8/19/03

LMC to Launch New Graphic Design Program at
South Haven Campus

BENTON TOWNSHIP, MI - When fall classes begin at the new Lake Michigan College at South Haven campus, LMC students will have access to a state of the art graphic design program for the first time.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, desktop publishing and graphic design careers are expected to increase by 67 percent by 2010. Much of the expected increase is attributed to the continued rise in the use of web sites as marketing and communication tools. In addition to web design, graphic designers are employed in businesses such as advertising agencies, publishers, video production firms, and printing companies.

"Graphic designers at sometime in their career can find themselves working in print, film, television, web or designing a promotion piece made of glass or plastic," states LMC graphic design instructor Christine Ingersoll. "The field is limitless and exciting - just downright fun."

Ingersoll, who recently joined the College, will be based at the South Haven campus to develop the curriculum and head up the program. She will introduce students to a graphic design studio equipped with seventeen Macintosh G4 systems each loaded with illustration, photo, and page layout software. This studio will serve as the College's exclusive site for graphic design curriculum.

The program will be a mix of training on the latest computer equipment and design software as well as instruction in traditional art subjects including drawing, 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional design, and photography.

"Designers must first and foremost have good drawing skills, be excellent problem solvers, and be skilled craftsmen who can execute their work with whatever tool needed, be it a pencil or a computer, to deliver the message," states Ingersoll. "It is our responsibility in training the next generation of designers to provide an environment that cultivates all of these skills. The program here at LMC will do just that."

Ingersoll adds that design training needs an academic base coupled with hands-on practice. The studio atmosphere at LMC will create an environment where students can be challenged by each other and the faculty.

LMC will offer students a one-year certificate program as well as a two-year degree program that can prepare them to enter a design career or move on to a bachelor degree program at a four-year college or university.

Those interested in learning more about LMC's graphic design program may contact Christine Ingersoll at the new South Haven campus at 269-639-8442 or ingersoll@lakemichigancollege.edu. Registration is going on now for fall classes that begin Monday, August 25.