Welcome to Graphic Design at Western
Thank you for choosing the Graphic Design Program at Western.
We are excited to have you in class. Your journey through the graphics program will be educational, challenging, rewarding—and dare we say—fun!
We pride ourselves on teaching the knowledge and skills you need to begin your career in graphic design.
We take pride in
- Small class sizes—16 students per class. We will know you and your name
- 4 full-time Instructors with real-world experience
- 100+ up-to-date iMacs in 5 Labs
- Professional graphic design and web design software by Adobe
- Real-life, industry-quality class projects
- Graphic design club offering fun group activities and field trips
- Freelance and internship opportunities
- Proven job placement
What does a graphic designer do?
Program Outcomes (what you will experience and learn)
- How to design cool marketing and advertising stuff
- Become power-users of industry-standard design software
- Effectively communicate with clients and industry partners
- Convince clients that your design work will help them
- Work with real-world clients on some projects
Basically, you will learn how to take a client’s message and visually deliver it to a target audience.
You will design marketing and advertising material like:
- brand identities
- logos
- websites
- social media graphics
- brochures
- posters
- business presentations
- email marketing
- advertisements
- book covers
- t-shirts
Student work
Jobs in graphic design
Our graduates work for some of the best companies in America.
| 4imprint | Webteam |
| American Girl | WinCraft |
| Ashley Furniture | Waterfront Group |
| AVS | Wheelhouse |
| BAPI (Building Automation Products, Inc.) | Western Technical College |
| Big Dot of Happiness | Wisconsin Distributors |
| Bluedoor, LLC | World Cycling Productions |
| Borah | Lighthouse Business Solutions |
| Cascade Vacation Rentals | Meca Sportswear |
| City of Madison, Wisconsin (Transit Graphics Technician) | Marshfield Clinic |
| Core Products International | Mathy Construction |
| Crest Healthcare Supply | Menards |
| Dairyland Power | Merchants Bank |
| Dave's Guitar Shop | Metallics, Inc |
| Echo Bridge Home Entertainment | Mississippi Valley Conservancy |
| Elevate Media Group | Mayo Clinic |
| Eastbay Footlocker | Organic Valley |
| Evans Print & Media Group / Monroe County Herald | Pear Designs |
| Excel Images | People's Food Co-op |
| Exhibitus | Prism |
| Fastenal | Pump House Regional Arts Center |
| Farrell Equipment & Supply | RenewAire |
| Games People Play | S.C. Swiderski, LLC |
| Gensler | Shopko Corporate Offices |
| Goodson | Tartan Marketing |
| Greater Good | The Blü Group |
| Gundersen | The Insurance Center |
| Illumin8 Marketing | The Menu Maker |
| Impact Sports | Thorson Graphics |
| Inland | Trane |
| Interact | Trempealeau County Times |
| Irish Titan | Vendi |
| JT Graphics | Vision Design Group |
| Kaplan University | |
| Kwik Trip | |
| La Crosse Community Theatre | |
| La Crosse Graphics | |
| La Crosse Mail and Print Solutions | |
| La Crosse Tribune | |
| Land's End |
Students begin their careers in the following positions
- Graphic designer
- Production artist
- Publication designer
- Web designer
Starting wage
- $12–$16 per hour ($14–18 in larger cities)
Our graduates also transfer to 4-year colleges
- Viterbo University
- UW-Stout
- Franklin University