Welcome to the School of Visual Communication Design. It is my privilege as Director to oversee one of the finest programs of its kind in the United States. The Kent State University School of Visual Communication Design enjoys a strong and well-deserved reputation built on a history of providing a challenging and stimulating learning environment. The school has a distinguished reputation as a top tier program with areas of study including two and three-dimensional graphic design, illustration, information design, photography, interaction design, and motion graphics. Accredited by NASAD, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, our school is one in which theory and practice are wholly integrated and mutually honored. The Kent State University Honors College also welcomes a large percentage of our majors by offering intellectually challenging studies and research opportunities.
The School of Visual Communication Design undergraduate programs are structured to provide students with a strong foundation, professional preparation in research and conceptual development, and a liberal arts education essential to a lifetime of learning. In the most recent edition of the text Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design (Steven Heller, 2010) our program was once again listed as one of the best in North America. It is no wonder our graduates are some of the most sought after in the nation.
Those of us challenged with the task of teaching the next generation of visual communicators recognize that contemporary learning must involve professional grounding and collaboration across disciplinary lines. Because the School of Visual Communication Design is situated in the College of Communication and Information, it is part of a distinguished coalition that provides unique opportunities for our students and faculty to gain a truly interdisciplinary and global perspective. Those students who choose to study abroad can enhance their educational experience while immersed in another culture. Our college offers short-term study abroad programs as well as semester-long study in Florence and Geneva.
VCD undergraduates participate in a supervised internship program to insure they will graduate with professional experience in their chosen fields. In recent years our majors have interned with vibrant and distinguished organizations such as: Museum of Modern Art, NASA, American Greetings, Dix & Eaton, Progressive Insurance, Discovery, AOL 360, OMNOVA Solutions, American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie and Fitch, and McGraw-Hill, to name a few.
To understand more about our School, its students, alumni and faculty, I invite you to review our award-winning website, created by Glyphix, a student design studio housed within our School. Here you will see portfolio examples of students’ work and learn about our nationally recognized faculty members who bring a wealth of expertise to the classroom. The site also highlights the research conducted by our current graduate students, and it includes a noteworthy list of alumni who demonstrate that the best measure of academic success can be found in the individual accomplishments of its graduates. Among our alumni are successful creative directors, graphic designers, children’s book illustrators, web-designers, animators, and photographers. Graduates of our programs have also joined the faculties of over twenty colleges and universities.
To our alumni friends, if we haven’t heard from you in awhile, please let us know of your latest professional accomplishments. If you are considering studying with us at the undergraduate or graduate level, I look forward to speaking with you about our programs.
Sincerely,
AnnMarie LeBlanc
Director and Professor