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About
Program
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What is Packaging Design?
Packaging
design is inexplicably linked to every aspect of the
emerging cultures of humankind from developments in
technology, materials, and production to the conditions of
evolving consumer societies. Packaging design serves to
protect, store and transport goods and is the means by which
the marketing strategy for a consumer brand is visually
communicated.
Packaging
design employs a comprehensive design methodology in order
to solve complex brand marketing problems. Packaging
designers are the design professionals that understand how
to connect form and structure, materials, color, imagery,
typography and ancillary design elements with product
information to create a marketable design for a consumer
product. Not only does a packaging design perform diverse
functional roles, the design serves to legally represent the
product and its purpose; and visually identify and
distinguish a product and brand within the market place. The
many objectives along with the goals of standing out among
competitors, avoiding consumer confusion, and influencing
the consumer in a purchasing decision make packaging design
the critical factor in the success of a company’s integrated
brand marketing plan.
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What is the Packaging
Design program at FIT?
The
Packaging Design baccalaureate program at The Fashion
Institute of Technology is the only program of its kind in
the country. The program's unique academic mission is focused
on teaching students the discipline of brand and packaging
design. The Packaging Design program credits its strength on
a focus of continuous improvement. The curriculum, graduation and retention
rates, student satisfaction, alumni development, industry
partnerships and faculty development are assessed regularly
and goals for improvement are established often.
Since
brand packaging design serves as the mechanisms for the marketing
of consumer brands across diverse industries, many of the
FIT programs that focus on the design and marketing of
products and services benefit from packaging design courses
and packaging design students benefit as well from numerous
inter-disciplinary experiences.
The program graduates approximately twenty-five students a
year. Currently, the Packaging Design Department services
over four hundred students a year, outside of the
Packaging Design major, including such disciplines as Accessories
Design, Communication Design, Cosmetic and Fragrance
Marketing and Development, Display and Exhibit Design, Home
Products Marketing and Development, and Toy Design.
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What do graduates of the
program do?
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99% of
Packaging Design program graduates are employed as Brand
Packaging Design professionals.
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Professional titles ranged from Designer, Junior
Designer to Assistant Art Director.
On
average, ninety percent of the graduates secure full-time or
full-time freelance employment by the fall of their
graduation year. In 2004, seventeen out of twenty three
students were either full-time or full-time freelance
employees by the summer. By August of 2005, sixteen out of
twenty one graduates were fully employed. This is a result
of the success of the internship program (a percentage of
students are offered positions by their internship sponsor),
the Industry Portfolio Review (many students are contacted
as a result of this event) and the extensive alumni network.
All of the major brand and packaging design firms throughout
the Tri-State region have Packaging Design BFA alumni on
staff. Corporations that have FIT Packaging Design alumni in
staff include: Avon, Clairol, Colgate Palmolive, Elizabeth
Arden, Estee Lauder, Hasbro, Kraft, and Pepsi. Most of the
top brand design firms have our alumni in staff.
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Who is eligible for this
program?
Pre-admission advisement encourages students that evidence
commitment and desire to succeed in the program to apply.
Packaging Design does not have a part-time program of study.
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Given
the pre-admissions advisement, the program maintains a
selective application pool.
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73% of
the applicants for the Fall 2007 were accepted.
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88% of
students accepted enrolled
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20 of
students enrolled have AAS degrees
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2 of
students enrolled have BA degrees
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2 of
students enrolled have BFA degrees
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4 of
students enrolled are transfer students
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20 of
students enrolled were two-year students within the
institution
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21% of
students enrolled are male
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79%of
students enrolled are female
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60%
are New York City residents
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21%
are New York State residents from outside New York City
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13%
are Out of State residents from within the United States
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6% are
International residents
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What are the Program’s
Minimum Requirements for Admitting Students?
Applicants
for the Packaging Design program submit their application to
the Admissions Department along with the appropriate
requirements from their previous academic institution. The
Department Admissions Committee faculty evaluates and ranks
the applicants work based on demonstration of required
skills and abilities and reviews the applicant’s portfolio.
The applicants ranked acceptable or higher are recommended
by the Department and submitted to the Admissions Department
for further action. Qualified applicants who meet the
academic standards set forth by the Admissions Department
are accepted into the Packaging Design Department. A deposit
and tuition payment is required for the applicant to enroll
in the program.
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What is the application
process?
Information sessions are
conducted on scheduled dates between September and November.
All interested students are welcome to attend. When the
information sessions are scheduled, the dates will be posted
outside D323.
The initial admissions application is due by
January 1st however the department accepts applications
until the end of February.
An interview and portfolio
review is required for all applicants. The Department will
contact the applicant of the portfolio review date. All
interviews are conducted on the same date during mid-Spring.
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