Visual Communications

The Visual Communications program responds to contemporary trends in the professional field. It combines the disciplines of graphic design, advertising, and illustration into the broader study of communication through word and image relationships. Students participate in a team-taught curriculum, developed collaboratively by faculty who specialize in visual design, illustration, motion studies, sound, art direction, writing, strategy and brand development, and visual design history.

Students begin their junior year with general training in the construction of images (drawing, collaging, etc), typography (communicating with letter forms), and computer software applications. As seniors, they select areas of concentration such as book design, animation, information design, or advertising. They finish the program with a senior project.

All students work by hand to develop visual concepts and images in a range of media, and use the computer as an important tool to manipulate type and images. Projects appear in print, digital, and broadcast media, and include books, short films, advertising campaigns, posters, and maps. Graduates of Visual Communications are prepared to face an increasingly blended professional field which values critical thinking and visual problem solving. The program grooms students to be leaders.