At Southwestern Oklahoma State University, graphic design students are encouraged to take a class in math concepts. This introductory course is used as a building block for further math classes and for design basics, by explaining how math can be applied in practical ways. Students should expect to get an overview of set theory, graph theory, probability and statistics, and number theory.
Students who have struggled with math theory in the past might enjoy studying mathematical foundations for design at Drexel University, one of the required classes for a degree in graphic design. In this class, students learn math basics, but only those math basics that are applicable to design Arts majors. The course focuses on math with a visual component, like trigonometry, plane and fractal geometry, function, and graphs.
In the class on computing with physical objects: algorithms for shape and motion, Stanford design majors learn how to use computer-based math for better-finessed designs. The class focuses specifically on ways of representing and manipulating images that have already been designed through instruction on triangulation, special subdivision, and geometric computation dealing with mathematical algorithms, rendering an image in multiple dimensions.
The University of Florida’s Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering offers a course in special topics in computational geometry. Though the exact subject may change from semester to semester, the overall course emphasizes problems in rendering a digital image as a consequence of mathematical difficulties. Computational geometry’s coursework helps graphic design students learn how to trouble-shoot appropriately and effectively through computer-aided geometric design and algorithmic modeling.
At the University of Texas at Dallas, graduate graphic design students learn the specific interaction between computer-based graphic design and mathematics. Through the study of coordinate systems, differential geometry, spline theory, and the differing forms of dimensions relating to surfaces and curves, students are better able to model geometrically.