Recently, the Ministry of Education published the List of Provincial First-class Undergraduate Major Construction Sites 2020, and the Visual Communication Design Major of the School of Fine Arts and Design was successfully selected it to the List.
The Visual Communication Design Major was set up in 1993 and began to recruit undergraduates in 2000. In 2008, it carried out joint education with Waikato Institute of Technology (New Zealand) and recruited postgraduate students, undergraduates, and junior college students. In 2014, it was authorized to grant Master of Fine Arts professional degree. In 2017, relying on the College of Chinese-ASEAN Arts, it started the recruitment and cultivation of international undergraduate and postgraduate students. In 2018, it was rated as a five-star major in the Evaluation Report of Universities and Disciplines in China released by Research Center for Chinese Science Evaluation of Wuhan University. In 2019, it was recognized as one of the five key disciplines of Chengdu University.
The Visual Communication Design Major focuses on the coordinated development of students' humanistic quality + professional theory + innovative thinking + design practice, carries out interdisciplinary exploration and comprehensive research on current complex visual creative design, emerging media design, and cultural creative industry, and cultivates high-quality application-oriented design talents serving local areas. Based on the international advantages of Chengdu and the School of Fine Arts and Design, the major vigorously promotes the innovative design and practical exploration of the "Silk Road" with Chinese characteristics, develops a sound international talent training system and culture and art exchange platform, cooperates with overseas universities at the early stage, and serves the state's international strategy. Based on visual communication design, it actively integrates into the reform and development of regional community and economy, constantly promotes the creative transformation and innovative development of design, focuses on the R&D, innovation and application of emerging industry design, and accelerates the integration of cultural creativity and design service with manufacturing industry.
In recent three years, the teacher team of the major has provided fruitful design service for local governments and major enterprises in Chengdu, Ya'an, Dujiangyan, Heishui, Lixian, Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan Province, and Chongqing, Hunan, Gansu, Yunnan, etc., created nearly 100 famous brands at home and abroad, provided design service for many famous wine brands in China, tutored students to win hundreds of professional competition awards at home and abroad, won more than 20 scientific research projects at all levels (including 3 NSSFC projects), published a total of 11 monographs and textbooks as well as more than 80 professional papers (including 25 published on core journals), gained RMB 1.8 million scientific research fund, obtained outstanding professional achievements, and won major professional awards at home and abroad such as PDC International Gold Award, CLIO International Advertising Award, China Star Gold Award for Design & Arts, WPO WorldStar Gold Award, and China Brand Image Design Gold Award (Ministry of Culture).
In the process of construction and development, teachers and students of the Visual Communication Design Major carry out bold exploration and continuous reform and innovation. In terms of talent training mode reform, it upholds the student-centered and need-oriented concept, reforms the teaching content and methodology, establishes the characteristic teaching system of "2 knowledge modules + 4 course groups + 2 courses", promotes the university-industry collaborative innovation, and creates the talent training environment of university-industry linkage. With regard to course system reform, it follows the development trends of cultural and creative industry and digital media industry, establishes two professional knowledge modules of "digital media design" and "creative design", optimizes the structure of professional courses, constructs professional course group, basic course group and theoretical course group under the guidance of excellent courses and characteristic courses, introduces and develops a number of digital media courses, and forms a comprehensive course structure integrating visual communication design, interdisciplines and emerging industries. When it comes to teaching content reform, it follows the teaching concept of "big art and big design", attaches importance to the interdisciplinary knowledge, highlights the systematic characteristics of design, strengthens the management of learning process, implements the learning method of establishing workbook, promotes the transformation from target-oriented teaching to process-oriented teaching, and highlights knowledge integration and project experience; As for practical teaching reform, it sets up a centralized practical course group to stimulate students' professional interest, strengthens the support for students' discipline competition and entrepreneurship and innovation projects by leveraging the second classroom, discipline competition and entrepreneurship and innovation education, adheres to the normalization of promoting learning by competition, and establishes a practical teaching mode of "practice course group + workshop + research project training + practice platform enterprise training”.
The approval as a provincial first-class undergraduate major construction site not only reflects the highest recognition for the construction achievements of the Visual Communication Design Major by the education administration, but also marks a new milestone in the development of the major. The Visual Communication Design Major will actively build a professional structure closely integrated with the economic and social development of Sichuan Province and Chengdu, leverage the golden opportunity of Sichuan's vigorous development of “cultural, creative and design service" and Chengdu's construction of "world-famous cultural city" and "cultural & creative center", closely integrate professional teaching, design practice and related industries, rely on College of Chinese-ASEAN Arts - a major project of Chengdu in culture and education, give full play to the international advantages, adhere to the orientation of emerging cutting-edge design and regional talent training, and strive to build a first-class undergraduate major with regional characteristics, domestic leadership and international influence.
