Graphic Design?& Visual Communication Major

Be a design thinker. Harness your creativity through print and digital graphics. Start building your portfolio right away.

student layouts out a design on the computer

Visual Storytellers Wanted

The demand for creative professionals is high. Fuel your creative vision and master the principles of design.

Program Type: Major

School/Division: Division of Communication & Creative Media

Recommended Experiences: On-Campus Employment Opportunities; 足彩胜负14场; Study Abroad

Let us help you find...: Optional Portfolio Submission; Creative Studio Experience; Centers of Experience; Study Abroad; Current Students College Catalog; Admissions

Design the future you want to see.

Graphic design is the basic language of communication in the modern age. Bridging tradition and innovation, you’ll gain a unique blend of fundamental art and design principles, comprehensive liberal arts studies, and active practice in emerging technologies. And you’ll graduate with a professional-level design portfolio that’s been rigorously critiqued by a panel of guest designers from top design firms.

What Is Graphic Design & Visual Communication?

Graphic design and visual communication studies provide a deep dive into the art and practice of communicating specific messages in a visual way. The work of today’s designers spans an exciting array of media, from conventional printing to emerging digital platforms. That dynamic landscape, combined with the timeless art of graphic design—mixing words and images to communicate visually—assures a rewarding career of disseminating ideas, knowledge, and possibilities to a global audience. If you’re excited by creatively conveying messaging to audiences using graphic design, we invite you to explore with us at Champlain.

Why Study it at Champlain

Like all of Champlain’s academic programs, Graphic Design & Visual Communication is grounded in hands-on learning that puts you at the center of your studies. You’ll have the support of faculty and career counselors to explore the field and uncover your calling. You’ll engage with your work in new ways and consider the impact of graphic design from different perspectives while building your portfolio of work. You’ll graduate prepared to impress clients and employers.

As you develop your personal sense of style and professional toolkit, you’ll prepare for career success. Before you graduate, a panel of guest designers from top design firms and in-house corporate design centers will critique your portfolio to help you accurately present your design principles and best works.

Champlain’s Graphic Design & Visual Communication program is accredited by National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the national accrediting agency for institutions teaching art, design, and related disciplines.

graphic design student measures a poster they made in class

Different by Design

Hands-On, Right Away

You’ll have the opportunity to jump right in and intern for companies at the start of your first semester, while starting classes in your major right away through the Upside Down Curriculum.

Nationally Accredited

The program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). And it’s designed to prepare students for creative strategy and campaign development, animation and entertainment, or traditional design work.

The Creative Studio Experience

The Creative Studio Experience provides opportunities for curious Graphic Design students to work on real projects and capstones with other students across disciplines. They might design marketing materials for a Film student or packaging for a Business Administration student.

Industry Expert Review

Before you graduate, a panel of guest designers from top design firms and in-house corporate design centers will critique your portfolio to help you accurately present your design principles and best works.

Facts & Stats

96%

of Graphic Design & Visual Communication majors in the Class of 2023 achieved career success within six months after graduation. That’s success you can see.

$75,000

The median annual salary of graphic design professionals according to Glassdoor.com.

The Most

Champlain was named a “Most Innovative School” by U.S. News & World Report in its “America’s Best Colleges” 2024 ranking of universities in the North.

Sample Courses in the Graphic Design?& Visual Communication Major

At Champlain, there’s no waiting to jump into your design courses. You’ll take classes such as Form & Color and The Digital Image in your first year, and you’ll continue to develop your design skills as you progress through the curriculum.

First Year

ART 110 Drawing, Introductory

GDV 201 Introduction to Typography

Second Year

ART 220 Cultural Immersion Through the Fine Arts Seminar

GDV 206 Web Design I

Third Year

GDV 301 Advanced Typography

GDV 300 Projects in Graphic Design I

Fourth Year

GDV 307 Form in Motion II

GDV 450 Portfolio Studio

See the Learning Outcomes for the Graphic Design & Visual Communication major

View Full Curriculum

A studio course emphasizing a creative discovery of two-dimensional forms. Students will consider the nature and importance of light, values and graphic composition in selectively seeing and recording a visual world.

Prerequisites
Credits	3

An understanding of typography is fundamental to your professional graphic design practice. Through an historical overview of the evolution of letterforms, you will understand the visual evolution of the Latin alphabet as a result of social, cultural, and technical influences. You will gain an understanding of the nuances of type design and develop proficiency in speaking the language of type specification, in creating beautiful designs using letterforms and blocks of text, and in setting typography digitally.

Prerequisites	VCD- 100 or approval of Dean.
Credits	3

This course will include both cultural immersion sessions and exploration and analysis of the culture through the lens of the fine arts. Students will meet weekly with their instructor to discuss their explorations and intercultural interactions. The semester will conclude with the students creating a presentation that highlights their experiences and learning. Their presentations will be shared with the Champlain community the following term.

Prerequisites
Credits	3

Students will explore various aspects of basic web page organization, design, and construction. The web page will be considered as a visual challenge – exploiting a relatively restrictive format to maximize visual impact and effective communication, and organizing the content into an easily navigable hierarchy. Basic HTML authoring and digital kinetics will be introduced, and visual principles and digital artwork skills from earlier coursework will be reinforced through introductory web page projects.

Prerequisites	VCD-100 or VCD-111
Credits	3

Having explored the history and basic use of letterforms, you can now delve deeper into various aspects of the written word, typography, and its relation to imagery. In this course you will approach design solutions using solely typographic form and together with images. From font usage, to paragraph and page structure, students explore how typographic form interacts with literary content, and how the current critical milieu influences typographic thinking. Specific technical and/or aesthetic considerations necessary in composing type for digital delivery are considered, and students will also try their hand at digital font design.

