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Visual Communication Design

visual communication

Design Communication Solutions for Tomorrow's World

You’re passionate about crafting compelling visuals – and Keuka College’s Visual Communication Design program channels that passion into graphic design mastery. 

Studio courses guide you through typography, branding, layout, and user-experience fundamentals, combining classic design principles with the latest digital tools to communicate ideas with precision and flair. Project briefs mirror real-world challenges – from developing identity systems to designing cross-platform campaigns – so you graduate with a polished, strategic portfolio ready for the creative industry.

Program Highlights

An Internship Every Year

Every year, beginning in your first year, you’ll design a Field Period® experience that could see you working in a newspaper or television station, collaborating alongside event planners, discovering the relationship between public relations and marketing, or finding out what a copywriter does. The choice is all yours!

Endless Networking Opportunities

Our students have taught city managers to use Twitter, helped organize TEDx events, and worked for nonprofit organizations, news stations, and museums, among many other organizations. With every interaction, you’ll learn how to help audiences understand information, through both written and visual communication, which increases the comprehension of the subject matter. 

A Multidimensional Faculty

With years of experience writing for print and the web, perfecting public speaking and interviewing techniques, and crafting messages that resonate, our faculty have the academic and professional experience to take you to new heights. They represent the diverse ways of working within this field, bringing a breadth and depth of experience and knowledge, along with real-world experience. 

Request More Information

We asked our students to tell you why Keuka College was the best choice for them — and why Keuka College could be the best choice for you.

Just fill in your information below and we’ll email or text what they said right now.

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Brad McKnight

The Visual Communication major at Keuka College will prepare me for a future career in any direction I choose to go, whether it’s graphic design, communications, or marketing. Our assignments are real-world examples that would be presented to actual clients. I love the collaboration in class between students and teachers. We all help each other in class and it’s a really supportive and uplifting environment. I would not have gotten this type of experience anywhere else.

— Brad McKnight ’22

See the world as a canvas? Keuka College’s Visual Communication Design program shows you how to fuse images and language into stories that move audiences. 

Core courses – Visual Communication Design, Graphic Design, Digital Media Integration, Interactive Design, and Publication Design – ground you in typography, layout, motion, and user experience. Professional and Technical Writing joins interpersonal communication, public speaking, and group communication to hone your narrative voice and reveal how design and wording reinforce one another. 

Studio projects mirror industry briefs, guiding you to plan, prototype, and produce campaigns that inform, persuade, and inspire. By graduation you’ll carry a sharp portfolio, fluent visual-verbal skills, and the confidence to excel in graphic design, digital media, UX/UI, publication design, and professional writing.

Program Requirements

Career Options

What Can I Do with a Visual Communications Degree?

A Visual Communication degree is incredibly versatile and opens a world of career opportunities, including as a:

  • Advertising Specialist
  • Art Director/Creative Director
  • Book Designer
  • Brand Designer/Strategist
  • Entertainment Agent
  • Graphic Designer
  • Illustrator
  • Marketing Specialist
  • Motion Graphic Designer
  • Package Designer
  • Photographer
  • Production Artist
  • Promotions Specialist
  • Public Relations Specialist
  • Social Media Manager
  • User Experience (UX) Designer
  • Webpage/App Designer

Keuka College's Field Period

Much More Than An Annual Internship

A woman looks at a mountain. There is a goal flag on the top of the mountain, and dotted lines and milestone markers that track toward the goal.

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Build Your Résumé

And Your Own Professional Network

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Get Real Experience

You'll Use in Your Field and Throughout Your Life

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Discover Yourself

Learn What You Like and Where You Want to Go

“

My Field Period® with Nickelodeon, to create a trailer for a new episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, confirmed for me that, yes, this is what I love to do. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to be part of the program. It had everything I wanted and was related to my major. And having this under my belt and on my resume will lead to more opportunities.

— Aunika Constantine '24

Where Can a Visual Communication Field Period Take You?

  • F.F. Thompson Hospital
  • Nickelodeon
  • Ironvine Studios
  • Kurt Brownell Photography
  • Keuka Arts Festival
  • Schweinfurth Arts Center
  • Author Catherine Ramirez
  • Keuka College Office of Marketing and Communications
  • LaBella Associates
  • Dwyer Architectural
  • Etsy
  • Pasteurized Tees

Your visual communications professors are much more than exceptional teachers — they're accomplished researchers and extraordinary academic advisors. 

Your visual communications professors will get to know you as an individual. They'll help you maximize your strengths, improve upon your weaknesses, and advise you on the courses you'll need to take so you can make the most of your visual communications degree and enjoy the career of your dreams, whether your next step is a career or graduate school.

Estimate Your Scholarship

How Would You Join Keuka College and with What GPA?

81%
81%

Estimated Scholarship Value

/year

With maximum state and federal aid, you could attend Keuka College for just per year. Check our math.

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Affording Your Keuka College Education

Keuka College scholarships, state and federal grants, employer tuition remission, and military benefits are financial aid options that may be available to you. Our financial aid team is here to help you navigate the process and find as many opportunities as are available to you. 

Your application for admission is also your application for financial aid. It's free to apply, so why not start your application today?

Comparing Us to a SUNY or CUNY?
"Free tuition" at state schools doesn't come without costs. Even though Keuka College is private, that doesn't mean a state school will be less expensive for you, even if you're eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship.

Learn More and Get the Facts

We can't wait to have you as part of our #KCFamily! Your admissions counselor is here to help guide and support you every step of the way.

Admissions Requirements

  • Submit an Application for Undergraduate Admission and Scholarship Opportunities.
  • Keuka College is test optional and believes there's much more to you than just a test score. The admissions committee considers all application materials in its holistic review of your eligibility. 
  • There is no deadline to apply, and we offer rolling admissions. The sooner you submit your application, the sooner you'll receive your admissions decision and scholarship. In most cases, you'll receive a response from us within 1-2 weeks. 

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