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Graphic Design Major

Communicate clearly and enrich the lives of consumers with beautiful design.

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Graphic Design

Visual imagery and communication heavily influence the modern world. MVNU Graphic Design students are equipped to communicate clearly and to enrich the daily lives of consumers with effective designs, influencing culture and society in important, positive, and constructive ways.

MVNU’s Graphic Design program has two tracks students can choose from — the visual arts track or the media and marketing track. Students go through a rigorous program focusing on an in-depth understanding of the creative process. A high level of craftsmanship is emphasized.

Senior Graphic Design students present their portfolios in a Senior Design Portfolio show at MVNU’s professional Schnormeier Gallery, showcasing a wide variety of well-crafted and effective projects to the public.

Curriculum

Explore our graphic design courses, which create space for a Professional Portfolio and Management course during your junior year.

Faith & learning at MVNU

As an intentionally Christian University, we integrate our faith into everything we do at MVNU. From prayer before class to exploring real-world moral and ethical dilemmas, we’ll teach you what it means to shine forth.

Travel

Imagine walking the streets of Rome where St. Paul walked, floating down a Venetian canal, seeing the art of the Sistine Chapel, exploring the ancient site of Pompeii, experiencing Sorrento with its romantic cliff-side setting and discovering the modern and ancient sites of Italy from the Coliseum to Cathedrals to museums. Oh, plus there's great food and amazing coffee.

As an MVNU Graphic Design major, there’s no need to imagine — you can take in the wonders of Italy for yourself during spring break, and even get course credit for it!

Service Learning:
  • Belize
  • Swaziland
  • Haiti
  • Croatia, Austria & Hungary
  • Italy
  • Spain, Portugal & France
  • Greater Columbus Area
  • Orlando
  • San Francisco
  • New Orleans
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Guyana
  • Guatemala

Scholarships

Need a little help with finances? We’ve got you covered. Explore scholarships, grants, and other resources to help you pay for your education.

All Graphic Design students are eligible for the competitive Esther Buchwald Art Scholarships and Awards. Five scholarships are awarded to five individual Graphic Design students annually. Students from any class may submit work, including incoming students. One student from each class will be awarded the scholarship.

MVNU has many endowed scholarships available for students of a wide variety of backgrounds and majors.

Careers

Odds are, you’ll be working in your field within a year of graduation. About half of MVNU’s Graphic Design students are offered jobs before graduation. In fact, we often have graduates tell us that their employers were surprised and impressed with the quality of their portfolios — many have secured jobs because their portfolios reflected excellence.

We have graduates designing everything from websites to T-shirts, from magazines to coffee mugs, from textbooks to advertisements — whatever your design niche, you’ll be in high demand with a Graphic Design degree from MVNU.

Corporations

Land a job as a Graphic Designer or creative director for an organization with an internal creative team.

Freelance Design

Serve clients, agencies, and corporations with project-based or hourly design work as an independent consultant.

Illustrator
Graphic design female

Meet the Faculty

Learn from faculty members who know how to balance theory and practical application for a relevant, empowering, Christ-centered learning experience.

Buchwald Center

Buchwald Center drone

The Buchwald Center, MVNU’s 32,000 square foot art and design building, is located in friendly downtown Mount Vernon, just a few miles from MVNU’s main campus. South Main Plaza, adjacent to Buchwald Center, is a community gathering space which boasts a whimsical fountain featuring cast iron dogs, a cat, birds, and a pony.

Schnormeier Gallery

Whether you’re creating a digital piece on an i-Mac in the Mac lab, setting up an installation for a show in the exquisite Schnormeier Gallery, or throwing a piece of pottery on one of the wheels in the ceramics studio, you will be working on your craft in a space that inspires.

The Buchwald boasts warm, sunny spaces that feed creativity and bear the scars of the artistic process. Each artist and designer that passes through its doors finds places to call their own.

Check these majors out, too

Visual Arts Education

Teach future generations to create and appreciate art with this education degree that’s perfect for creatives.

Art

Learn to look at and think about the world around you in new and different ways.

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