Bachelor of Fine Arts, concentration in Graphic Design
Graphic design is the process of visual communication, and problem solving through the interaction of conceptual thinking, typography, images, space, and color in order to convey information to an audience. It was created to inform, identify, and promote an idea, product, or social awareness.
The graphic design program at FHSU is the largest program in Art and Design Programs. Taught by Professors Chaiwat Thumsujarit and Karrie Simpson Voth, it is a rigorous program nationally recognized for the high quality graduates it produces. The award-winning students who graduate from the program are able to obtain careers in the industry in the areas of graphic design, advertising, and motion graphics.
Student success is cultivated throughout all four years of a student's education and is evident in the achievement of the top awards at AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) events, DSVC (Dallas Society of Visual Communications), UCDA (University and College Designers Association), Portfolio 1-on-1 (Minneapolis), and the One Club of New York among others. Our students' work has been published in the industry's leading graphic design publications Creative Quarterly Journal, PRINT and HOW Magazines, as well as receiving online features with The Die-Line and Packaging of the World.
Graduates acquire jobs at prestigious design firms and advertising agencies all over the country such as the Leo Burnett Company (Chicago), Yahoo (California), Joe Duffy and Partners (Minneapolis), and CMT (Nashville) just to name a few. Several of our students have gone on to open their own design studios as well such as Justin McClure Creative and Burley Studios, both based in Wichita and Awe-Full Design in Kansas City.
Graduate students of the program teach in outstanding universities throughout the nation and abroad such as the University of Wyoming, University of Nebraska, Buffalo State University, Wichita State University, and Zayed University in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates.
The graphic design program is very fortunate to have a long-standing relationship with Leo Burnett Company of Chicago. The students not only obtain personal portfolio reviews each spring with creative executives of Leo Burnett, but also the possibility of an internship or job opportunity. Since 1995, they have provided scholarship support to graphic design students through direct scholarships as well as monies to fund supplies and equipment.