Apply for the Major
The Pre-Communication Review is a two-stage process consisting of a first-round Portfolio Review and the second round of Personal Interviews. Applicants will submit their portfolios, including artwork and their final project from ART 151, and a current Degree Audit Report (DAR). Portfolios must be submitted digitally as a Behance website. A link to the site must be provided.
2022 Deadline Overview
- Sunday, March 20, 2022, 5:00 p.m. Eastern
- Portfolio submissions are due via the form below
- Monday, March 28, 2022, before 5:00 p.m. Eastern
- All applicants receive an email with results from the portfolio review
- Applicants who are invited to the interview phase sign up for an interview time
- Tuesday, March 29, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Zoom Interviews
- Wednesday, March 30
- Notification of acceptance into Communication Design
Portfolio
The Behance portfolio should contain a total of 9 pieces maximum of college-level artwork selected to demonstrate your range of skills and abilities. The final project from ART151 is required. The eight additional pieces of work need to include a mix of physical and digital projects from all the Foundations courses you are enrolled in or completed at the time of application.
Required Selection from Pre-Comm Design Coursework
Your final project from ART 151: Becoming a People-Driven Designer must be included in your portfolio. Create a Behance project page that includes your final project. Use the title, “ART 151 Final Project” and provide a brief description indicating how your work achieves the goals listed in the evaluation criteria below. Both the project itself and your written description will be considered in the evaluation.
| Criterion | Description |
| Problem Solving | Communication designers are creative problem solvers. Your video should address how you identify, examine, and creatively address complex problems. |
| Design Process | Communication designers use an iterative design process to help solve creative problems. Your video should showcase your ability to follow and communicate a design process. |
Selections from Foundations Coursework
For each of the evaluation criteria below, select the most appropriate project from your foundations coursework and create a Behance project page using the criterion title as the project title and provide a brief project description indicating how you feel the work you have chosen best fits the goal for each criterion. Both the project and your written description will be considered in the evaluation.
| Criterion | Description | Goal |
| Visual Composition | Communication designers use visual composition to arrange aesthetic elements to create usable, useful, and understandable work. Select the work that you feel best achieves the goal. | This piece best demonstrates my ability to utilize the elements and principles of design (form, shape, line, texture, space, balance, unity, contrast, repetition, pattern, and emphasis) to create an aesthetic visual composition. |
| Color | Communication designers use color to evoke all kinds of emotions to enhance the concept or idea being expressed in their creative work. Select the work that you feel best achieves the goal. | This piece best demonstrates my ability to create work that utilizes color to enhance the concept or idea being expressed and showcases my knowledge of color relationships and schemes. |
| Drawing Ability | Communication designers use drawing to quickly represent ideas and create believable and tangible prototypes for clients. Select the work that you feel best achieves the goal. | This piece best demonstrates my ability to develop a believable, detailed, and compelling drawing through the use of controlled abstraction, shading, perspective, and/or line quality. |
| Concept | Communication designers use concepts to make complex content and ideas easier to understand. Select the work that you feel best achieves the goal. | This piece best demonstrates my ability to effectively develop and communicate content or ideas. |
| Exploration of Media | Communication designers try different creative tools and techniques. Select the work that you feel best achieves the goal. | This piece best demonstrates my ability to try and combine different creative tools and techniques. |
| Attention to Detail | Communication designers pay close attention to detail and impeccable hand and digital craft skills. Select the work that you feel best achieves the goal. | This piece best demonstrates my ability to create work with careful attention to detailed execution and high quality of hand and/or digital craft. |
| Risk-Taking | Communication designers take risks that may include going beyond the original parameters of an assignment or brief, introducing new materials and forms into your work, tackling controversial topics and/or concepts, or advocating unpopular ideas or solutions. Select the work that you feel best achieves the goal. | This piece best demonstrates my ability to take risks in my creative practice. |
Wildcard Selection
For the evaluation criteria below, select any piece you wish and create a Behance project page using the criterion title as the project title and provide a brief project description indicating how you feel the work you have chosen best fits the goal for each criterion. Both the project and your written description will be considered in the evaluation.
| Criterion | Description | Goal |
| Creativity | Communication designers use their imagination to create unexpected and interesting visual work. Select the work that you feel best achieves the goal. | This piece best demonstrates my original thinking and imagination, as well as my ability to create in unexpected ways by taking advantage of interesting visual or conceptual components. |
Interview
If your average portfolio score is 3.0 or above, you will be invited to participate in an admissions interview. In the interview, you will be asked questions related to your daily life, creative work, design process, inspirational people, and other academic coursework at Miami. Additionally, you will be asked to critique design work that you didn’t create. Evaluation criteria for the interview are listed below.
Submission Deadlines: Details
Portfolios and materials must be submitted before 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, March 20, 2022.
No late submissions will be accepted. Portfolios are evaluated by the Communication Design faculty in online submission and closed screening.
All applicants will receive an email no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday, March 28, 2022. Applicants who are selected to continue will be sent a Google Doc sign-up sheet to participate in the Interviews with Communication Design Faculty on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
The 10-minute personal Interviews will take place on Zoom during specific time slots indicated on the sign-up sheet mentioned above.
Notification of acceptance status will be by email from the Communication Design faculty by March 30 after interviews are completed to accommodate students with Priority and Early Registration.
The top-scoring (up to 24) students will be admitted to the program per year. The faculty in Communication Design will provide applicants who are not accepted with a PDF of the portfolio and/or interview evaluation scores and feedback. For students not accepted for admission to the Communication Design program, it is recommended students repeat ART151 and meet with a design faculty member.
Questions about the Application Process should be directed to the ART 151 instructor.
Use the form on this page to submit a portfolio to apply for the Communication Design program.