Graphic Design Studio Practice

“To be a good artist / letterer / designer / guitar player, it takes practice. A lot of it. More than you can even fathom when you’re starting out.” — Jessica Hische, Letterer and Designer

What This Course Is About

You’re good at design. But being good at design isn’t enough to have a career in design.

This course focuses on the professional practices that support a sustainable and meaningful career in graphic design. While studio courses emphasize making, this class centers on how designers work in the world—how they communicate, collaborate, present ideas, navigate clients, price work, and articulate value.

We’ll engage with the practical skills, real-world scenarios, and professional habits that designers are expected to develop but are rarely explicitly taught. You’ll build tools, documents, and confidence that extend beyond the classroom and into internships, freelance work, and full-time roles.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Articulate your skills, interests, and point of view clearly and confidently
• Present work professionally to peers, clients, and employers
• Develop polished resumes, portfolios, and professional profiles ready for real use
• Understand pricing, proposals, and contracts and how to negotiate your value
• Communicate effectively in professional settings across different contexts
• Navigate collaboration, feedback, and critique with confidence and professionalism
• Understand multiple career paths within graphic design and make informed decisions

Our Professional Community

We are a group of design professionals. This isn’t a typical classroom dynamic—we’re colleagues preparing to enter (or advance in) the design industry together. We come from different backgrounds, with different experiences, career goals, and definitions of success. Some of you want to freelance. Some want to work in agencies. Some want in-house roles. Some don’t know yet. All of these paths are valid, and we’ll prepare for all of them.

We operate as professionals:

• We show up prepared and on time
• We give and receive honest, constructive feedback
• We support each other’s growth and success
• We treat this space as we would a professional studio

We embrace diverse perspectives: Our cohort includes people from all over the world with varied backgrounds and experiences. We learn from each other’s different approaches to professionalism, communication styles, and career aspirations. We commit to understanding each other through the contexts of culture, identity, and lived experience.

We practice honesty over performance: Professional practice requires talking about money, rejection, failure, and fear. These aren’t comfortable topics, but we’ll tackle them with honesty and mutual support. Real professional development happens when we’re willing to be honest about what we don’t know and what we’re struggling with.

We stay flexible and adaptable: I made a syllabus and a schedule. I will shift and adjust the work and the due dates to adapt to our class and what opportunities arise. This mirrors professional practice, where adaptability is essential.

I’m here to support your success: My role is part instructor, part mentor, part connector. I’m committed to helping you grow and learn, and I’m committed to learning from you. If you’re struggling with anything—course content, workload, job search stress, career decisions, life stuff—talk to me early. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.

Five Parts

This course is organized into modules that mirror common stages of professional development:

Course Values

This course values:

• Honesty over performance — Be real about what you know and don’t know
• Clarity over jargon — Communicate directly and plainly
• Curiosity over certainty — Ask questions, explore options
• Preparation over improvisation — Show up ready
• Respect for diverse career paths — There’s no single “right” way to be a designer

Professional practice is not about having all the answers—it’s about learning how to navigate uncertainty with intention and care.

Assignments in this course are practical and cumulative. They’re designed to be directly usable beyond the course.

Major Deliverables

1. Professional Resume — Due Week 3
2. Professional Bio — Due Week 4
3. Pecha Kucha Presentation — Due Week 4
4. Client Presentation — Due Week 7
5. Project Proposal — Due Week 8
6. Portfolio (website or PDF) — Due Week 11
7. Written Reflections — Printing tour + 2 studio visits
8. Final Professional Package — Due Week 14

All assignments must be completed according to the brief and submitted on time. Emphasis is placed on clarity, seriousness of effort, and responsiveness to feedback rather than polish alone.

GameDay

Concept presentations · Weeks 8–9 · brief given verbally in class

Studio Visits & Guest Speakers

Studio visits. TBD. Before each visit: research the studio thoroughly · prepare 3 thoughtful questions · dress professionally (business casual). After each visit: written reflection on Basecamp.

Commercial printing tour. Meridian Printing (meridianprinting.com) — Week 11 (April 8).

Guest speakers. We’ll host 3 guest speakers throughout the semester from various areas of design practice: Erin Kelly, Julie Ostrow and Nikita Singh. Before each guest: research their work · prepare 2 questions.

This course depends on discussion, presence, and shared experience.

Required Texts

1. Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines, 16th edition (2023).
2. Monteiro, Mike. Design Is a Job (A Book Apart, 2012). Client relationships and professional boundaries.

Readings, resources, and links will be provided throughout the semester. Most materials will be short, applied, and discussed in class.

Professional Tools

Throughout the course, you’ll become familiar with tools that professional designers use:

• Portfolio & presentation — Adobe Portfolio, Squarespace, Cargo, or custom website · PDF portfolio best practices · presentation software (Keynote, PowerPoint, Google Slides)
• Business & communication — invoicing platforms (Studioworks, FreshBooks, Wave, Harvest) · project management tools (Asana, Notion, Basecamp) · communication tools (Slack, email best practices)

Attendance

Because this class meets once per week, attendance is essential.

• You get 2 absences, no questions asked
• 3rd absence drops your final grade by one letter grade
• Missing a studio visit or guest speaker counts as 2 absences
• Late (>15 minutes) = half absence
• If you must miss class, email me before class begins

Much of the value of this course comes from discussion, guest speakers, and shared context, which cannot be replicated outside the classroom.

Late Work

Extensions available for legitimate emergencies—talk to me early.

Communication

Email me at nickrock@bu.edu (response within 24–48 hours on weekdays). Book office hours: fantastical.app/nick-kSSb/office-hours. If you’re struggling with anything, talk to me early.

Academic Integrity

Present your own work. Cite sources. Don’t plagiarize. If you use AI tools (ChatGPT, etc.) for writing or content generation, disclose it and explain how it was used. Using AI without attribution is plagiarism.

Accessibility

If you need accommodations, please contact me and BU’s Office of Disability & Access Services. I’m committed to making this course accessible for everyone.

• AIGA (professional organization)
• Design job boards
• Boston design community events
• Online learning platforms

Specific resources and links will be shared as relevant to weekly topics.

This course is meant to be useful.

The goal is for you to leave with tools, language, and confidence that you can carry forward into your professional life. Not theoretical knowledge—practical skills you’ll use immediately.

Show up. Participate. Be honest about what you don’t know. Support your colleagues. Take this seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.

Let’s get to work.