Let's see here... I don't know which one is best for an art/design major, but here's advice (Btw, SD has bad/boring art professors. Don't come here if you want to major in art.):
-Eleanor Roosevelt is the one I'm in. It specializes in world and culture stuff like learning different languages, world history, ... You come here if you want to learn about different cultures. Plus sides about ERC: really cool, new dorms which, in my opinion, are the best at UCSD (Besides being new and clean and big, you can see the ocean if you live in the higher dorms), good food at Cafe V, less general requirements then colleges like Revelle. Also, being in ERC helps if you want to study abroad... say Japan...

Bad side: you need to take MMW (Making of the Modern World) which is fun and interesting but gets hard later on, its far from everything (Including lecture halls) so you have to walk a lot (30 min. to walk from one side of campus to the other but that's what the shuttles are for).
-Revelle is the oldest, worst dorms (The carpet's really dirty and the dorms smell. There's this elevator there that shakes violently and is in danger of crashing.) Revelle has the most GE's or general education requirements. Revelle specializes on the humanties.
Good side of living at Revelle: you're at the center of campus and you don't need to walk far to lectures. Plus all the business and stores are over there (Bike shop, bike rental, and a bunch of other stores)
-Sixth College (As far as I know) doesn't know what their specializing in... But they're also far from everything and everything's still being built there so contruction goes on outside of your window when your sleeping. It's very desolate there... no trees, dust... Plus side: new dorms?
-Marshall has the least GE's. I haven't been in their dorms but I'm sure they also have a view of the ocean. Their eatery Ocean View Terrace is really good and is open until 1am!! It's not too far from lecture halls... I'm not sure what they specialize at... I think Marshall and Muir specialize in government/ political things... It's not art. I'm sure of that!
-Muir is also close to everything. I think they have the second most GE's... Muir is known as the concrete jungle btw. There are a lot of plants though. The buildings there are really high. I heard the dorms there suck but you may have a view of the ocean if live in the top floors...

-Warren is far out in the middle of nowhere. Warren's the science/engineering college btw. It's pretty there. You have a good view of the canyon and there's a lot of bunnies there. Warren has a lot of money since its the engineering college so they have good toilet paper, good bathrooms...
That's it! Also be careful which college you get into because it's really hard to transfer. Since you're an art/design major, I wouldn't worry that none of the colleges specialize in art/design. You'll have lots of time to complete all the classes for your major and complete the GE's for your college (Even if its Revelle). Pick what interests you. Keep in mind not only what each college specializes in but also how their dorms are like because... if you come here, you'll be living in those dorms. Hope this helped. Sorry I took so long to type.