The Rise of the First Design Course at the School of Fine Arts of Porto

This paper analyses the context and circumstances under which the course of Design (Graphic Art) was introduced at the School of Fine Arts of Porto, consequently becoming the first higher education course in the field in Northern Portugal. In accordance, the paper outlines a set of pedagogic initiatives and academic experiences in the area of design that preceded the creation of the course, and were instrumental in its formulation. The study is based on literature review and ethnographic research conducted with a group of artists/designers who played a key contextual role, both as professors and as students. Correspondingly, the study infers that a close relationship can be observed between the Design (Graphic Art) and the Fine Arts courses (within which the first Graphic Arts subject arises) due to the orientation of the school itself, in addition to the profiles of the professors, who originally received training in fine arts, but later migrated to the area of design. This relationship determines the specificity of the course, which was essentially associated with image and visual communication, alongside the applicable theoretical, methodological and practical approaches.