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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
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Verbal + visual

The Department of Graphic Design in the Stuckeman School focuses on the development of students’ skills and abilities in problem solving, and on expanding their expertise and proficiency in the use and application of digital technologies and electronic media. The curriculum anticipates an evolving context for professional practice through innovative problem-solving at different scales – from objects to systems – engaging with people-centered research and theory, ethical practices, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

With small class sizes, students enjoy individualized attention from faculty bringing extensive design experience in diverse settings. Design studies are blended with a range of liberal arts, communications, and business courses, thus ensuring graduates are ready for the next step.

The Stuckeman School offers an undergraduate Bachelor of Design degree in Graphic Design and a minor, as well as supporting a Master of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in graphic design in conjunction with the Penn State School of Visual Arts.

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Departmental Resources


Archive of Exhibitions

Stuckeman School Resources


Career Services

Lecture + Exhibit Series

Student Awards Gallery

Degree
Offerings

Students gathered around a table with sketches and a laptop open as the instructor points at concepts on the pages

B.Des. in Graphic Design

The B.Des. in Graphic Design empowers students to become innovators that meet the growing demand for branding, storytelling, visualizing information, user experience, and user interface designs.
Undergraduate graphic design student work exhibition: showcasing a wall divider with big bold text, digital designs on flat-screen TVs, and poster design pinned up on a divider board.

Graphic Design Minor

The Graphic Design minor is intended for students interested in augmenting their academic major with the physical, technological, aesthetic, and conceptual skills associated with a design discipline.
M.F.A. exhibition showing close up of a sculpture.

M.F.A. in Art

The Penn State M.F.A. in Art offers concentrations in ceramics, drawing and painting, graphic design, new media, photography, and sculpture – all to elevate your art and impact.

Alumni Spotlight

Metropolitan Opera design director Karin Satrom.

Alumni Spotlight

Karin Satrom

B.Des. in Graphic Design 2001

Karin Satrom leverages her degree in graphic design and photography as the design director at the Metropolitan Opera, where she oversees and creates the concepts and designs for all print and digital materials for each season. To improve efficiency, she reorganized the design team to create an “in-house agency,” the Met Opera Studio.

Billboard poster for Metropolitan Opera's 'Voices Rise' by designer and Penn State alumna Karin Satrom.
Metropolitan Opera's 'Black Voices at the Met' environmental signage by designer and Penn State alumna Karin Satrom.
Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Season Book cover by designer and Penn State alumna Karin Satrom.

Our Facilities

Galleries, Studios and Workshops
See All Our Facilities
Stacks of colorful design posters of major U.S. cities, hanging from the ceiling.
Stacks of colorful design posters of major U.S. cities, hanging from the ceiling.

DArt Design Studio

The DArt Design Studio computer and peripheral labs are available 24 hours a day to the entire DArt community, and are primarily for student


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Stacks of colorful design posters of major U.S. cities, hanging from the ceiling.

Digital Fabrication Lab

The Digital Fabrication Lab (digiFAB lab) is the home for digital fabrication equipment that is used for design and research projects by faculty and


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Stacks of colorful design posters of major U.S. cities, hanging from the ceiling.

Rouse Gallery

Located in the main entryway of the Stuckeman Family Building, the Willard G. Rouse gallery houses special exhibits by leaders in the fields of


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Stacks of colorful design posters of major U.S. cities, hanging from the ceiling.

Stuckeman Shop

The Stuckeman Shop – primarily supporting architecture, landscape architecture, and graphic design students – provides an excellent opportunity for motivated students to develop their ideas


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Faculty Spotlight

Red, white, and blue flag-motif and KKK white hoods graphic for anti-hate poster.
Red, white, and blue flag-motif and KKK white hoods graphic for anti-hate poster.

Ryan Russell

Associate Professor of Graphic Design

The Bienal del Cartel Bolivia BICeBé – a biennial elite international design event in Bolivia – attracts the best designs from Latin America and around the world while promoting a humanistic approach to design. Two posters designed by Ryan Russell, associate professor of graphic design, were accepted into the 2019 BICeBé. Russell’s poster for “Deconstructing Symbols of Hate in America” was selected in the cultural category. His other selected poster, this time in the advertising category, was for an immersive augmented reality exhibition called “TOUCH.”

Ryan Russell

News from A&A

College of Arts and Architecture to honor Alumni Award winners on Oct. 5

The College of Arts and Architecture will honor its 2023 Alumni Award recipients on Thursday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. at the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center.

The College of Arts and Architecture will honor its 2023 Alumni Award recipients on Thursday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. at the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, 146 S. Allen


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Penn State work featured in upcoming long-term Franklin Institute space exhibit

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A video that highlights the work a Penn State team is doing to 3D print houses that can sustain life on Mars is featured in a


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Stuckeman School to host architect and graphic designer as lecturers on Oct. 4

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Stuckeman School in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State will welcome two guests as part of its 2023-24 Lecture and Exhibit Series


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