Rough families

These groupings are ours, for orientation only. Schools may place a discipline in another family.

• Fine art and studio arts: painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, glass, expanded media. Output is usually independent work shown in critique and exhibition. Kent State's studio art MFA, for example, lists eight concentrations including ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture and expanded media, and textiles.
• Image and media: photography, film, animation, video, sound, digital media, creative computing.
• Communication design: graphic design, illustration, typography, visual communication.
• Product and spatial design: industrial and product design, furniture, interior design and architecture, which have their own professional frameworks in some countries.
• Fashion and textiles: fashion design, pattern cutting, textiles, accessories, jewellery.
• Theory and context: art history, curating, critical studies.

Some of these lead into regulated professions in certain countries. Architecture and interior design are examples. A degree title alone does not say whether it counts toward registration, so ask the school and the authority in the country concerned.

Same name, different content

Compare the curriculum, not just the label:

1. Core courses and year-by-year structure. What is required, and what is optional?
2. Foundation year. Many schools have a shared first year before you specialise; check whether you choose your department at entry or later.
3. Balance of making and context. How much is studio, how much history, theory, professional practice or business?
4. Tools and workshops. Which equipment, software and workshops are included? Are there extra charges? See costs beyond tuition.
5. Output. Is the final assessment an exhibition, a portfolio, a thesis or a project with an outside client?
6. Flexibility. Can you take courses outside your department? Florida Atlantic's description of a broader BA with room for a second major or minor is one model; a narrower BFA is another. See BFA versus BA.

Portfolio expectations differ by discipline

Anglia Ruskin's portfolio guide, for example, adds course-specific advice to its general guidance: illustration applicants are asked for drawings from life and sketchbook documentation and a broad range of approaches, interior design applicants for engagement with built and lived spaces, and animation applicants for sequential and narrative images. Check the specialization's own portfolio guidance, and read preparing an art portfolio.

Choosing between neighbouring specializations

When two fields seem close, such as illustration and graphic design, or photography and film, try these steps:

• Read the course descriptions side by side and underline the verbs: draw, construct, research, publish, install, prototype.
• Look at what graduating students show; many schools publish degree shows or student work. We cannot say what any graduate went on to do.
• Ask whether you can move between departments after the first year.
• Ask which workshops you could use as a student in each.

If you are choosing between making and scholarship, read studio practice versus art history.

Postgraduate specialisation

At master's level, the specialization often becomes narrower. An MFA in a medium differs from an MA in a theme or in studio practice for teachers; read MFA versus MA. Some programs combine disciplines, so check whether you must pick a concentration at entry.

What we do not do

We do not rank specializations, compare them by salary or recommend any. Our subjects pages group programs by discipline using schools' own descriptions, and our choosing an art school guide gives a general framework. Confirm each program's structure with the school.