Graphic by Matias Pacheco-Ramirez
Can a simple name change reflect the future of design? For Chapman, the answer lies in an industry increasingly shaped by emerging technologies and expanding creative possibilities.
In August 2026, Chapman’s graphic design major was renamed to design, a change that Department Head and associate professor Eric Chimenti said is meant to reflect the evolving nature of design industries and the advanced technologies that come from this evolution.
Despite the new name, Chimenti says the design program’s requirements have not changed significantly from the previous graphic design major.
“As we continued to evolve, we just felt that it was time to update the name to better reflect what we were already doing,” Chimenti said. “It isn’t a matter of ‘We used to do this, and now we’re doing something completely different’; it’s that [modern technological software] came after.”
According to the design program’s biannual publication Commpost, graphic design was recognized as a major in 1991 and has since adapted to technological advances and developments in creative industries. Artificial intelligence, user experience and human interaction are modern technologies that haven’t always been emphasized in traditional graphic design programs.
A 2021 report by the Professional Association for Design (AIGA), which surveyed 5,437 people in over 100 countries, found that, while 85% of designers were proficient in graphic or communication design, only 29% reported proficiency in user experience design, with only 19% in interaction design.
Students with sophomore standing and above will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in graphic design, while current freshmen and future students who enroll in August 2026 or later will receive a BFA in design. Just like the previous graphic design major, design still requires 78 credits along with an independent internship.
Senior graphic design and psychology double major Xenia Diaz Castillo was surprised that the design department touted the name change as a substantial shift for the program.
“They made it seem like it was something huge,” Diaz Castillo said. “I remember it was such a controversy with some students when they changed the name, and to be honest, I don’t think the change will affect me as much.”
Meanwhile, freshman design major Johana Perez is part of the inaugural design BFA class. As a freshman, Perez has been enjoying the design program’s wide selection of classes.
“I really like the broad approach that the design program has,” Perez said. “The more skill you have, the more valuable you are to the job market.
Perez works in the design department’s Ideation Lab, a space on campus that houses 3D printers and other cutting-edge technology that encourages creativity and innovation. She is also looking forward to taking user experience and user-interface classes in the future.
Similarly, Diaz Castillo said that the program’s broad approach can be highly valuable to students who are still figuring out the specific career they would like to pursue.
“I like [the foundational courses] because those base courses give people an idea of what area they want to pursue in graphic design, and based on that, choose what optional classes they’d like to take,” Diaz Castillo said.
While design projects typically rely on a designer’s creativity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to simplify redundant tasks, such as color or font corrections, and experiment with unique visuals they may not have used before.
Perez said that she sometimes uses AI to help her create study guides and answer questions she may have about certain course concepts. However, she does not want to use AI in a way that replaces her own work and reduces her critical thinking skills.
Perez also said that other Generation-Z college students are becoming more aware of AI use in businesses’ advertisements and logos, with 79% of Americans reporting seeing advertisements in the past 30 days that appeared to be AI-generated, according to a 2026 Bentley University-Gallup survey.
Some businesses may use AI instead of hiring a graphic designer, but Perez has hope that her design skills will help her secure jobs in the future. Currently, 90% of businesses are still using graphic designers as AI reshapes creative work, according to a report by Clutch.
“There are other businesses who will probably take us seriously, who want to do it correctly, and will hire humans to do the work and guide them through the process of creating their own brand identity,” Perez said. “So in that aspect, I'm not scared of AI taking over the job market or taking over my job as a designer.”
The design department offers a relatively new elective course called “AI Design and Research,” which examines the role of AI in design research. However, Chimenti said that design students learn about AI in their freshman year.
“It’s not that we wait until their senior year for them to take (“AI Design and Research”); we start talking about AI in our courses in their first year and how they can use it and not use it,” Chimenti said.
Chimenti said that successful alums have also collaborated with design professors to emphasize AI discussions in AI Design and Research.
“We asked them, ‘What’s going on in your work, how are you using design now that you’re out in the field?’” Chimenti said. “(Discussions about AI) start there, but then it trickles down to AI in the other classes and where they can use AI.”
A degree in design can help students land careers in graphic design, illustration, marketing, technology and many other fields that require strong skills in communication and creativity.
For Diaz Castillo, studying both graphic design and psychology allowed her to apply trauma-informed design to her creative projects. In particular, she said that cancer survivors often develop aversions to the color red due to their trauma of chemotherapy.
“I’m mindful to not include that color in my color palette because I don’t want to trigger something like that,” Diaz Castillo said. “It teaches me how to design for people with trauma.”
Chimenti said that the ability to integrate research, technology and creativity can be some of the most important skills for design students.
“It’s the synthesis of appropriate research, applied with the appropriate technology and appropriate creativity to produce a product that resonates with those you’re trying to communicate with,” Chimenti said.