Welcome to the Division of Design & Merchandising. This learning community is dedicated to shaping the future in ways that will improve the quality of living. It is an interesting and challenging task and a worthy goal for this generation.
Today, careers in design and merchandising are many and varied. Nationally and internationally, we are witnessing the emergence of the Design Economy – the 21st Century successor to the Agricultural Age (18th C.), Industrial Age (19th C.), and Information Age (20th C.).
As an international language, design can define a product, place, or experience in ways that signal social and economic growth and have enormous potential to innovate, inspire and civilize. The majors in this Division are dedicated to educating designers capable of leading innovation, and merchandisers skilled at disseminating it.
We are providing a design education that develops broad and flexible skills to position our graduates not only for employment as designers, but also as managers, researchers, strategists and communicators. Our merchandising majors learn to play a vital role in innovation by assuring that designs reach their target markets, are recognized as valuable and widely adopted. Successful merchandising employs the most effective means of selecting, pricing, displaying and advertising items for sale in a retail outlet. Without skilled merchandising, even the best design might never be seen.
We currently offer majors in Interior Design (ID), Design Studies (DSGN), and Textiles, Apparel and Merchandising (TA&M). TA&M majors may follow one of two tracks, Fashion Design or Fashion Merchandising.
