Graphic Design (New)

Graphic design student has her work spread on a black board and is selecting color from a paint fan deck

Graphic design student final work of colorful notebook covers

Graphic design students gathered together outside the conference center during field trip to graphic design conference

Student works with the letterpress machine by placing letters into machine

A group of typography class work handing on a wall where student is working with fond and color.

Student sits with Professor Barnes in the computer lab

Graphic design student final work with a t-shirt design of a fictitious natural park

Graphic design is an artistic and commercial discipline that balances technical ability and skills in artful presentation. Our exclusively undergraduate classes are the foundation of a professional career. Students use their creative and intellectual talents to problem solve in rigorous courses that prepare them for careers using the visual representation of symbols, images, and words to convey ideas and messages. We create an atmosphere that stresses creative and intellectual thinking, while maintaining the integration of new technology. Graphic design is offered as an emphasis area of study only for undergraduate students.

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Meet Sarah Roper (BFA in Art, emphasis in Graphic Design ’20), a transfer student from Itawamba Community College, who excelled in the graphic design program.

“I’ve been making art since I was a little kid, and I knew I had a knack for it. After I finished an AP art course in high school, I knew I wanted to continue doing art throughout college.”

Meet the Faculty

The graphic design studio is headed by Ginny Chavis, Professor of Art, who received a prestigious 2019 Artist in Residence at La Maison Verté, located in Marnay-sur-Seine, France. Even beyond all her awards and recognitions in the field of art, she was the academic advisor of the year at UM and received an award for her extraordinary student mentorship from the National Association of Academic Advisors.

Tyler Barnes, Assistant Professor of Art, has earned ten American Advertising Federation Awards, including two district ADDY’s, has been featured in several publications. His most recent regional Gold ADDY was for his label design for River Basin Distillery in the category of Sales and Marketing-Packaging from the American Advertising Federation’s Ad Club of New Orleans.

Valerie Guinn Polgar, Visiting Assistant Professor of Imaging Arts, is an interdisciplinary new media artist who uses video, animation, and physical computing to create digital and interactive works.

Tyler Barnes

Assistant Professor of Art
Graphic Design
Meek 253 | 662-915-1324
tsbarne1@olemiss.edu

Virginia Rougon Chavis

Professor of Art
Graphic/Web Design & Letterpress
Meek 261 | 662-915-1324
vlrougon@olemiss.edu

Valerie Guinn Polgar

Visiting Assistant Professor
Imaging Arts/Graphic Design
Meek 145
vgpolgar@olemiss.edu