Visual Design Students must graduate with effective visual communications skills; as well as; business savvy and technology literacy.

Design students must leverage both right and left brain skills and apply the DESIGN THINKING process to their work in order to compete in today’s market. Once students have developed solid graphic design skills, the focus is placed on team-based, entrepreneurial projects. Students begin to develop business savvy and learn to apply design thinking to problem-solving. These skills are essential for emerging creative professionals today. Today many creative firms sell products as well as services. It is not unusual for creative professionals to run side projects; creating mobile products for example; or launching new private label brands. Therefore employers see students in creative fields with business experience as more employable.

In addition to design thinking and problem solving skills, the most current proficiency in web technologies and social media practices; knowledge of business principles, licensing and copyright laws are essential to success. Team-based projects where students play multiple rolls and leverage their team-mates skills with their own; builds collaboration skills and teaches students how to work on a team and leverage the exponential power of teamwork.

Creative professionals have more choices in the job market, but also face new challenges. The ability to work well on teams is essential to success.

In addition to understanding and being able to apply design principles and problem solving skills to a vast array of media, students today also need to be well-trained in: E commerce, Social Media Marketing, Licensing, Copyright Laws and Entrepreneurship. Learning these skills requires practical application, a trial and error process that can only be experienced by actually participating in these activities in class.

I have dedicated my teaching career researching and developing coursework and strategies to successfully teach these skills. I wish to use this website to share what I have learned., as well as to show examples of student work which illustrates these principles that have been adopted and applied to solving design problems.