Congratulations to our graduating MFA students! This is ✨ Part 3 of 3 ✨ highlighting their work in the Graduate Exhibition at SAIC Galleries. See it for yourself, May 8–20!
#saicVCDmfa #MFAViscom2026
Congratulations to our graduating MFA students! This is ✨ Part 2 of 3 ✨ highlighting their work in the Graduate Exhibition at SAIC Galleries. See it for yourself, May 8–20!
#saicVCDmfa #MFAViscom2026
Congratulations to our graduating MFA students! This is ✨ Part 1 of 3 ✨ highlighting their work in the Graduate Exhibition at SAIC Galleries. See it for yourself, May 8–20!
#saicVCDmfa #MFAViscom2026
Join us and play board games!
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
11 am – 3 pm
Sharp 1117 + VCD Resource Room
Heavy Cardboard utilizes the full toolkit of design skills:
- research + systems modeling;
- iterative design + beta testing;
- building worlds + decision-spaces;
- straight-up graphic design + illustration;
- materials exploration + production + outsourcing;
- technical writing + editing;
- data visualization + UI/UX;
- branding + packaging, and more!
Everything coalesces into a fun and engaging portfolio-ready project.
VCD 4020/5022: Heavy Cardboard: Designing Boardgames, taught by Associate Professor Stephen Farrell, is offered every Spring semester in Visual Communication Design!
Recently on display in our 11th-floor display cabinets are works from Professor Mark Addison Smith's VCD 4024: Advanced Graphic Design course.
VCD 4024: Advanced Graphic Design is offered every semester and is one of three Capstone courses offered in Visual Communication Design. Students must have taken VCD 3001: Intermediate Graphic Design, VCD 3011: Intermediate Typography, and 3900 Professional Practice to enroll.
/////
Project: Hybrid Narrative
8 weeks / designer's choice of topic + medium
Prompt: We never exist in one lens—people, places, and things aren't singular or absolute. A hybrid narrative blends seemingly different styles or elements to create a unique viewing experience and deepen audience connections (think elements of surprise or unexpected turns). Through a blending of topic, media, voice, style, or modalities, VCD capstone students are invited to create a narrative experience in which some element—formal, conceptual, or experiential—is hybridized.
Student work includes:
slide 2: Vienna Pender
slide 3: Vienna Pender
slide 4: Ellie Suh
slide 5: Ellie Suh
slide 6: Kyle Watson
slide 7: Kyle Watson
slide 8: Ashley Kim
slide 9: Ashley Kim
slide 10: Tyler Eaton
slide 11: Tyler Eaton
slide 12: Alisha Lee
slide 13: Alisha Lee
slide 14: Ashlee Bonilla
slide 15: Ashlee Bonilla
slide 16: Amy Zhou
slide 17: Amy Zhou
slide 18: Erika Dunn
slide 19: Erika Dunn
slide 20: Jessica Lee
T-minus 10 days until our Design Showcase ‼️ Be there, or be square! (Get it, because pixels are square 😆) 🟦🟨🟪
@wilson.boetticher and @servicebureausaic partnered together to make these awesome posters for the exhibit, along with this video from the help of @v1p.art
#aiga #graphicdesign #saicaiga #designshowcase2026 #pixeltopage
To enroll in VCD Intermediate-level courses, students must complete the following courses, which can be taken in sequence during Summer 2026.
1001 Intro to VCD + 1002 Illustration Tech Lab (co-requisite)
ONLINE
session 3W1 / June 8 – June 26
2011 Beginning Typography + 2012 Type Tech Lab (co-requisite)
ONLINE
session 3W2 / June 29 – July 17
2002 Image Studio
ONLINE
session 3W2 / June 29 – July 17
2001 Beginning Graphic Design
ONLINE
session 3W3 / July 20 – August 7
🌀🌀🌀
This arrangement of courses allows you to complete the whole sequence over the summer. You can pick one or more courses, but please be aware of the required prerequisites. Complete course information, including instructors and times, is available at:
saic.edu/visual-communication-design/undergraduate/overview
🌀🌀🌀
Students interested in taking VCD Intermediate-level courses should submit work from the above classes in their VCD Portfolio Review submission. The next VCD Portfolio Review will take place in August 2026. Check your SAIC email for dates or contact Associate Professor and VCD Undergraduate Coordinator Mark Addison Smith ([email protected]) with questions.
Recently on display in our 11th-floor display cabinets are works from Professor Georgia Bockos’ VCD 4011: Advanced Typography course.
VCD 4011: Advanced Typography is offered every Spring semester on Fridays, 9am to 3pm. Students must have taken VCD 3001: Intermediate Graphic Design and VCD 3011: Intermediate Typography to enroll.
/////
Project: Type Refresher / Public Art Poster
Prompt: This first, very brief project, was used as a vehicle to accomplish two things at the start of the semester: 1) refresh student knowledge of fundamental skills as it relates to the craft of typography, and 2) jump-start creativity through experimentation and "play" as it relates to the art of typography.
Duration: 2+ weeks!
Student work includes:
slide 2: Wilson Boetticher
slide 3: Caitlin Johnson
slide 4: Ashley Jung
slide 5: Vedika Sharma
slide 6: Bruno Martinez Silva
slide 7: Kyle Watson
Join VCD for the FINAL WORKSHOP of PROF / PRAC / FEST this MONDAY, APRIL 20TH—
🌀🌀🌀
Visual Communication Design presents:
PROF / PRAC / FEST!
Where typography meets practice for SAIC’s designers.
🌀🌀🌀
3:30pm WORKSHOP!
RISO Ready: File Prep with PS
hosted by: Riesling Dong
Sharp 1117, 3:30pm - 5pm
Learn how to prepare your artwork for Risograph printing using Photoshop. This workshop covers color separation, spot channels, halftones, and setting up files so your prints come out clean and vibrant. Perfect for beginners or anyone looking to better understand how digital files translate into Riso prints.
🌀🌀🌀
Sponsored by SAIC Visual Communication Design Department
Students with disabilities requesting accommodations should visit saic.edu/access
Congratulations to SAIC VCD Assistant Professor, Alex Kostiw, on their incredible exhibition, Slight Fictions, held February 26 to March 23, 2026 at De Pree Art Center.
For more information: alexkostiw.com
For SAIC students interested in learning more about artist’s books and self-publishing, join Alex this Fall 2026:
VCD 3300:
Beyond the Margins: Self-Publishing in Practice
Alex Kostiw, Assistant Professor
Tuesday, 9am - 3pm, Sharp 1217
NEXT MONTH ‼️ Join us on Sunday, May 17th, from 2-5pm for this year's Design Showcase: Pixel to Page 🔹🔺◽
Show your support for our graduating seniors as they showcase a variety of 🌟 amazing, 🔥 ambitious, and 🫣 never-before-seen work!
We hope to see you there! 🤩 🤗
#aiga #saic #saicaiga #design #graphicdesign #chicago
This Monday, April 13th join us for a PROF/ PRAC/FEST LECTURE! —
🖍🖍🖍
Visual Communication Design presents:
PROF / PRAC / FEST!
Where typography meets practice for SAIC’s designers.
🖍🖍🖍
2:00pm LECTURE!
The Artist-Designer: Balancing a Creative Career and a Personal Artistic Practice
hosted by: Riley Brady, Blue Daring Designer + Manager
Sharp 1115, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
🖍🖍🖍
Sponsored by SAIC Visual Communication Design Department
Students with disabilities requesting accommodations should visit saic.edu/access
