Communication Design

The communication design minor centers upon the design process and teaches students how design thinking and practice can be used as an important tool for communicating scholarly, creative, and research outcomes across a range of media. This minor adds value to students’ primary academic pursuits across multiple disciplines by giving them the ability to produce rich visual communications for print and electronic media — a valuable skill in today’s information-oriented culture.

This minor serves students across majors who have an interest in connecting the theories and practices of visual design, computer graphics, and digital media production to their primary area of academic study and research with the intent of enhancing the quality of the communications related to that work.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successfully completing the communication design minor students will:
Apply the fundamental principles of visual design to their projects in a way that enhances its communicative potential
Exhibit a thoughtful application of color and typographic design to print and electronic communications
Contribute effectively to a team or organization where the planning, design, and production of visual communications are key activities and integral parts of organizational strategy
Be capable of explaining how design aids viewers in extracting meaning from designed elements
Be more thoughtful and creative with all of their personal and professional communications
Represent relationships, patterns and results in qualitative and quantitative data sets accurately and accessibly for narrow and broad audiences alike
Communicate narratives, concepts, identities, and emotions across a variety of media