Degree Overview: BFA in Product Design
The Department of Product Design offers a four-year professional bachelor of fine arts (BFA) degree. Based in Eugene, product design students will take courses offered by the department as well as courses in Art, Digital Art, History of Art and Architecture, and Interior Architecture for the major, offered in the College of Design. Students also take a wide variety of courses throughout the university for a full liberal arts education.
The liberal arts basis of the UO offers our product designers the opportunity to work directly with students from many other disciplines, increasing the designers' capacities to connect, grow, and develop futures with people of many interests and knowledge bases. The final year of study for the BFA degree is currently located at the White Stag Building in Portland’s Old Town historic district. Requiring a combination of design studios, interdisciplinary creative work, liberal arts studies, and industry internships, the BFA degree has been carefully created to prepare our students for successful professional careers as product designers.
Required Courses for the BFA in Product Design
120 total department credits (+ 60 credits of UO General Education courses)
Drawing and Basic Design (4 courses)
16 Credits Total
PD 101: Intro to Product Design
4 Credits
ART 115: Surface, Space and Time
4 Credits
ART 116: Core Interdisciplinary Lab or ARTS 288: Sculpture I: Mixed Media
4 Credits
PD 223: Beginning Design Drawing
4 Credits
Lower Division Studio: 200 Level (3 courses)
12 Credits Total
PD 240: Designers' Tools
4 Credits
ARTD 250: Print Media Digital Arts
4 Credits
Elective *
One studio course chosen from product design (PD), ceramics (ARTC), fibers (ARTF), metalsmithing and jewelry (ARTM), sculpture (ARTS)
4 Credits
Upper Division Studio (5 courses)
20 Credits Total
PD 301: Introduction to Design Studio
4 Credits
PD 302: Junior Design Studio 2
4 Credits
PD 323: Design Drawing
4 Credits
PD 330: Computer-Assisted Design & Production I
4 Credits
PD 430: Computer-Assisted Design & Production II
4 Credits
Upper Division Theory (3 courses)
12 Credits Total
PD 370: Design Process
4 Credits
PD 350: Objects and Impacts
4 Credits
PD 340: Design for Use
4 Credits
PD Senior Studio (3 courses)
12 Credits Total
PD 483: Senior Studio I
4 Credits
PD 484: Senior Studio II
4 Credits
PD 485: Senior Studio III
4 Credits
BFA Studio —UO Portland Campus (3 courses)
18 Credits Total
PD 486: BFA Studio I
6 Credits
PD 487: BFA Studio II
6 Credits
PD 488: BFA Studio III
6 Credits
Internships
12 Credits Minimum
PD 404: Internships
0–12 Credits
Art History (2 courses)
8 Credits Total
ARH 358: History of Design
(required)
4 Credits
And choose 1 of the 2 following courses:
ARH: ARH Elective
4 Credits
PD 360: Object Culture
4 Credits
Upper Division Studio Electives
10 Credits Minimum
Examples:
300-Level Studios in ARTC, ARTF, ARTM, ARTS
PD 410: Advanced CAD
PD 410: Lighting Design
PD 410: Portfolio
PD 420: Digital Drawing
PD 440: Advanced Tools