Graphic Design students learn and earn with industry driven curriculum

Each semester, Graphic Design students have the opportunity to work on industry projects across multiple courses. From defining and designing Troy-A-Palooza promotional art in their concept and process course, to selling their own products at the Student Made Store in Troy’s Idea Bank during their business of art & design class, students regularly get the opportunity to see their work in the hallways, community, and in some cases, larger urban areas like New York City. 

In the Spring Semester of 2025, students enrolled in Associate Professor Chris Stagl’s design studio course earned thousands of dollars working on five different clients’ creative needs. 

“We were very lucky to be able to work on both internal TROY projects and external projects to give our students a very well-rounded look at what this industry has to offer its creative students,” Stagl said. “The stars aligned a little bit in the sense that we were able to find the time to work on some very big projects that quite literally took us all semester, and still squeeze in some smaller, but still important, projects that allowed us to give back to the community.” 

This approach has clearly resonated with students like Graphic Design student, Maddie Ashendorf.

“Truthfully, it’s nice to be able to compete for a monetary prize, but just the idea of making real-world creative work is enough for me to be excited about being in a class like this, and I’m very thankful for the opportunities that Professor Stagl has given our class,” she said.

This semester, the students worked on creative projects for The F. Scott Fitzgerald Foundation, The World Languages and Cultures Department, Troy’s Marketing Department, Mobile National Cemetery: United States Colored Troops, the U.S. Army and the Aviation Center of Excellence, creating logos, banners, posters, murals, t-shirts, and more for these paying clients. 

“We prefer it when potential clients come to us with a vision and a budget, but at least one of those two things is required for us to consider a project for our design studio class,” Stagl explained. “The other big component we discuss before approving a client to present their creative need to our students is a timeframe, and whether it’s possible to complete the work within the semester window. Typically, we have four to five clients per semester in this single class, and they are prioritized in the order they are received. I’m always available to have a conversation about if someone’s creative project fits within this course, and unfortunately, we do have to say no sometimes because our semesters fill up quickly. It’s a really awesome experience to have a student show up for a class and to watch a client hand them a check for their hard work – that’s the ‘learn and earn’ model that I love.”