Areas of Study:

visual Communication

about | design texas | the organization of visual communicators

Great design provides for dynamic visual touch-points that serve to connect with people through a visual language that is highly focused and contextually appropriate. Designers seek to: inform, immerse, allow for exchange, embed meaning, persuade, inspire, provoke, validate, entertain and provide inherent value for people. As technology opens up more avenues for communication, the design process is becoming increasingly more complex, demanding stronger and more thoughtful visual solutions from all designers. It is the intention of the Visual Communication faculty at University of Texas Arlington to educate our students effectively and creatively by providing them with a solid framework for communicating ideas visually to an international community.

The visual communication curriculum is based on the understanding of problem solving relative to assigned, increasingly complex projects and experiences. Student designers are encouraged to actively research, analyze, plan, create, prototype, produce, evaluate, refine and reflect at each level of study. Students develop the ability to work in groups as well as individually on projects. In these situations students realize how to manage time and utilize resources to solve problems creatively. The merging of knowledge and creative experiences in an academic environment with industry-based processes, standards and culture is also essential to the development of each individual designer.

Our visual communication students and graduates routinely win local, state and national awards. Our students are employed by top design agencies/studios in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, and throughout the nation. Since 2001, students in visual communication have won over 132 state, regional, and national awards. With nearly 300 design students in the program, the largest in the Art and Art History Department, the visual communication concentration continues to be one of our most well-known and active department communities.

"Graphic design is the profession that plans and executes the design of visual communication according to the needs of audiences and in the context for which communication is intended." American Institute of Graphic Design

"Graphic designers apply what they have learned about physical, cognitive, social, and cultural human factors to communication planning and the creation of appropriate form that interprets,
informs, instructs, and persuades. Graphic designers use various technologies as means for creating visual form and as an environment through which communication takes place. Graphic designers plan, analyze, create, and evaluate visual solutions to communication
problems. Their work ranges from the development of strategies to solve large-scale communications problems, to the design of effective communication products, such as publications, computer programs, packaging, exhibits, and signage."
National Association of Schools of Art and Design

Student work & photo gallery

Faculty

Lisa Graham, Area Coordinator

Robert Grame, Area Coordinator

Robert Hower, Professor

Roby McEuen, Senior Lecturer

Pauline Hudel, Professor

David Burk, Adjunct Professor

Jason Harskjold, Adjunct Professor

DEGREE PLAN

Download the Visual Communcation degree plan here.