Teaching
Collected here are portions of just a small sampling of many excellent academic projects produced by students in my classes over the years in the Visual Communication Design program at NKU. The projects shown represent examples of the high level of success achieved through our curriculum, as well as the wide range of project types, problem-solving contexts, media experiments, and creative expression that we prioritize to prepare students for professional practice.
senior capstone in design
The capstone class is the highest level of advanced study in the BFA program where the class does comprehensive, student-defined projects that draw upon their individual strengths that have been developed throughout the curriculum and apply them to their academic, professional, and personal interests.
bella dell’aira
Longwood Studios (brand, typeface, packaging, motion, promotional & web design)
2019
Longwood Studios
sam kremer
Markus Marcel’s Menagerie of Mystery (exhibition, identity, information & publication design; artifact sculpting)
2019
Sam Kremer Design
mikala walker
Grayson Foundation (identity, brand & publication design)
2016
sarah faulkner
Haptics (typeface, artifact & exhibition design)
2013
david maley
Mobile Sans (typeface, publication, information & interactive design)
2013
Concerning David
jake staubitz
Covington Blue Sox 1913–2013 (identity, information, promotion & exhibition design)
2013
Dust Village
chris Ritter
Cincinnati Preservation Association poster series (campaign & poster design, limited edition screenprinting)
2006
Christopher A. Ritterinteraction design ii
Advanced course focused on a framework of visual communication methods and strategies to create well-designed user interfaces for user experience design in mobile and environmental media contexts.
skyler phillips
No Money Market App (interaction design: user research & ui/ux design)
2023
anna claire bergman
AppointMed health appointment management app (interaction design: user research & ui/ux design)
2022
Anna’s website
serina vaughn
Ding! concierge assistant app (interaction design: user research & ui/ux design)
2022
Serina’s websiteinformation design
Advanced course that deals with the visualization of complex information, data organization & presentation in a wide range of media and categories, including time-based information, quantitative displays, explanation graphics, and digital & analog navigation and wayfinding systems.
jake zastrow
Modern Military Superpowers (interactive information design)
2020
destiny ca’mel
Birthing While Black (quantitative display design)
2021
andrew niehaus
Atrial Septal Defect (explanation design / infographic poster design)
2018
andrewniehaus.commaria nacu
Fleetwood Mac Timeline (large-format poster design)
2017
Maria Nacu Designnikole friend
The Common Octopus (environmental exhibit panel / information design; detail)
2014
patrick dewenter
Cincinnati Brewery Companion (information, publication & environmental design)
2014
visual communication design iii
Advanced course of graphic designing across media through critical problem-solving skills, exercises in form-giving for visual systems for brands and public services, and the development of professionalism in client and agency skills.
al callahan
& I Was Gone (book design & illustration; experiment in 100 interpretations of a bird)
2020
More of Al’s work
ezra langford & jordan hackworth
The Stay Project Brand Guidelines (identity/brand system, typeface, website & publication design)
2020
Ezra’s InstagramJordan’s website
adam erwin
H4H healthcare app (brand & ui/ux design)
2019
sarah faulkner
Share Her Story (awareness campaign booklets and web design)
2013
matt overwine & amanda harris
Generation H20 (awareness campaign: film, brand & information design) one of 6 group presentations to the team of Procter & Gamble’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water program
2008
Matt’s website
joel gautraud
New Testament (motion-based historical information design)
2008
interaction design i
Intermediate studio course about web design and interfaces. We study digital media by understanding web standards, with an emphasis on the artistry and aesthetics of interaction design and screen-based typography for responsive web design.
Na Le
Flippie Japanese Pancakery microsite (coded & animated responsive web design)
2024
View on Na’s website
hayden turley
Cibo de Vita Restaurant microsite (coded & animated responsive web design)
2023
Hayden’s web site
spencer stead
Today’s Analog 2021 (coded & animated responsive web design)
2021
ivonne ruiz
Oswald: A Typeface that Makes a Statement — digital type specimen (coded & animated web design)
2025
peyton berger
Quicksand: A Modern, Clean, Sans Serif — digital type specimen (coded & animated web design)
2025
Visit Peyton’s project
morgan svarda
Studio Feixen Sans — digital type specimen (coded & animated web design)
2025
mia hatcher
Orbitron: A Digital Type Specimen microsite (coded & animated web design)
2024
Mia’s LinkedIn
al callahan
BFA Exhibition microsite/digital homage to Wolfgang Weingart (coded & animated responsive web design)
2019
kendra haiar
Quantum 2014 Psychology Convention (coded responsive web design)
2014
techniques in visual communication design
This class is where the rubber meets the road — an intermediate course that covers how to brings ideas to life, with a focus on efficient, best practices for imaging, prototyping, and production methods in analog and digital media.
