Beginning Fall term 2026, the Creative Direction BFA program will be integrated into the Graphic Design BFA program, joining that curriculum’s other areas of emphasis, which currently include Print and Publication, Packaging, Motion, Transmedia and Visual Interaction Design. Students entering Fall 2026 or later who wish to study creative direction can apply to the Graphic Design BFA program and select an emphasis in Creative Direction. As advertising, branding and graphic design have converged, with modern agencies often combining all three disciplines, employers today generally expect the integrated skills and concept development made possible by combining a range of approaches. Merging our Creative Direction program into our Graphic Design program gives students a wider selection of course offerings, allowing them to develop the greater range of skills needed in today’s marketplace.

Current Creative Direction students will continue in the Creative Direction degree program through graduation.

Creativity defines, builds and grows brands, setting apart the quick thinkers and opportunity-seekers from companies that are satisfied with the status quo. The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Creative Direction degree (formerly the Bachelor’s in Advertising) prepares you to take the reins to steer marketing and advertising in exciting, intriguing, unexpected directions; to influence every aspect of how a company looks, sounds, feels and presents itself to the world.

Program Overview

The creative direction major establishes your visual and verbal fluency in the languages of communication—including film, video, photography, graphic and interaction design, social media, digital engagement and app conception. With a strong and competitive foundation in advertising practices, our courses will help you craft compelling narratives in traditional and digital spaces to drive consumer interest.

Prepare for Professional Environments

At ArtCenter, we break the conventional classroom structure to give you a true sense of the experience you’ll encounter working for a creative agency or major brand with a team of peers. In the creative direction program, you will collaborate with students from other majors in Transdisciplinary Studio courses to develop consumer insights and dynamic campaigns that integrate all forms of contemporary and new media. Similarly, the art of advertising and media-making becomes vivid through Sponsored Projects, a competitive opportunity for direct experience with major companies.

Launch Your Career

Whether your ultimate goal is to work directly for a company like Apple, Google, Nike or Louis Vuitton, or to work for an advertising agency with the opportunity to touch many brands, ArtCenter’s BFA in Creative Direction degree will prepare you to create and creative-direct content in all of the most relevant and contemporary forms of media, as well as to master new technologies and emerg­ing platforms. You will join a broad network of established alumni who serve as creative leaders in some of the most recognizable companies and distinguished advertising firms across the globe in roles like:

• Art Director
• Design Director
• Creative Director
• Copywriter
• Creative Strategist
• Digital Creative Director
• Media Director
• Broadcast Producer
• Art Supervisor
• Creative Supervisor
• Media Supervisor
• Media Planner

Join the Creative Direction Program at ArtCenter

Forge your path toward a career that blends creativity, innovation and market insights with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Direction. Through your unique perspective and compelling ideas, brands will flourish and reach new vistas of possibility.

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