Prerequisites	Complete VCD-270
Credits	3

Your learning and preparation through projects designed to teach specific skills will integrate into a more comprehensive design process. You will be introduced to approaches to solving communications problems of diverse character and increasingly practical application. A clear process for working within technical and time constraints will be emphasized. Work in this course will contribute to your professional portfolio and prepare you for a successful apprenticeship.

Prerequisites	VCD-270
Credits	3

For students seriously interested in furthering their skills in motion design and production. Through project work, students will encounter concepts, techniques, and approaches to help develop abilities with problem solving, ideation, typographic communication, and animation specifically in regard to motion design. Work in this course will contribute to your professional portfolio.

Prerequisites	Complete VCD-203 or FLM-330.
Credits	3

This course will guide you through the process of finalizing, organizing and assembling your graphic design projects into an engaging portfolio that represents you as a designer, as a thinker, and as a person. Your portfolio will respond to your emphasis, from traditional book forms to motion and web design. Purchase of portfolio materials will be necessary, and students will need basic art supplies.

Prerequisites	Take 85 credits
Credits	3

Concentrations

Graphic Design Concentration

Tailor your Graphic Design and Visual Communication major with a Graphic Design concentration and master artistic training and technique and explore the production of studio work.
Motion Graphics Concentration (Graphic Design)

Tailor your Graphic Design and Visual Communication degree with a Motion Graphics concentration and dive deep into bringing visual concepts to life in innovative ways at Champlain College.
Visual Communication Concentration

Tailor your Graphic Design and Visual Communication major with a concentration in Visual Communication and specializing in using visual design to execute messaging, branding, and information sharing.

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Gallery of Student Work

Edge Snowboards – Brand Collateral

three wall-mounted typography art pieces by a graphic design & visual communication student

Station 27 – Typographic Posters

social media graphics for a dating app, designed by a graphic design & visual communication student

Held&Heard – Brand Collateral

MyTazo – Brand Collateral

View More Student Work

student portrait — **Gabriel Fajobi**, Graphic Design & Visual Communication ’21

Graphic Design?& Visual Communication Admission

The Graphic Design & Visual Communication major at Champlain College is a visual art program focused on the creation of array of media, from conventional printing to emerging digital platforms. To be successful, students must enter the program with a strong aesthetic ability and a passion for creating visual art using both traditional and digital media.

As an applicant to the Graphic Design & Visual Communication major, you have the option to submit a portfolio that includes 5 or more artistic pieces or images, and an art narrative.

Portfolio Instructions

You might also be interested in these…

Based on your interest in the?Graphic Design & Visual Communication?major, we thought you also might like to check out these other academic programs and opportunities.

Majors
- Marketing Communication Major
  
  Businesses run on stories and data. Tune in to emerging marketing strategies and graduate ready for your career, with impressive industry-standard certifications.
- Interaction Design Major
  
  Tomorrow’s technology requires good design to be usable. Specialize in user experience (UX) or user interface (UI) design at Champlain, and create new intersections between human minds and digital spaces.
- Animation Major
  
  Imagine manifesting your colorful childhood imagination on screens large and small. Now imagine getting paid to do it all day.
- Digital Humanities Major
  
  Be a digital pioneer. Bring the fullness of your human self to the study of emerging technology, including Artificial Intelligence, and make sure the digital future is humane as well as human.
- Creative Media Major
  
  Develop your self-expression in our Creative Media major, and learn the business side of interdisciplinary production, digital creation, and entrepreneurship.
Minors
- Interactive Narrative Minor
  
  Discover different types of narratives that are immersive, non-linear, and engage our audience in a wholly new and unique way. Learn to design these narratives and create all new experiences.
- Writing Minor
  
  Develop strong writing skills in technical writing like journalism and grant writing and more creative writing like poetry and fiction. Increase your media literacy and written communication skills.
Areas of Study
- Creative Arts & Communication
  
  With many majors to choose from, you decide how to bring your ideas to life and communicate them to the world.
- Education, Humanities & the Sciences
  
  The born educator, the team player, the change maker, the advocate. Which of these human-centered majors fits you career goals?
- Individualized Studies & Undeclared
  
  Learn what you love, and love what you learn with one of these professional pathways.

Career Success

You’ll have a portfolio of work to showcase your talents, versatile designs, and tech skills. 96% of Graphic Design majors in the Class of 2023 achieved career success within six months of graduation.

graphics design student at internship with Burton Snowboards

Your Career Outlook

Learn more about our career-focused education

By the time you graduate, you will…

have matured as a graphic designer.
have mastered the basics of form, color, composition, typography, photography, layout, and motion graphics.
be able to evaluate the aesthetic content of artistic works within a specific historical, cultural, and/or commercial context.
be able to and apply aesthetic principles within non-original and original works, respectively.
have an understanding of ethics in practice.

You’ll Find a Career In…

Identity (brand) design
Book and publication design
Environmental graphics
Exhibition design
Motion graphics design
Packaging design
Website design

More Inside Graphic Design?& Visual Communication Major

Overview

Be a design thinker. Harness your creativity through print and digital graphics. Start building your portfolio right away.
Curriculum

Your career in graphic design and visual communication begins now with Champlain’s Upside-Down Curriculum. Discover the difference that doing on day one has on your success.
Faculty

Learn more about the experienced professionals leading Champlain College's graphic design and visual communication program who are dedicated to teaching and mentoring you.

Become Champlain Ready

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