Graphic design at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design is a competitive and rigorous area of study that encourages students to explore design theory, process, and practice. Our graduates pursue careers as experience designers, art directors, professors, and marketing directors reimagining how communication shapes culture and experience.
Cultivate multifaceted skills in visual communication
Choose from three dynamic degree paths
Design through making
Housed in the Fine Arts Building, graphic design students have access to a wide range of digital design and analog tools, including a Mac computer lab, the Digital Printing Lab, and Letterpress Studio, supporting hands-on exploration from concept to production.
The Graphic Design curriculum emphasizes hands-on learning, engaging students in both physical and digital design processes. Through the Letterpress Studio, students explore typographic history, terminology, and materiality by working with hand-set type and traditional printing processes.
Alongside this hands-on experience, students build a strong foundation in design principles and refine their ideas through projects that use industry-standard digital tools and prototyping software, allowing them to pursue work shaped by their interests, passions, and curiosities.
The Letterpress Studio
The Letterpress Studio is a hands-on printing space where students learn design by making it physical. Through hand-set letterpress and relief printing, students explore typographic history, terminology, and technology while gaining a practical understanding of how type, image, and materials come together on paper.
A core part of the Graphic Design education since the 1960s, the studio offers access to Vandercook presses, an extensive collection of wood and metal type, and professional finishing equipment. Students regularly design and print event and show posters, connected to music and campus life, learning how printed work moves from concept to public circulation.
B.F.A. + M.F.A. Studios
The graphic design program provides both undergraduate and graduate students with dedicated studio spaces that support sustained creative practice.
B.F.A. students work in a large shared studio in the Fine Arts Building, with individual desks, flat files, and shared resources such as large screens and Apple TV to support critique, discussion, and collaboration.
M.F.A. students are housed in a separate studio in the Art Annex, where they have individual studio space, providing a more independent, research-focused environment.
Tools + equipment
The Letterpress Studio
- Cases of metal type (120)
- Cases of wood type (90)
- Vandercook SP-15 proof presses (3)
- Vandercook Universal III
- Vandercook 325G
- Anderson Vreeland Orbital X Platemaker
- Triumph MBM 6660 Automatic Paper Cutter
Mac Computer Lab
- Mac workstations and peripherals (20)
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
Teaching support equipment
- Epson SC P800 inkjet printer
- Lexmark CS921 laser printer
- Bambu X1- Carbon 3D printer with AMS
- Plustek OpticPro A32OE scanner
- TruBind Coil Binding Machine TB-S20A
- Cover Bind Book Binding Equipment
- Amaris Laminator
- American Button maker 1.5"
Think + Make
In the studio, graphic design students explore typography, imagery, grids, and systems as tools for thinking and making, applying them across projects that range from posters and logos to apps and interactive media.
Visiting artists
Through the McKinney Visiting Artist Series, the graphic design program hosts nationally and internationally recognized artists to meet with students, present their work, and give workshops and individual critiques.
Some of our past visiting artists include:
- Brad Vetter
Stephaine Carpenter
Ben Blount
Celene Aubry
Debbie Millman
Under Consideration (Armin Vit + Bryony Gomez-Palacio) - Chip Kidd
- Christopher Pullman
- David Shields
- Wendy Pressley-Jacobs
- Rick Valicenti
Alumni making their mark
Matt Griffin
Matt Griffin has been recognized not only for his work as an artist but as a writer, speaker, and educator. He is the founder of Bearded, a web design and development agency based in Pittsburgh, and is an adjunct faculty member at the Carnegie Mellon School of Design.
Learn about careers