Graphic Design is a dynamic, rewarding and challenging discipline to study. Marshall University’s School of Art and Design empowers students interested in the graphic arts with the skills and context needed to flourish in a globally competitive marketplace. With one foot in the traditional arts and one in the chosen field of emphasis, students work in an engaging environment where technical and conceptual problems are continuously presented before them. Through the practice of solving these problems, students develop their own individual strengths, gain social and historical context, make connections between disciplines, as well as develop a personal portfolio of work.

Students can choose between three areas of emphasis: Print Design, New Media, and Illustration. In all of these emphases students are provided with industry standard equipment, software and techniques.

Marshall University’s Graphic Design faculty recognizes the notion of the “citizen designer” in the their pedagogical practice. Whether it is in the form of advertising, news, entertainment or art, Graphic Design has a powerful effect on the way the public is aware of their political and social environment. As a result, student work constantly explores this responsibility of artists and designers to affect change in the world in which they produce work and live.

Epson Pro 9900

Graphic Design is an ever-expanding field that encompasses a vast array of ways to present audiences with information. Correspondingly, media technology is constantly proliferating, and as it does, the demand for designers who create content for that media is constantly expanding.  Students studying today can choose to work in publishing, merchandise marketing, signage design, web design, motion graphics design, animation, as well as many other multimedia possibilities. As such, a designer’s most valuable assets are versatility and the ability to adapt to change. Graphic Design students in Marshall University’s School of Art and Design acquire these abilities and combine them with their prowess at solving problems inside a contextual framework. This is where creativity and innovation emerges, and it’s what makes this work so rewarding.

Some of the equipment and software avialable to MU Art & Design students’ projects:

• 26 Apple iMacs (27″ displays, 2.66Ghz i5 Intel Processors, 1TB HD, 8GB DDR3 RAM)
• 4 Apple Mac Minis
• Adobe Creative Suite 5 (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver)
• Quark Express
• Final Cut Pro X
• Motion
• Compressor
• 4 Canon ZR 700 & 900 DV Camcorders
• 1 Canon XH-A1 High Definition Camcorder
• 1 Canon Vixia HV-30 High Definition Camcorder
• 5 Canon Vixia HF R10 High Definition Camcorders
• 1 HP 44″ Ink Jet Printer
• 1 Epson 44″ Archival Ink Jet Printer
• 1 Canon 18″ Printer
• 1 HP 18″ Printer
• 1 HP Laserjet Color Printer
• 1 heavily used, but always running coffee maker

Adobe CS5

Final Cut Pro X

Motion

Blender