Teaching – 9th Collective

My Teaching Practice

Make connections.
Build confidence.

Teaching design at George Mason University connects my classroom with the realities of creative practice. Experience as a designer and creative leader informs my approach, while teaching continually challenges me to learn and grow.

Students learn to connect art, technology, business, and communication while developing the thinking behind the work: understanding a problem, asking useful questions, exploring possibilities, and making deliberate design decisions.

Mentoring extends that conversation beyond the classroom, creating space for people to develop their judgment, confidence, and direction.

George Mason University School of Art colleagues

Areas of Teaching

From foundations
to new possibilities.

Design Foundations

Elements, principles, composition, and the decisions that give visual communication its purpose.

Typography

Type as both language and image, with attention to hierarchy, structure, and meaning.

User Experience

Research, audience needs, information architecture, and the development of thoughtful digital experiences.

Motion Graphics

Concepts, storyboards, image, sound, and movement working together to tell a story.

Information Design

Research and storytelling that make complex information understandable.

Technology & Learning

Exploring how tools and emerging technologies can support creative learning and accessibility.

Workplace Learning

Master Classes & Mastery-Based Primers

Design Thinking

A human-centered approach to understanding a challenge, questioning assumptions, and exploring possibilities. Research, problem framing, idea generation, and testing help teams move toward thoughtful solutions.

Creative Concepts

Turning audience insight and strategy into a clear creative idea. Explore different directions, connect words and visuals, and evaluate concepts for relevance, originality, and their ability to carry a message across channels.

Creative Direction & Design Leadership

The practical skills of building, managing, and growing strong creative teams: budgeting, managing people, directing art, solving problems, navigating client relationships, and negotiating. Develop the judgment to support people, guide the work, and balance creative goals with business needs.

Mastery-Based Primer

Advanced Publication Design and Grids

Explore the structure behind effective editorial design, from page canons and grid systems to typography, hierarchy, pacing, and the relationship between text and image. Build cohesive publications that guide readers through complex content.

Mastery-Based Primer

AI Tools & Their Place in Design

Explore where AI can support research, learning, production, and building within a design practice. Develop clear prompts, understand how agents can support workflows, and test outputs and assumptions while keeping human judgment, authorship, and accountability at the center.

Learning in Practice

Ideas to explore.
Judgment to develop.

Selected courses, master classes, and mastery-based primers connect design theory with deliberate practice. Explore the audience, learning goals, and frameworks behind each experience through a few selected teaching slides.

University Course · George Mason University

UX Research and Design

Frame a useful design problem, identify user goals, and ask interview questions that reveal behavior rather than invite assumptions.

Explore the Learning ↗

Mastery-Based Primer · Professional Practice

Brand Identity: From Research to Delivery

Understand how research inputs inform brand strategy and why delivery includes review, evaluation, and continued improvement.

Explore the Learning ↗

Master Class · Hatcher

Designing Memorable Logos

Translate research into a design direction and move through concept development, refinement, and delivery with a clear rationale.

Explore the Learning ↗

Mastery-Based Primer · Hatcher

Principles of Effective Typography

Apply design theory to typography and recognize how type supports communication, meaning, and the reader’s experience.

Explore the Learning ↗

University Course · George Mason University · AVT 311

Graphic Design Methods and Principles

Explore how images, words, and space work together to communicate ideas. Apply design elements, attributes, and principles to make deliberate choices about composition, emphasis, hierarchy, and grids.

Explore the Learning ↗

Mastery-Based Primer · Hatcher

AI-Enhanced Creativity With a Human Focus

Explore AI as a supporting tool while keeping creative intent, critical judgment, and responsibility with the designer.

Explore the Learning ↗

Teaching Resources

A foundation
to build on.

A thoughtful design practice grows through curiosity, study, and making. Explore the philosophy that guides my teaching, the elements and principles that ground the work, and readings that invite deeper exploration.

Explore My Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Statement

Teaching design begins with a belief in what students can make possible. Through their creativity, lived experiences, and growing understanding of others, they can communicate ideas that challenge assumptions, build connections, and inspire change. My purpose is to help them develop the voice, judgment, and confidence to shape a world they believe in, with humanity at the heart of what they create.

Teaching Philosophy

My first lesson in the importance of how design can inform came in the fourth grade when I designed my first piece. I got the job because of my penmanship and drawing skills. I remember gathering with building excitement all of the necessary materials: pencils, markers, rulers, glue, and glitter. After settling myself on the floor I wondered to myself, "How in the world am I supposed to start?"

