Design at York

Design at York The Department of Design at York University is recognized as a leader of design education in Canada.

The Department of Design at York University is recognized as a leader of design education in Canada, offering both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. York's Bachelor of Design is an internationally recognized four-year specialized honours degree. It is a comprehensive design program that offers students an intensive and professional education in intimate, student-centered learning environments. York's Master of Design program prepares advanced students for furthering the profession and studying the discipline through scholarly engagement and formal experimentation at the graduate level.

The 2026-27 DESN Handbook is now up. Check it out in our bio link.
08/27/2026

The 2026-27 DESN Handbook is now up. Check it out in our bio link.

Applying to the Bachelor of Design program at York University? Here are the requirements for a successful Supplementary ...
12/06/2025

Applying to the Bachelor of Design program at York University? Here are the requirements for a successful Supplementary Application:

Deadline: February 3, 2026

Components:
1. Portfolio + Sketchbook
2. Questionnaire

Your portfolio should include 10-12 samples of Original Work and 8-10 pages of your Sketchbook that best reflect your design thinking and process.

You will answer questions in the Questionnaire that show us who you are, what motivates you, and why you are excited about the program.

Good luck!

We’re proud to celebrate April Dang, Melody Chen, and Opal P., for their award-winning designs at the 2025 ADCC Student ...
11/16/2025

We’re proud to celebrate April Dang, Melody Chen, and Opal P., for their award-winning designs at the 2025 ADCC Student Awards! 🏆

April Dang, Gold Prize for Editorial and Book Design (Draft / Craft: The Toronto Reference Library Construction Archive)

Melody Chen, Silver Prize for Editorial and Book Design (Salt and Wounds)

Opal P., Shortlist for Graphic Design (Money Talks?)

Are you interested in studying design abroad? 🌎 Register for our International Exchange Information Session happening th...
11/04/2025

Are you interested in studying design abroad? 🌎

Register for our International Exchange Information Session happening this Thursday at 5:30pm over Zoom! Get the chance to chat with previous and current DESN exchange students at Bauhaus University, Weimar and discuss the application process with York International.

RSVP using the link in our bio! 🔗

This Saturday is National Portfolio Day at York University! 🎉Thinking about applying to the Bachelors of Design program?...
10/29/2025

This Saturday is National Portfolio Day at York University! 🎉

Thinking about applying to the Bachelors of Design program? Now is the perfect opportunity to have your portfolio reviewed by our design faculty and receive advice on how to stand out in your application.

Fall Campus Day is this Saturday, October 25th! 🍂 Visit our design studios and production facilities, chat with students...
10/22/2025

Fall Campus Day is this Saturday, October 25th! 🍂

Visit our design studios and production facilities, chat with students, and have your portfolio reviewed by design professors for your application to our Honours Bachelor of Design program.

Fall Campus Day is this Saturday, October 25th! 🍂Visit our design studios and production facilities, chat with students,...
10/22/2025

Fall Campus Day is this Saturday, October 25th! 🍂

Visit our design studios and production facilities, chat with students, and have your portfolio reviewed by design professors for your application to our Honours Bachelor of Design program.

A huge congratulations to our talented York University Design students and recent grads recognized for their outstanding...
10/22/2025

A huge congratulations to our talented York University Design students and recent grads recognized for their outstanding work and creative vision! 🏆

• Ashley Loyst, Honourable Mention for Logo Design
• Lili Crosby, Honourable Mention for UX Design
• Opal P., Honourable Mention for Information Design
• Jocelyn Zin, Honourable Mention for UX Design
• Daniel Santos, Honourable Mention for Information Design
• Thanh Dang, Honourable Mention for Typography (Not Shown)

We’re thrilled to celebrate Shaheer Saif, co-recipient of this year’s RGD Student Award for Editorial Design! 🏆 The inte...
10/22/2025

We’re thrilled to celebrate Shaheer Saif, co-recipient of this year’s RGD Student Award for Editorial Design! 🏆

The intended audience for this project includes anthropologists, art directors and graphic designers. The book embodies C. Nadia Seremetakis’s essay Memory of the Senses through material and visual form. The essay explores how sensory memory—such as the taste of a vanished Greek peach—carries cultural and historical weight. As global markets displace local foods and traditions, sensory experiences fragment, erasing connections between identity, memory and place. The Greek concept of nostalgia captures this embodied longing, turning sensory encounters into sites of resistance and continuity. To reflect these ideas, the book is printed on Kozuke White 44g Japanese paper, whose rough texture and translucency evoke memory’s ephemeral yet layered quality. ABC Synt, a monospaced typeface from Dinamo, was chosen for academic clarity and structural rigidity. Fully justified text within vertical rectangles mirrors fragmentation and convergence, while curated images and ornaments extend the essay’s themes of loss, preservation and cultural memory.

We’re thrilled to celebrate Faith Innes, co-recipient of this year’s RGD Student Award for Editorial Design! 🏆 Notes cov...
10/21/2025

We’re thrilled to celebrate Faith Innes, co-recipient of this year’s RGD Student Award for Editorial Design! 🏆

Notes covers mature subject matter, including the unethical practices of the Stanford Prison Experiment, which had long-lasting psychological effects on participants. The intended audience is adults aged 18–45, particularly those interested in psychology and the ethics of experimental design. A secondary audience includes readers unfamiliar with the experiment, as the book outlines its events and consequences for both text and visuals. Notes walks the viewer through each day of the experiment, reflecting its escalating chaos and violence. The book’s design mirrors this trajectory—typography and imagery become increasingly erratic as pages turn, emulating the prisoners’ deteriorating mental states. Stained, textured pages and a worn leather cover evoke the psychologist’s relentless note-taking and recall journals from the 1970s. Each chapter, marked by the day, represents shifts in autonomy and identity, conveying the loss of control experienced by participants. Expressive typography underscores the psychological descent at the core of the narrative.

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4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON
M3J1P3

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Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

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