The School of Design is an inquisitive community of students and faculty that addresses firsthand the issues of the world around it.
We take pride in our professionally oriented programs, many of which have a long history at Syracuse University. We offer undergraduate degree programs in communications design, design studies, environmental and interior design, fashion design, and industrial and interaction design and graduate degree programs in design and museum studies. Concern for sustainable design practices, social issues, and excellence in professional practice forms the core of our programs.
100+
Years of design at Syracuse University
Learn from Industry Experts
Our faculty are active professionals who practice in their fields while they teach. They are dedicated to ensuring that you reach your potential and give you one-on-one instruction in your studio classes. Our school maintains a special relationship with the Syracuse community through the activities of our various student groups (including chapters of professional design organizations) that continually work on projects with not-for-profit agencies as well as funded research design collaborations.
Eight Floors Dedicated to Design
Our programs are housed in the Nancy Cantor Warehouse, the University’s building in downtown Syracuse, which allows our students and faculty to benefit from a city atmosphere and interactions with local design firms. First-year design students may choose to live in our Design Learning Community, an academically and socially supportive residential environment on Main Campus.
We also encourage our students to reach beyond the local community and study abroad at one of the University’s many international centers, including Florence, Italy, and London, England.
Professionally Oriented Programs
Integral to our curricula are opportunities to acquire career development skills critical for professional designers. Professional practices are addressed in many of our courses, while visiting and resident designers provide unique insight into their respective disciplines. Internships provide invaluable experience in a real-world setting. Undergraduate students may choose to minor in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises, which includes coursework in essential business tools.
Design students present their portfolios each spring at events in New York City. Fashion design majors present their senior collections at the annual on-campus fashion show and may have their collections selected for the annual New York City fashion show.
Undergraduate Majors
- Communications Design B.F.A.
- Design Studies B.S.
- Environmental and Interior Design B.F.A.
- Fashion Design B.F.A.
- Industrial and Interaction Design B.I.D.
Graduate Degree Programs
Recent School of Design News
Alumni News
Design Alumna Receives Inaugural Orange Innovation Fund Award
Natasha Brao '22, G'23, G'24, a communications design alumna of the College of Visual and Performing Arts' School of Design, was one of three winners of inaugural Orange Innovation Fund awards, a grant program administered through Syracuse University Libraries designed to help students commercialize their research ideas. Read More...
![Eric Hart holds a flag with a triangle pattern and star on it]()
Alumni News
City of Syracuse Flag Design Inspired by ‘The Land You’re On: Acknowledging the Haudenosaunee’ Podcast
Through the podcast, communications design alumnus Eric Hart '10, who designed the City of Syracuse's new flag, learned about the Onondaga Nation and how it connected back to his family’s genealogy.
![Emily Stokes-Rees]()
Faculty News
Emily Stokes-Rees, associate professor of museum studies, director of the School of Design, and the Iris Magidson Endowed Professor of Design Leadership, published the article "Antidote to anarchy: the Matilda Joslyn Gage House as a site of social justice dialogue" in Museums and Social Issues.
