Graphic Design
Arts and Humanities
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Major Brochure | Courses | Sample Plan of Study

Apple Computers, Toyota, Starbucks, American Red Cross, Defiance College. All communicate something of who and what they are through a complex interplay of graphics and text.

At Defiance College, self-motivated students who experience the world through sight and watch TV for the ads learn to express ideas visually in service to employers and the wider good of society.

In graphic design, everything we do begins with the need to communicate as we use digital tools to turn sketches into finished products. Need a resizable graphic like a logo? Look at a vector program. Need motion graphics? Draw on video or animation. Sensitivity to client need, creativity in the design process, and proficiency in a wide range of digital tools come together to make great graphic design.

Working closely with students, graphic design professors also play with spatial objects in communicating powerful messages, and they are sensitive to visual orientation as they help students develop a full sense of how to create and communicate.

Take the next step towards graphic design and see how self-motivation can find a home at Defiance College.

Majoring in Graphic Design

The graphic design program at Defiance College is intended to prepare students to use graphics and text to communicate ideas and emotions. We determine what our client is trying to say and the emotions they want to convey to the audience, we brainstorm graphics that may serve our purpose.

Graphic Design is a major for those who:


• Experience the world through sight
  
  
• Watch TV for the ads instead of the programs
  
  
• Doodle what others say instead of hearing what they say
  
  
• Experience frustration at having to read books and write papers
  
  
• See the ideas of the world as shapes and colors in space
  
  
• Enjoy freelance activities and are self-motivated
  
  
  

Major Brochure | Courses | Sample Plan of Study

Internships

Almost all graphic design students serve at least one internship before leaving Defiance College. Many students have three or more internship positions. Every semester, a graphic design student is a layout editor for the student literary publication Progeny. Students have worked for the local hospital, coffee shop, historical society, and automotive suppliers.

Unique Opportunities

Opportunities with McMaster School
Graphic design majors are actively involved in the McMaster School for Advancing Humanity participating in projects and producing materials for students and faculty to use overseas.

Exchange Program
Defiance College has a junior year exchange program with The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Students can spend their junior year at the The Art Institute developing a concentration in Interior Design, Photography, Media Arts and Animation, Game Art and Design, Interactive Media Design, Video Production, or Visual Effects and Motion Graphics. The 30 hours the student earns at The Art Institute are accepted by Defiance College as major courses. Students also have the option of additional courses at The Art Institute.

After College — What’s Next?

Graduates go on to many different positions in the graphic design industry. Current graduates are working for major corporations such as Sherwin Williams, running their own design firms, designing signs for a national franchise, and creating graphics and advertisements for the local newspaper. We have sent students on to Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs but this is not a primary purpose of the program.

The Faculty

Amy K. Drees, M.A., Assistant Professor of Arts and Humanities
419-783-2334 | adrees@defiance.edu | Faculty Profile

Douglas Fiely, M.A., Assistant Professor of Art
419-783-2452 | dfiely@defiance.edu | Faculty Profile