Strategic Design Fellows

The program’s curriculum and co-curricular activities will produce business leaders who can make strategically sound and creative marketing, brand, and management decisions.

The Strategic Design Fellows program empowers students to bridge business strategy and design to drive innovation. Program goals emphasize creative problem-solving, experiential learning and professional growth.

1. Build strategic design literacy
   Enable students to recognize and apply effective design principles across products, services, graphics, user experience, environments and branding.
2. Develop creative problem-solving skills
   Teach design-thinking methods — empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test — to solve real business challenges.
3. Strengthen marketing and business capabilities through experiential learning
   Integrate design with core business strategy to improve decision-making and innovation by immersing students in real-world projects, client collaborations and portfolio development that prepare them for the job market.
4. Cultivate professional and technical skills
   Equip fellows with proficiency in industry tools, including Adobe Creative Suite and Figma, as well as personal branding techniques.
5. Foster interdisciplinary teamwork
   Encourage collaboration between marketing and design students to develop comprehensive business solutions.
6. Connect students with industry professionals
   Provide networking, mentorship and feedback opportunities through guest speakers, alumni and external partners.

BMGT350: Principles of Marketing
Principles of Marketing provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of marketing, including the marketing of service and nonprofit organizations. Students learn marketing strategy through an understanding of segmentation, targeting and positioning, and examine the role of marketing research and consumer behavior in determining target markets. The four Ps — product, place, price and promotion — are explored through the lens of satisfying customer needs, wants and desires.

BMGT458A: Design and Innovation in Marketing
Design in Marketing explores the role design plays in marketing strategy. Marketers and designers work together to offer complementary creative skills and perspectives to create a sustainable competitive advantage for firms and organizations. This course brings those two worlds together. Students examine how individual and corporate interests can be served through the effective use of design in product and service development, management, branding and packaging. Case studies explore applications in retail, workplace, ecological, fashion, automotive and wayfinding contexts.
Students create an online portfolio as their final individual course project.

BMGT458Q: Special Topics in Marketing: Computer Graphics Workshop*
This course is an introduction to computer graphics and visual communication principles. Students explore fundamental design principles through digital visual communication projects, utilizing skills such as photo manipulation, digital illustration and page layout. Personal branding and team projects are taught using Adobe Creative Suite tools: Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.

OR

BMGT458R: Special Topics in Marketing: Advanced Computer Graphics Workshop
This course is intended for advanced design students who are comfortable creating page layouts in InDesign, using the pen tool in Illustrator and sizing images for print and web in Photoshop. Students improve proficiency in computer graphics and visual communication principles and use tools including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma and InVision.

*Incoming design fellows with a basic knowledge of creating page layouts in InDesign, using the pen tool in Illustrator and sizing images for print and web in Photoshop may opt to take BMGT458R, which provides more advanced training in these programs, instead of BMGT458Q. Second-year design fellows and incoming studio art majors may also opt to take BMGT458R, but it is not required.

BMGT458B: Design Applications in Marketing and Branding
This course covers the key elements of branding and marketing a product, service or cause through immersion in an agency experience. Students form branding and marketing agencies and compete in two projects: a pitch to a real client and a case competition. Students also learn about branding, advertising and media through guest speakers.

(Optional) BMGT458R: Special Topics in Marketing: Advanced Computer Graphics Workshop
This optional advanced course in graphic design and computer graphics is designed for second-year students. Students further develop their skills in Figma and Adobe programs including After Effects, Premiere and Rush. First-year students with prior experience in graphic design may enroll during year one.