Student Gallery
Click here to view artwork created by our students in the Visual Communication Design Program.
Alumni Spotlight
Sherri Baker Hamilton '97
In 2011, Sherri won both Gold and Silver Awards from the Rochester Advertising Federation for her design and illustration work for the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester.
- Nazareth Strengths
-
Career Options:
- Creative/art director
- Communications designer
- Illustrator
- Brand identity and logo designer
- Multimedia designer
- Type designer
- Exhibition designer
- Promotional display designer
- Environmental designer
- Book designer
Field Placement:
- Dixon Schwabl, Inc., Rochester, NY
- Mason Selkowitz Marketing
- Boydell & Brewer, Inc.
- Strong National Museum of Play
- Les Petits Débrouillards, Bretagne
Graduate Schools/Employers:
- Mirus Group Marketing Communications
- Butler/Till Media
- Takeform Architectural Graphics
- Rochester Institute of Technology Cary Graphic Arts Press
- Program Director
-
Catherine Haven Kirby
ckirby1@naz.edu
(585) 389-2542
Arts Center - 168
- Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Visual Communication Design (B.F.A)
- Bachelor of Science Degree in Visual Communication Design (B.S.)
Why Choose
Nazareth for Visual
Communication Design?
The dynamic and rapidly evolving graphic design industry plays a greater and more central role in society than ever before, given today’s information glutted, media-saturated world. The role of the designer, as a visual communicator of ideas across networks and multiple media, exists in a broader and a more strategic context than ever before. Through integrated studies in illustration, graphic design, and advertising, Nazareth College’s Visual Communication Design programs prepare students to do just that.
With an intensive studio base, Nazareth’s curriculum also provides a strong foundation upon which to build advanced design and image- making skills. Students learn to develop creative visual responses to communication problems with the construction of striking, engaging and meaningful images. Nazareth’s liberal arts educational core only further prepares students for the collaborative, multi-media professional world of visual communication design, where the ability to think critically, to verbally communicate, and to draw on experience and knowledge from a broad range of disciplines is necessary, in order to solve problems in a global, competitive market of products and ideas. Strong connections to local firms and alumni working in the industry both locally and nationally provide students with various internship and employment opportunities.
Two Visual Communication Design Majors are Offered:
- Visual Communications Design Major leading to a B.F.A. degree.
- Visual Communication Design Major leading to a B.S. degree. (Formerly known as Graphics and Illustration.)
- We also offer a minor in Graphic Design.
B.F.A. in Visual Communication Design Program Highlights
- Focus on career preparation with the additional advantages of a strong studio base and liberal arts education.
- Instruction in: visual communication, design and illustration, professional practices and processes, typography, branding and identity, contemporary design criticism and design history, publication and layout, advertising design, and visual design for web-based media.
- Emphasis is on portfolio building and assembling a professional body of work by the junior and senior year.
- Established local connections mean various internship opportunities for students of the BFA program.
- Participation in student networking events with local chapters of AIGA and the RAF.
- Graduates find employment at local and national advertising, marketing, and communication firms, as well as publications and non-profit organizations.
- Students may elect to study graphic
design abroad their sophomore
year or to minor in another academic
area.
B.S. in Visual Communication Design Program Highlights
- Combines studies in Studio
Arts, Illustration, Advertising, Graphic Design, and Liberal Arts, providing students
with essential competencies for the visual
communication of ideas.
- The combination allows for a wider range of studies in the liberal and fine arts. Students in this program may elect to study abroad or may declare a second major in another academic area or in studio art.
- Instruction in: visual communication, design and illustration, typography, branding and identity, contemporary design criticism and design history, publication and layout, advertising design, and visual design for web-based media I.
- Emphasis is on portfolio building and assembling a professional body of work by the junior and senior year.
- Alumni use their skills at local and national advertising, marketing and communications firms as well as in the non-profit sector.
- This program was formerly known as Graphics and Illustration (Gr/Ill).
A comparison chart of both programs may be downloaded here.
A sample program for the B.F.A. may be downloaded here.



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