Pre-College Graphic Design Program

“This program is wonderful! Students will be so well informed and prepared as they move forward in their schooling.”
Professor Chercy Lott, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

The program at the MillerWhite School consists of vigorous studio-based courses with required homework, assigned readings, and content exams. The purpose of the courses is to develop the students’ ability to think and to see, using design principles and correct software application as the vehicles. These courses are fully equivalent to “AP” academic courses – college-level work offered to pre-college students. Acceptance of an individual’s work as placement out of an equivalent college course is determined by each specific college.

Ideas we discuss

Skills we teach

• Appropriate use of technology
• How to inform and persuade
• Typography
• Abstraction and legibility
• Figure/Ground relationships
• Color theory
• Layout
• Organization
• Design for interaction
• Drawing and crafting
• Dressing a business
• Visual commonalities

• Drawing
• Craftsmanship
• File management
• Presentation skills
• Problem solving
• Portfolio preparation

Software we use

• Adobe Dreamweaver
• Adobe Flash
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Acrobat

The MillerWhite School of Design is modeled after the freshman foundations coursework offered at professional art schools. This freshman year experience is a series of courses covering two and three dimensional design, drawing, color theory, photography, and art history. Liberal arts coursework (English, history, mathematics, and hard and soft sciences) rounds out the freshman year. The freshman foundations program prepares students to understand commonalities in all arts, to discover their natural interests, and to begin to make informed decisions about their major. The MillerWhite School of Design offers the design component of a professional art school’s freshman foundations design program.

Click to learn more about undergraduate art schools.

What is the purpose of the MillerWhite School of Design?

• To provide students with an experience in which excellence is expected and the tools to achieve excellence are patiently and thoroughly explained, giving every opportunity for self discovery and achievement.
• To provide a resource for students who expresses interest in computer graphics and graphic design.
• To provide a developmental resource for a student to create high quality portfolio samples for admission to a professional art school.
• To provide a resource for the development of a child’s learning skills through guided design assignments, required readings, and familiarity with key issues.

Audio Samples

Alex White discusses the concepts of figure/ground relationship, mass, abstraction, and contrasting design attributes. (1:53)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In this clip Alex describes “purposeful” designing, art and design, and getting the most out of the course. (:55)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Enroll Now in Our Design Class

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.