Graphic Design & Digital Media

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Division of Communication & Creative Media

Take a good look around you—graphic design is everywhere! Every poster, magazine ad, logo, Web site, or product graphic began as a creative spark in the mind of a professional graphic designer. Beginning with a great idea, today's designer brings to life her/his ideas by creating digital artwork for reproduction in a diverse range of media. Whether a public service campaign concerning global warming, or an ad touting the competitive advantages of a new product, graphic designers play a key role in realizing the visual expression of communication. Champlain's Graphic Design & Digital Media (GDD) program has its finger on the pulse of this dynamic field, enabling you to synthesize imagination, creativity, intellect and technological savvy into a dynamic and rewarding career.

Graphic design is a stimulating life activity—the confluence of imagination, creativity, intellect and teamwork into a rewarding profession. It is ever-changing. Not long ago the practicing graphic designer likely would have specialized in a niche of the profession, but thanks to the digital revolution today's graphic design professional may wear many hats, creating artwork across a wide spectrum of media. Beginning with your very first semester, Champlain's GDD program exposes you to the many modes of digital design, and then, through a flexible arrangement of upper-level electives, enables you to focus and refine your skills in the area of your choice—print, interactive, advertising or a customized combination of the three.

And further, the GDD program meshes seamlessly with Champlain's distinctive interdisciplinary core curriculum, thus broadening and deepening your academic experience. You will graduate with the abilities to dive right into in your creative endeavors, keep pace with the exciting design profession and actively engage in your culture for decades to come.

Program Highlights
- Acquire a unique balance of the artistic, technical, intellectual and critical aspects of the design profession.
- Dive into discipline-specific courses from the very first semester.
- Gain a solid design foundation in the basics of graphic design and digital media, then develop and hone your skills by concentrating in print-, interactive- or advertising-related design.
- Enjoy state-of-the-art Macintosh digital classrooms, labs, and AV editing suites, and complete darkroom facilities for traditional black-and-white photography.
- Learn from a faculty that brings the best of the teaching profession and professional discipline to class.
- Share your work with the campus community and local design professionals in ongoing exhibitions and an end-of-the-year student exhibition.
- Participate in real-world projects both in the classroom and at exciting internship sites including Burton Snowboards, Jager Di Paola Kemp Design, KSV Communicators, Place Creative, Shark Design, Blue House Group, Propeller Media Works and many others.
- Experience the thriving local arts community of Burlington, including galleries, music, dance, theater and museums, and be just 90 minutes from the old-world metropolitan city of Montréal.
- Become among the many graduates who found Champlain's GDD program to be a gratifying and defining experience that led to a rewarding career in graphic design.
Curriculum
First Year

First Semester:
Second Semester:
Second Year

First Semester:
Second Semester:
Third Year

First Semester:
- COR 310 - Globalization & Technology
- COR 320 - Globalization & Faith
- Program Elective
- Program Elective
- General Elective
Second Semester:
- COR 330 - CORE 9
- COR 340 - CORE 10
- GDD 330 - Social Responsibility in Media
- Natural Science with lab
- Program Elective
Fourth Year

First Semester:
- GDD 400 - Projects in Graphic Design
- GDD 430 - Senior Seminar in Graphic Design
- Program Elective
- Program Elective
- General Elective
Second Semester:
- COR 410 - CORE 11
- GDD 401 - Senior Portfolio in Graphic Design
- GDD 431 - Senior thesis in Graphic Design
  or GDD 490 - Apprenticeship in Graphic Design
- Program elective
BS Degree in Graphic Design & Digital Media
Career Opportunities
Career Opportunities in Graphic Design and Digital Media
- Design Studios
- Corporate Communications
- Creative Direction
- Illustration
- Product Design
- Web site Design
- Advertising Design
- Public Relations
Student Resources
In addition to its beautiful campus cascading down the ‘hill' section of Burlington with breathtakingly beautiful views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains, Champlain College also offers GDD students state-of-the-art digital facilities and studios in which to grow their design practice.

All GDD computers are kept current with discipline-specific software including the Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign), Flash, Dreamweaver, ImageReady, Fireworks, Final Cut Pro, Maya and many others. Students have ready access to Mac labs, a photographic darkroom and four dual-screen suites equipped with audio- and video-editing equipment to produce professional-level film projects. Digital still and video cameras and microphones can be checked out without charge, and scanners and printers are readily available. There are a 6" x 9" movable type printing press and a tabletop etching press. An open drawing studio session with live models, supervised by a faculty member, is offered weekly. Studio areas for manual artwork production are also readily available.
Faculty