Northern Illinois University
School of Theatre and Dance
College of Visual and Performing Arts

Focusing on artistic vision, collaboration, and technical mastery, the specialization in Design and Technology trains young designers for a life in professional theatre. Students are trained in all the skills necessary to work as professionals, including artistic research, graphic and digital pre-visualization, and drafting.

The specialization in design and technology trains students in multiple areas of the visual and/or technical aspects of the performing arts and live entertainment. Students are guided toward specialization in one of four major areas: costumes, lighting, scenery, or technical theatre. All areas of emphasis strive to create thoughtful, research-based storytellers with skills and knowledge to work as designers and technicians in the arts and entertainment industries.

With an emphasis in learning through production and performance, students utilize theoretical skills from the classroom in production. While classroom work informs analytical skills and provides training in all four design and technology areas of study, the production experience allows for a controlled, supervised teaching environment in which a specific design/technical craft is applied. The faculty trains students to refine and apply the tools of storytelling to the complex process of planning and executing production design.

The Master of Fine Arts program with a specialization in design and technology offers program emphases of study in:

• Scene Design
• Lighting Design
• Costume Design
• Theatre Technology

The recommended course of study trains students in multiple areas of the visual and/or technical aspects of the theatre, although guiding students toward specialization in one of the major design areas. However, it is possible for a student with exceptional prior training in theatrical design or technology to study in more than one design area. Emphasizing performance, the design faculty trains its students to refine and apply the artist's tools to the complex process of planning and executing production design.

Enrollment in the specialization in design and technology is limited in order to maximize personalized instruction and to exploit fully the resources within and outside the department. While the classroom work informs analytical skills and provides training in all four design and technology areas of study, the production experience allows for a controlled, supervised teaching environment in which a specific design/technical craft is applied.

Course Work

A common set of course work is shared among all design and technology graduate students. These courses recognize the importance the visual world in which theatre exists by providing basic courses in drawing and the icons of the visual world. These courses are:

• Drawing for the Theatre
• Period Style for the Theatre I
• Period Style for the Theatre II

In addition all design and technology students will choose from among the following graphic skills courses, many of which may be repeated to further strengthen those skills:

• Advanced Costume Technology: Pattern Drafting
• Advanced Costume Technology: Millinery and Accessories
• Advanced Costume Technology: Dyeing and Painting
• Electronic Visualization
• Rendering Techniques
• Advanced Drafting
• Scene Painting