Entry to the Bachelor of Design program at Capilano University is competitive, and applicants must submit a portfolio and other documents through the online portal SlideRoom. Early Applications for Fall 2020 close January 22, 2020.

Shown above: “Home for Christmas” by Nisa Hansen (IDEA Grad 2023) as part of her student application to IDEA School of Design at Capilano University in North Vancouver, BC.

Merry Christmas from IDEA School of Design at Capilano University! Early Applications for the Fall 2019 Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication close on Wednesday, January 22, 2020. Shown above: Illustrated and animated baby Yoda by first-year student, Jamie Kusack (IDEA Grad 2023).

So, you’re interested in applying to the Bachelor of Design (aka IDEA) program and want to know more about the application process? Then you’ve come to the right place! The first-year students of IDEA 23 have offered up their advice and experiences with applying to the program and how they got in.

Shown above: Tortle Kimberly-Stevens by Connie Low (IDEA23) as part of her application.

Congratulations to Sophie Young (IDEA Grad 2021) for winning the Applied Arts Student Award with her Rising Sea Levels Infographic Design. Instructor: Heather Jalbout. Check out her award-winning student design project!

IDEA School of Design encourages students to do as many internships as they can before they graduate. But how do you land one? That’s what we explored in our Saturday Ready, Set, Intern workshop. How do you dip your toe into industry for the first time without too much anxiety?

Check out three important steps to landing an internship!

Huge congratulations to Sharleen Ramos (IDEA Grad 2021) for winning the Jim Rimmer Community Scholarship for Design Award with her advertising campaign Recycle My Electronics. The judges said there were over 40 entries from Vancouver schools, and only two winners, both from IDEA!

Check out her award-winning student advertising project!

Huge congratulations to Emma Sato (IDEA Grad 2022) for winning both the Applied Arts Student Award and the Jim Rimmer Community Scholarship for Design Award with her advertising series Boddi.com. The judges said there were over 40 entries from Vancouver schools, and only two winners, both from IDEA!

Check out her award-winning student advertising project!

Three of our grads work at Vancouver’s One Twenty Three West. Thank you to our talented alumni for the great group photos and career advice for our 4th-year students!

Shown left to right above: Kim Ridgewell, Creative Director (IDEA Grad 2007); Taeyeon Kim (IDEA Grad 2016), Designer; and John Larigakis, Creative Director (IDEA Grad 2010).

This was the 2nd year students' first foray into package design for a beverage. Shown above: True Nature Botanical Gin Packaging by Jonathan Pachkowsky (IDEA Grad 2022). Check out some of the amazing project results from IDEA Grad 2022!

Workshop leader and photographer, Rick Etkin, returned this Fall to work with a motivated and energetic group of the 3rd year students. He gave a basic working and practical overview of lighting and photography techniques for the studio. The course plan offers the basics that a designer could use to light simple products and people for use in their layouts.

From left to right: Emma Sun, Atrin Yazdani-Biuki, Sofia Alvarenga Morales, Rick Etkin, Rachel Wong, Haluka Yagi, Sara Nguyen. Check out this story!

Congratulations to Rachel Wong (IDEA Grad 2021) for winning 5th place in the prestigious CAPIC Rodeo 11 student contest for illustration with her digital painting Reflecting (shown above).

Many congratulations to Capilano University's IDEA School of Design students who continue to dominate the CAPIC student awards in illustration!

IDEA22 set out to explore the working environment and day-to-day tasks of two Vancouver based digital design businesses.

This group of second-year students is in the process of studying interaction design foundations. This course focuses on: UX storyboards/user empathy, landing page design, motion design, HTML & CSS, and CMS structures.

Check out some photos from the field trip!

Last November, the Bank of Canada released a new ten dollar bill into circulation, and in doing so, made history.

IDEA Grad 2020 was lucky enough to have the knowledge and experience of two key players in the Bank of Canada’s banknote redesign process, Martine Warren, Bank Note Design Specialist, Boyd Laanstra, Senior Analyst of Visual Content.

Check out some great student work!

Congratulations to Abby Jocson (IDEA Grad 2021) for winning 1st & 4th place in the CAPIC Rodeo 11 student contest for Illustration with her digital painting "My Ate" (shown above) and "Vancouver Sheet Music".

Many congratulations to Capilano University's IDEA School of Design students who continue to dominate the CAPIC student awards in illustration!

Congratulations to Anna Tsybulnyk (IDEA Grad 2021) for winning 3rd place in the CAPIC Rodeo 11 student contest for illustration with her digital painting Winter Sadness (shown above).

Many congratulations to Capilano University's IDEA School of Design students who continue to dominate the CAPIC student awards in illustration!

Garret Schauteet (IDEA Grad 2015) spent 3 years in Vancouver with the incredibly talented team at 123w while collaborating with partner agencies and a vast amount of freelancers from all over the world.

From there, he moved to BASIC® and spent 2018 embedded at Google in San Francisco, where he helped elevate Made by Google’s digital retail and product experiences on a global scale.

He’s recently transferred to BASIC®’s HQ in San Diego, where he continues to work on new Google initiatives and other global brands like Coach and Airbnb. Catch up on Garret!

Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month.

We asked our first year students (IDEA Grad 2023) to send us their best dark and spooky Inktober illustrations. See some of their work below!

Shown above: Cruella—Black + white ink by Kathrin Teh.

Congratulations to Noah Kawamura (IDEA Grad 2020) for winning the Applied Arts 2019 Student Award for Packaging Design with "HeyDay Vitamins" project. Instructor: Judy Snaydon. Mentor: Andrew Passas, Creative Director from 123w. Course: DSGN 320 Professional Development I. Check out his project!

Study design in North Vancouver at IDEA School of Design!

Entry to the Bachelor of Design program at Capilano University is competitive, and applicants must submit a portfolio and other documents through the online portal SlideRoom.

Shown above: “Banana” by Nisa Hansen (IDEA Grad 2023). Find out how to apply and check out additional samples of pieces from a typical student application portfolio.

Congratulations to Sharleen Ramos (IDEA Grad 2021) for gaining the RGD Honourable Mention for Logo Design for her “Wilder Tales Brewing” project. Shown above: Additional enamel camping mug collateral that fits with the brand. Instructor: Dominique Walker. Course: IDES 249, Brand Identity. Check out her logo and packaging design project.