Hello, I’m Becky Johnson, a brand new Virginia Tech Alumni with a Bachelor’s in Visual Communication Design (better known as graphic design).

What is Visual Communication (graphic) Design?  It’s an umbrella term for several aspects of art that are so fully infused into our society that we can hardly notice or even define it.*  It is as its name suggests: design meets art meets communication…. concept meets aesthetics meets message… do you see where I’m going with this?  I’ll give you a few examples: 1) a state or country flag, 2) a medieval coat of arms, 3) your favorite sports team’s mascot and logo, 4) magazines, 5) billboards and posters, 6) street signs, 7) CD and DVD box labels, 8. business cards, letter heads, brochures, websites, 9) the instruction manuals for your computer and other electronics, etc., etc., etc…  A bunch of practical, every day things you don’t even notice anymore, right?  Things that are just so common place that they are taken for granted.  You almost think it was naturally there all along.  Well, guess what.  Somebody deliberately designed it for you because there was a need and a graphic designer created a solution (and made it “pretty” in the process).  So really you could call us problem solvers.  Not to toot our own horns, but we graphic designers have a knack for design, beauty, organization, and bit of what I like to call story-telling.  We are some multifaceted son-of-a-guns.  Our imagination is our only limit, and we are here for you!

There are two goals that lay the foundation of this blog.  First, it is to explain what Visual Communication Design is and is not, to designers and non-designers alike.  Second, it is to be a graphic design bible, if you will.  It has been inspired by all the many lessons I learned the hard way during my four years at college that I’d like to help other designers avoid.  Or better yet, this blog is an oasis of examples and inspiration that I so desperately needed and searched for in college but never found.  These are all the things I know now that I wish I’d known back then.  And so, I pass my wisdom on you you.  I hope it helps in more ways than one!

*Pretty sweet definition, eh?  Came up with it myself.  Only took four long years of thinking about it to do it.