Courses Developed & Taught
A list of course curriculum developed and taught by Prof. Speyers receiving full SACSCOC accreditation.
Business of Design (3hrs)
ART 418 equips advanced design students with the professional, strategic, and entrepreneurial competencies required to thrive in contemporary creative industries, integrating real-world workflows, ethical considerations, and emerging technologies into a curriculum built from firsthand agency experience.
UI / UX Design (3hrs)
ART 448 introduces students to user experience design through research-driven methods, interaction principles, and user interface best practices grounded in the Laws of UX framework. (Figma + Adobe Express)
Digital Animation (3hrs)
ART 341 introduces students to motion and interactive design through a curriculum that integrates animation principles, UI/UX fundamentals, and finished animated work produced in Adobe Animate, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and GarageBand.
Portfolio Design (4hrs)
ART 450 serves as the capstone experience for design students, guiding them through the refinement, curation, and presentation of a professional portfolio across both print and digital platforms.
Web Design (3hrs)
ART 441 builds on foundational design and digital media coursework by teaching students to plan, code, and deploy fully functional websites using HTML, CSS, CMS platforms, and contemporary web-design practices.
Internship Placements (3hrs)
ART 469 Is the internship placement program, designed to connect Junior & Senior design students, in good standing, with local agencies and other businesses in need of productive graphic designers.
Travel Courses (3hrs)
ART 280 introduces students to travel photography and photojournalism through immersive fieldwork that explores the cultural, historical, and creative environments of international locations, including Nepal, Thailand, and Switzerland/Germany/France.
Additional Courses Developed & Taught
Art Appreciation (3hrs)
ART 202
A survey of art history taught to cohorts of roughly 70 students. Students learn to analyze artworks in their cultural, political, and technological context, building the visual vocabulary and critical judgment that upper-level design courses depend on.
Drawing (3hrs)
ART 211
Observational drawing focused on value, perspective, proportion, and translating three-dimensional form to the page. Projects progress from line and tonal studies to composition and narrative, building the hand skills later used in illustration, design, and animation.
Beginning Design (3hrs)
ART 215
The foundational 2D/3D studio. Sequential projects in form, color theory, texture, and composition teach students to see visual structure and apply design principles deliberately, through an iterative sketch-critique-revise process.
Visual Communications (3hrs)
ART 216
An introduction to how images, type, and layout work together to communicate a message. Students move from concept sketches to finished pieces in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, learning hierarchy, grid, and audience-focused problem solving.
Digital Illustration (3hrs)
ART 220
Vector and raster illustration for editorial, product, and brand use. Students develop a personal illustrative style while mastering Illustrator and Photoshop workflows, from thumbnail sketches through print- and screen-ready final art.
Digital Image Editing (3hrs)
ART 221
Professional image editing in Adobe Photoshop: selection, masking, layering, color correction, retouching, and compositing. Students learn non-destructive workflows and the ethics of image manipulation while producing portfolio-ready photo illustrations.
History of Graphic Design (3hrs)
ART 313
Graphic design from early writing systems through Modernism, Postmodernism, and the digital era, anchored in Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Students pair research with style-recreation projects to understand how design has shaped culture and communication.
Typography (3hrs)
ART 316
Type as both historical discipline and contemporary design tool. Students master anatomy, spacing, hierarchy, and grid systems in InDesign, progressing from letterform studies to complex multi-page typographic compositions.
Advertising Design (3hrs)
ART 318
Advertising as a strategic system rather than isolated ads. Students take campaigns from research and creative brief through copywriting, visual strategy, and media selection across print, digital, and motion, then present them to stakeholders.
Photography I (3hrs)
ART 322
DSLR fundamentals (aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length) through composition, lighting, and digital darkroom technique. Students learn to make deliberate photographic choices and articulate the visual strategy behind them.
Photography II (3hrs)
ART 422
Advanced studio and location photography, including lighting control, portraiture, product work, and extended photo series. Students develop a cohesive body of work and a professional workflow from shoot planning through final edit and presentation.