I am currently a Professor of Design in the School of Art and Design at the University of Wisconsin–Stout. My teaching expertise and professional background covers a broad subset of Visual Communication Design, including illustration, graphic design, concept art, and various types of design drawing. I teach at all levels, from foundations to MFA.
STUDENT WORK SAMPLES
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GRADUATE-LEVEL TEACHING
I have advised many MFA thesis projects as both a thesis advisor and committee member. I typically choose to work with students interested in Visual Communication topics such as graphic design, illustration, and story-driven media, and enjoy working with students who explore these through the lens of societal impact, historical context, or cultural expression. Selected highlights below; a full list of thesis advising is available through my CV.
”Graphic Nonfiction for Eco-Educational Resource”
Brianna Capra, MFA 2024 | Independent illustrator & artist
Winner, UW-Stout Outstanding Graduate Researcher, 2024
​UW-Stout Inspiring Graduate, 2024
​Winner, Student Research Grant, 2023
  • Project included Say Nope to Plastic, a fully-illustrated 130-page graphic novel guide to sustainability issues related to plastics, personal health, and the environment.
“Re-imagining the Spooner Railroad Park as a Center for Community and Railroad History, Recreation, and Edutainment”
Jonathan Alesch, MFA 2024 | Project Manager; independent designer/scholar
Honorable Mention, UW-Stout Outstanding Graduate Researcher, 2023
  • ​An interdisciplinary exploration of historical preservation, interior space design, exhibition design, service design, and community engagement through models of Design Thinking, Design Research, and Imagineering.
“A Thread Through History: How Interlinking Contemporary Art with Paj Ntaub Can Connect Generations”
Jackson Yang, MFA 2023 | Advertising Designer, Menards
  • ​​An examination of Hmong cultural expression through visual communication motifs, specifically Paj Ntaub (Story Cloths). Project presents a contemporary illustrated YA book with the story of a Hmong child learning about his family's cultural identity.
“Representation and Diversity in the Horror Genre: How Design Research can Inform the Creation of a Themed Lifestyle Publication”
​Jessica Kromrie, MFA 2022 | Marketing Manager at Canomiks
  • A researched analysis of the visual language of the horror genre that identifies socially harmful and regressive patterns, symbols, and tropes, and uses that information to inform the design of a new model for horror genre print media with the goal of bringing representation and diversity to the forefront.
“Motion Graphic and Tangible User Interface for Audience Participation in Recorded Live Performance”
Matthew A. Wigdahl, MFA 2021 | Tenure-line faculty, Design at UW–Eau Claire
  • Project included a comprehensive interactive multimedia production design for theatrical stage performance at a public high school during a national pandemic—artifacts include film, animation, live action performance, and motion graphics, combined with an interactive audience kit.
“Designing the Future: Diegetic Sculpture & Literary Adaptation in Speculative Fiction Cinema” 
​Jonathan Wheeler, MFA 2021 | Tenure-line faculty, Video Production at UW-Stout
Winner, Student Research Grant, 2019
  • An examination of speculative fiction storytelling in an effort to explore cultural understanding of reality. Influenced by mid-century sci-fi, as well as 20th-Century utopian, futuristic design philosophers such as Buckminster Fuller and Paolo Soleri, this project examines storytelling through visual communication tools such as diegetic prototyping and contextual imagery.
”Chinese-style Digital Painting”
Zi-xu Tian, MFA 2017 | teaching 3D Animation at Visual College of Art & Design, Vancouver
  • A study that proposes a new set of instructional standards for digital drawing & painting approaches, such as illustration, product rendering, and concept art for entertainment media, combining the tools and processes of traditional Chinese painting techniques with contemporary digital methods.
COURSE HISTORY
DRAWING + VISUALIZATION
​​Design Drawing 1 / Ohio State
Design Drawing 2 / Ohio State
Design Drawing 3 / Ohio State
Foundational Design Drawing / UW-Stout
Design Visualization (ID) / UW-Stout
Concept Art (Game/Anim.) / UW-Stout

DESIGN FOUNDATIONS
2D Design Foundations / YCCC
2D Design Foundations / Ohio State
3D Design Foundations / Ohio State
​Design Foundations Lecture / Ohio State
​Design Theory & Methods / UW-Stout
Color Theory​ / UW-Stout
GRAPHIC DESIGN
2D ​Digital Foundations / Bemidji
2D Digital Foundations / UW-Stout
​Graphic Design 1 / Ohio State
​Typography & Letterform / UW-Stout
Typographic Design / Ohio State
​Digital Illustration​ / UW-Stout

GRADUATE
Graduate Seminar 1 / UW-Stout
​Design Research / UW-Stout
Design Education / UW-Stout
Sem. 2/Thesis Prep​ / UW-Stout
Creative Thesis​ / UW-Stout
STUDENT RECOGNITION
Brianna Capra, MFA student | bexcerminportfolio.com 
  • Outstanding Graduate Researcher of the Year (2025)

Melanie Graves, MFA student
  • Work selected, Mastering Type (2nd ed.) Denise Bosler: Bloomsbury Visual Arts (2025) 
  • Mural selected for Art on Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN (2023)
  • Mural selected for Eau Claire Colorblock Festival, Eau Claire, WI (2023)

Kristen Protheroe, MFA student | kristenprotheroe.com
  • Shortlist, Communication Arts Illustration Competition, 2025

Brianna Capra, MFA '24 | bcaprastudioarts.com
  • Outstanding Graduate Researcher of the Year (2024)

Riley Dombrowski, BFA '24
  • Mural selected for Eau Claire Colorblock Festival, Eau Claire, WI (2023)

Jonathan Alesch, MFA '23
  • Runner-up, Outstanding Graduate Researcher of the Year, 2023
  • Research paper presented at The Polytechnic Summit, 2022

Kristofer Tremain, BFA '21
  • Winner, NASA’s 2019 Space Grant Consortium logo design contest

Matthew A. Wigdahl, MFA '21 | wigdahldesigns.com
  • Research paper in Decipher (vol. 2): Proceedings of the AIGA Design Educators Community Conferences, AIGA Design Educators Community journal
  • Research poster presented at AIGA Design Educators Conference, 2019
STUDENT SUCCESSES
My students become successful designers, illustrators, art directors, and researchers in industry, as well as professors and college-level instructors. In addition to agencies and studios across North America, they are employed by entities such as Apple, IBM, Crocs, HOKA, Edward Jones, Amazon, DreamWorks, the NHL, 3M, and Microsoft. They have gone on to graduate programs at North Carolina State University, University of Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, MICA, SCAD, UCLA, MCAD, Lund University, Arizona State University, Ohio State University, and the University of Minnesota. They have served as instructors and tenure-track faculty at institutions such as the Cooper Union, Arizona State University, University of Louisiana–Lafayette, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin–Stout, Ohio State University, New York University, and Princeton University.
ERIK A. EVENSEN, MFA
DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR,
GRAPHIC NOVELIST, PROFESSOR