inside - University of Central Oklahoma

design
success
by design
NEW DESIGN MINOR FIRST OF ITS KIND
By shalena eaton
The University of Central Oklahoma
design department couldn’t help
but notice the increasing demand for its
illustration electives—only Illustration level
I has been a design major requirement—
and last semester, 60 students were
signed up for level II. Couple that with
the increase of UCO graduates getting
jobs in the illustration field, and Design
Department Chair Rukmini Ravikumar
said that it didn’t take long to discover that
a minor in illustration was necessary.
“More and more of our students are
getting illustration jobs and so where
illustration used to be a side skill for a
common graphic designer, it is now a fullfledged
job in and of itself,” said Ravikumar.
The illustration minor offered by UCO is
the first and only one offered in the region.
Ravikumar credits the growth of the
program to Keith Webb, Central assistant
professor of design. Ravikumar says Webb,
an award-winning designer who is known
for the use of vivid illustration in his own
work, was the first to notice the rise in
interest from students.
“Making illustration an official minor
was an easy decision because the nature of
student interest has been a healthy, natural
evolution,” said Webb. “Student interest has
really peaked over the last year, and it was
clear we needed to respond to that.”
Ravikumar says Webb helps students
understand that the design discipline is
a balance.
“Keith emphasizes the basics: handskills
and the preparation for finding a
balance between the foundations of
illustration and current and forthcoming
technologies,” said Ravikumar.
“As a teaching philosophy, I try to teach
students not to be seduced by technology
and to emphasize the importance of
foundational drawing skills as well as the
process of illustration,” said Webb.
20 Impressions 2010|2011
“Archetype” by Amy Hubbard.
Illustration II student, Ryan Hall works on a project.