Have you ever scrolled through Instagram and wondered how some posts look so much better than others? Or maybe you’ve looked at a movie poster and immediately understood the whole style of the film? That’s not magic, that’s graphic design, and our school’s program is teaching students how to crack visual code. This isn’t just an art class; it’s a class in powerful communication and critical thinking.
Mr. Federman explained the heart of the class is your brain. It’s about learning “a visual language to communicate a concept”, like writing an essay, but instead of words, you use imagery. This is awesome because it’s a creative outlet for students who might not be good at traditional drawing.
You can take something like a school event and, using design principles, make the flier look incredibly professional and sophisticated.
He pointed out he loves watching students discover these possibilities: “I really love watching the kids sort of discover… they’ll think something’s a mistake sometimes, and then they’ll sort of go, ‘No, wait, that sort of works.’” This focus on revising, editing and making mistakes is key to the whole process.
The program starts with the essentials: software skills. Because professional design jobs use things like Adobe products, students need to learn these tools since they are the industry standard for everything we see, like product packaging and websites.
Once you master the tools, you move into the real design challenge: composition. This is how you arrange everything to be effective. Students learn about things like visual hierarchy and how to create a strong focal point. It’s about designing an image that is so smart, it makes the viewer understand your idea without you having to spell it out.
The ultimate goal of the graphic design elective is actually bigger than just making cool images. It’s about giving students an insight into the world around them.
Mr. Federman hopes students will stop looking at the images they see on TikTok or TV with “disinterested pleasure.” Instead, he wants students to look at a design and know “why something looks cool and what it’s really saying.”
This class teaches you to be an investigator, someone who looks past the surface and understands the subtle messages being communicated. Taking graphic design isn’t just learning a skill for a future job; it’s learning a whole new way to see and think.
