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 design drawing. I teach at all levels, from foundations through M.F.A.
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STUDENT WORK SAMPLES
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click to navigate & expand each section
GRADUATE-LEVEL TEACHING
I have advised many M.F.A. thesis projects as both a thesis advisor and committee member. I typically choose to advise projects on 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 at the link; a full list of thesis advising is available through my CV.
”No Word for Art: Discovering Hmong Creatives Through Multimedia Forms”
Pang Chia Yang, MFA 2025 | Multimedia Producer, Skyward ”Graphic Nonfiction for Eco-Educational Resource / Just Say NOPE to Plastic”
Brianna Capra, MFA 2024 | Independent illustrator & artist “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 “A Thread Through History: How Interlinking Contemporary Art with Paj Ntaub Can Connect Generations”
Jackson Yang, MFA 2023 | Graphic Designer, UW-Stout “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 “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 “Designing the Future: Diegetic Sculpture & Literary Adaptation in Speculative Fiction Cinema”
Jonathan Wheeler, MFA 2021 | Tenure-line faculty, Video Production at UW-Stout ”Chinese-style Digital Painting”
Zi-xu Tian, MFA 2017 | Instructor of 3D Animation at Visual College of Art & Design, Vancouver |
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 State 2D Digital Foundations / UW-Stout Graphic Design 1 / Ohio State Typography & Letterform / UW-Stout Typographic Design / Ohio State Digital Illustration / UW-Stout |
STUDENT RECOGNITION
Bex Cermin, MFA student | bexcerminportfolio.com
Kristen Protheroe, MFA student | kristenprotheroe.com
Brianna Capra, MFA '24 | bcaprastudioarts.com
Riley Dombrowski, BFA '24
Jonathan Alesch, MFA '23
Kristofer Tremain, BFA '21
Matthew A. Wigdahl, MFA '21 | wigdahldesigns.com
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.
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