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Note: This story first appeared on the School of Art’s website.

Graphic Design at the University of Tennessee School of Art will host an open house on Friday, April 10. The evening will provide prospective students, area educators and the university community an opportunity to learn about the program in depth.

Beginning at 5:00, and occurring along the 3rd floor of the Art + Architecture Building, the evening is open for browsing during the entire three hours in order to:

1. • view work of current students in the program
   • visit the undergraduate studio
   • tour the facilities
   • watch the outcome of the 2015 sophomore animation workshop with Scripps Networks
   • speak with faculty, current students and alumni
   • read about alumni success
   • learn more about the curriculum and process for entering the School of Art

There will be light refreshments and a drawing for various design related door prizes.
For more information about the event, please contact Sarah Lowe at slowe@utk.edu.

About the Graphic Design program ….

Located in the School of Art on the University of Tennessee campus, the Graphic Design program provides intensive study into the literacies needed to meet the complexity of today’s design profession. Students engage with work that stresses creative and intellectual thinking, awareness of individual, social, cultural and communicative issues, the integration of new technology, and a concern for ethical implications of today’s shifting world perspectives.

“The curriculum is structured to provide needed foundations that build out
into deeper investigations that match up with the interests of the students.”

Information design, branding and identity, design strategy, typography and interaction design are explored concurrently with fundamental gestalt and aesthetic principles. The capstone semester, last semester in the program, allows students to execute a project of their own design from conception to ideated prototype. This project is presented to both a jury of professional designers and a jury of business entrepreneur professionals. This last semester culminates with a Senior Show in which area and regional professionals, as well as family and friends, come together to view the portfolio that each student has created throughout their time in the program.

Professional development occurs not only in the classroom but at internships that are required of all majors. Students are encouraged to divide their internship time up across several locations in order to be exposed to a variety of working cultures. The graphic design area has established relationships with several well-considered internship locations both locally and nationally, and works with the students to identify a location that best fits their needs. Likewise, students are also encouraged to engage with locations outside of this list with whom they would like to work.

In addition to the design curriculum, students are given the opportunity to take classes in the fine arts, theater, business, writing, or psychology among many other opportunities across campus. We are working closely with The Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship on campus to establish a minor, which provides Design students with the necessary skills to write a business plan and pitch innovative ideas to area professionals. In addition, collaborative classes taught with 4D faculty, explore experimental investigations into sequence, sound and space are offered for advanced undergraduate students.

“90% of the graduating alumni from the past 5 years
are employed within the design field.”

Alumni from the program enjoy successful employment rates upon graduation. Within a year, 100% of the class of 2013 are all employed in the design profession. A testament to the rigorous program offered at the University of Tennessee. Alumni from the program can be found at recognizable corporations such as Google, Facebook, IDEO, Houghton Mifflin, Scripps, HGTV, DIY Network and Microsoft. They are founders of design agencies both large and small. They work at boutique design shops that cater to a particular need or at in-house design departments serving a variety of requests. They teach at colleges, universities and schools of all shapes and sizes. They are employed not only in Knoxville and across Tennessee, but in most every region of the United States. But, all hold in common the experience of beating the pavement up and down the 3rd floor of the A+A for 4 years. Come check it out!