To promote the development of art education and meet the needs of the society on art talents, Jiang Lanpu, Tang Yijing and Xu Ziheng established the Wuchang Art School which was renamed as "Private Wuchang School of Arts" in 1930. This is the first modern art education institution in Hubei and the birthplace of the earliest art education in modern China. And in October 1958, the Hubei Art Institute was founded. The Department of Fine Arts is divided into four majors, i.e. industrial art, traditional Chinese painting, oil painting and sculpture; with the development of times, the original major of pattern was faded away and replaced by "industrial art". Li Yifu is the Deputy Director of Department of Fine Arts and the Head of Teaching and Research Section. There are 6 teachers in the Teaching and Research Section.

　　The major of industrial art adheres to the principle of "being nation-oriented, folk-oriented and locally oriented and taking the nationalization road; stressing the present not the past, making the past serve the present, valuing Chinese things instead of foreign ones and making foreign things serve China; making close integration of theory and practice, politics and business", and it requires the students to systematically master the basic knowledge necessary for the design and manufacture of arts and crafts and have a profound understanding of the heritage of ethnic arts and crafts. The major of decoration requires the students to have higher capacity of decorative art design, be familiar with printing process, master the printing technology, and be capable of design and teaching work in this major; and the major of dyeing and weaving requires the students to be familiar with the technological process and be capable of design and teaching work in this major. Here, inheriting tradition and developing practical skills are significantly important.

　　In twenty-first Century, the Department of Design has entered a stage of all-round development. In June 2006, the departments of the School were adjusted. After the adjustment, the Department of Design becomes a large comprehensive teaching department centering on the major of visual communication design, covering the major of printing graphic design and photography and integrating junior college students, undergraduates and postgraduates. The Department sets up many teaching and researching institutions, including teaching and research section of graphic design, teaching and research section of printing graphic design, teaching and research section of design practice, photography studio, packaging container studio, expert design center and Hubei Folk Art Institute. And it has over 30 teachers and over 700 students (junior college students, undergraduates and postgraduates), reaching an unprecedented scale.

　　With the coming of electronic information age, the curriculum changes, so that the curriculum reform would not fall behind. The changes in the basic courses given by the Department of Basic Course of the School are as follows: the "pattern" with times brand is weakened, while the emerging "graphic creativity" is included in the curriculum system; relevant computer software applications are used in the classroom as aided design; "container modeling" is re-included in packaging course; and courses of video, animation and website design, etc. the signs of Internet era, are incorporated into the new curriculum system.

　　At the same time, the construction of construction of professional disciplines of the Department of Design has made great achievements. In 2001, the Artistic Design was listed as a provincial key discipline during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period; in 2006, it was listed as a provincial key discipline during the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" period; and in 2009, the major of Artistic Design was rated as a feature major by the Ministry of Education of the PRC; in 2010, the course "Poster Advertising Design" was rated as a provincial excellent course.

　　In this period of rapid development, the Department of Design has an important impact on the domestic counterparts. The leaders of the Department of Design are elected as members of Graphic Design Art Committee of Chinese Artists Association and play an important role in the relevant industry associations; the teachers and students of the Department have participated in exhibitions of various levels and win many national and provincial awards. And the graduation design exhibition every year attracts many counterparts and is considered as the sign of educational reform; it's also a platform for employers to identify talents and for merchants to find business opportunities.

　　Since 2006, the "East+ West College Students' International Poster Biennale" sponsored by Hubei Institute of Fine Arts and hosted by the Department of Design has been held for three times in succession. It is favored and admired by both domestic and foreign students and has become a key brand image of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts with a strong influence.

　　Link: http://sjx.hifa.edu.cn/gx/lc/9758.htm