Olivia threlfall
Let’s Do Something (card game concept, design & illustration)
2024
jane langford
Flitter Natural Confetti (package design & illustration system, top)
2021
Jane’s Instagramanna bergman
Seabed Bath Salts (brand and package design)
2022
Anna’s website
serina vaughn
Magique Tarot Cards (brand & package design)
2022
Serina’s websiteamber greis
Little Activities Planting Kit (brand & package design)
2018
aleta hegge
Unexplained — Monster Tracker (app design prototype)
2018
Allie’s website
gaby gavin
Ritual Museum (interactive promotional design)
2013
typography ii
In Type II, we apply typographic fundamentals that have been recently learned by students to more complex challenges that further build skills in the development of visual ideas, the ability to typeset and manage form, and the exploration of visual expressions of meaning and message.
gaby gavin
Nikon See & Be Seen (promotional re-design)
2012
kendra haiar
POP-SCI Magazine (editorial re-design)
2013
typography i
Type I is an essential introduction to typography, which is the art of the letterform. Students learn fundamental principles of visual organization and expression. We learn how to compose type-based content with artistry and study how the form of text-based information can say as much as the writing. Work ranges from a focus on individual characters to larger volumes of text with multiple levels of information in publishing contexts.
rebecca wise
Declaration of Independence (poster design)
2013
Morgan Svarda
Jordan Hackworth
Emily Sexton
Sarah Eisenman
Rebecca Wise
Peyton Berger
Leah Goshorn
Destiny Ca’Mel
Emily Sexton
Morgan Svarda
emily sexton
Declaration of Independence (book design)
2018
Housewives (word as image experiment; hand media)
& Pulverize (word as image experiment; digital)
2018
dustin bowen
“How Will the World End, Dustin?” An Interview with Dustin Bowen (book design)
2006
Dustin’s websitevisual communication design i
VCD I is another essential studio course that introduces students to broad topics dealing with the visual communication of ideas. We lay a foundation of understanding for how to creatively conceptualize, apply visual principles to ideas, build skill with color and other elements of art for design purposes, and be accountable to the need for clear, visual communication. The design process and the exploration of media/materials is emphasized.
kirsten gallagher
Dementia Prevention (awareness poster)
2023
toree bodner
Spill It: Talk Therapy (promotional poster)
2020
sarah weimer
What’s for Dinner? Consumerism (awareness poster)
2019
spencer stead
Vote! (persuasive poster)
2019
sarah weimer
Banana Bread: The One Excuse to Let Your Bananas Go Bad (information design)
2019
aubree ruf
Images & Meaning image-making experiment (on generational relationships)
2023
@aubreeonsaturn
kirsten gallagher
Images & Meaning image-making experiment (on dementia)
2023
peyton berger
Images & Meaning image-making experiment (on Alzheimer’s)
2023
morgan svarda
Cranberry Bog (color harmony and pattern design study)
2023
peyton berger
Clam Harvesting (color harmony and pattern design study)
2023
kirsten gallagher
Symbol design study (animal kingdom)
2023
gaby rodriguez
Symbol design study (architecture)
2011
tara cascella
Symbol design study (architecture)
2010
book art courses
I’ve taught of number of studio electives centered on artists’ books and book-making. Artist’s books are a form of art where the everything about the form of a book is important as a form of individual expression. Media, scale, content, and formats and experiments of all kinds are explored. Skills for how to make well-crafted objects are also taught.
justin dutle
Expressions (handmade flag book)
2008
amber mclain
Death: An Introspective (letterpess book)
2011
anita redmond
Exquisite Corpse (letterpress and crochet collage book)
2008
graphic design in the netherlands
A 3.5 week, immersive, summer travel experience studying world-class Dutch design, fine art, and daily living across the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague. We visited experts at world-famous design firms and examined design artifacts & art in world-renowned museums and library special collections. Students designed books documenting the experience.
