Visual Communication program, print lab, find new homes in Language Communications department

Peggy Deal, a Scottsdale Community College alumni for more than 24 years.  She serves as the residential faculty and is also the program director for visual communications.

When Maricopa County Community College District adopted the “Guided Pathways Program”, nine of the ten Maricopa schools adopted the same Digital Media Arts Degree, which includes a fine arts component (drawing).  Scottsdale was led by Deal and is currently the only school to offer a Visual Communication program.

SCC offers three distinct tracks in the Visual Communication program.  The award-winning Graphic Design program is combined with a creative, hands-on Digital Process Management Program (Printing) and Creative Branding (Marketing).   All three tracks share a common core of five classes which Deal says helps student’s decide which specialized track they will want to follow.

Another key difference, according to Deal, is that Scottsdale’s Visual Communication program is practical and project based, rather than theory based.  Deal claims that SCC’s students are able to get real work experience through the projects they work on.

Deal told NEVN that around 80% of SCC’s interns get offered full-time positions.  They have established a unique, paid externship program with Prisma Graphics, the leading marketing/printing/solutions provider in the southwest.  Prisma has two- to three semesters of students who rotate through each department to give them a diverse experience. This is in contrast to most interns where they only work in one position.

“As an occupational program, we have to have an advisory board.  It reads like a who’s who in the industry – I’ve got all the leaders,” Deal said.  “They call me when they have a job and they’re like – send me a student – we need somebody to do this.  And I send them somebody and they hire them.”

“We’ve built a very solid industry partnership with a number of companies, Deal said.  “These are all huge companies, that have all said ‘I would hire from Scottsdale before I hire from ASU in a heartbeat’.”

WHY???

“It’s because our students know what they are doing,” said Deal.

Another unique characteristic of the program is that students are able to understand what they’re doing.  Digital Process Management students learn to use, maintain, and troubleshoot the equipment at their state of-the-art print laboratory.

Since 2020, the Visual Communications program had been spread out around Scottsdale’s campus. After spending a variety of hours in the Peridot and former Maricopa T.V. rooms, the SCC Print Lab was finally able to move on. The SCC Print Lab was located in the music building. It finally moved to LC 426 last summer, two doors below the NEVN newsroom.  The program’s two computer labs also found new homes in LC 353 and LC 355.

Their Konica Minolta BizHubC1070 digital printer with Fiery controller is the centerpiece of their print lab, affectionately called Kermit.  A DG3 Direct to Garment t shirt press, which prints the garment instead of applying a silkscreen to it, is also part of the lab’s equipment.  The paper folder, the brand new paper cutter, and a saddle sewler (stapler), as well as a coil binder and laminator are also included in this print lab.

Artichoke is a magazine that promotes SCC. Vortex is a book of creative stories from SCC students. Two Waters Circle features research writing by SCC student.

SCC students in Visual Communications can also make and print their own projects during classes.

The Ben Franklin Society awarded the Fredrick D. Kagy Education Award to the program in 2012. This award recognizes it as one the best graphic design programs the country.