After staring for some time at the large poster board lying before me, I felt a warm touch on my shoulder. My art teacher, leaned over and said, "Just remember to make sure that parents will be able to read this from far away. Other than that, make a poster that will make them want to attend." After two hours of outlining my headline and artwork, I began the painstaking task of coloring my design in with markers. When the poster went up the next day I was elated and had a great sense of accomplishment and pride . . . I still get those same feelings today.

Many more lessons would follow which carried me down a path toward becoming a graphic designer. Now, even after so many years, I always go back to my first lesson, which taught me that design, even the simplest hand drawn “Back to School Night” poster, is all about communication.

I use all of my experiences and learning (good and bad) in the classroom today. Teaching design is all about providing the setting in which each student can make the connections between art, technology, business, attitude, and drive that will ultimately propel them down a successful career in visual problem solving. In return, I continually learn and grow in the career that I love. As Aristotle put it best, "Teaching [truly] is the highest form of understanding." I hope one day to achieve that status! :)

Graphic Design Programs @ Mason

Ranked #2 in Virginia for Graphic Design

George Mason University’s graphic design program was ranked #2 in Virginia by Animation Career Review in 2025. View the Program & Ranking ↗

As an adjunct professor of design at George Mason University, I have had the honor of teaching students who have gone on to wonderful creative opportunities.

The School of Art offers a BFA in Art and Visual Technology with a concentration in Graphic Design, an MFA in Visual and Performing Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design, and a Graphic Design Certificate for working professionals who already hold a bachelor’s degree.

The graphic design curriculum connects design principles, typography, and digital media with areas such as branding, user experience, motion graphics, editorial design, and advertising. Professional practice and real-world experiences help students connect their learning with creative careers.

Explore Degree Programs ↗

Explore Graphic Design at Mason ↗

Design Foundations

Nine elements and nine principles provide a starting point for my design thinking and teaching. Understanding these foundations helps designers make deliberate choices and develop thoughtful visual solutions.

The 9 Elements of Design

Point

A point marks a position in space. It's a pair of x, y coordinates. Graphically, a point takes form as a dot, a visible mark that can focus attention to one spot.

Line

A line is an infinite series of points. Understood geometrically, a line has length, but no breadth. Lines can organize, direct, separate, be expressive, suggest an emotion or create a rhythm.

Plane/Shape

A plane is a 2D surface area generated by connecting straight and/or curved lines. A plane can take on the form of any shape.

Volume

On a 2D application you can perceive 3D space or volume using color, transparency, layering, overlapping, and angles.

Color

Color is often described as hue. There is an entire science dedicated to the study of the effects of color and the sociological implications of color. Points, lines, and planes all have a color attribute.

Scale

A relationship between objects is often defined by their size or scale. This is often called proportion.

Texture

Texture defines a surface. Patterns and repetition can create textures. Texture adds detail to an image, providing an overall surface quality.

Transparency

Transparency creates dense, layered imagery built from layers of color and texture. It can contribute to the meaning and visual intrigue of a work.

Value

Value is the degree of lightness and darkness in an object and is related to color. It can give the design emotion. Line, color texture, and shape all need value in order to add depth.

The 9 Principles of Design

Balance

The division of visual space can be described as symmetrical or asymmetrical. Balance ensures that the parts of the composition are placed in an aesthetically pleasing way. Asymmetrical balance is more dynamic because it keeps the audience engaged on the visual message. Understanding how to balance all of the elements in a composition is vitally important in design.

Emphasis/Dominance

Emphasis or dominance is when an element in a composition draws the focus of the viewer to a certain area. You can emphasize color, value, shapes, illustrations/photography, and text. Usually emphasis goes hand-in-hand with how you direct or detract attention to an object by screening or framing certain parts of the composition.

Rhythm/Pattern/Movement

Pattern, sequence, flow, movement. All of these are create a rhythm in a composition. Movement is the way a designer leads the eye throughout a composition.

Unity

Unity is the relationships between elements. Unity is the harmony of the entire composition and also of its parts. It is the relationship among the elements of the composition that gives the sense of wholeness and it helps give the piece meaning.

Figure/Ground

This is often referred to as empty space, or negative space. It is an element that can be used with the same force as positive space.

Contrast

Visual differences in elements using shape, scale, value, and/or color is described as contrast. Humans are wired to notice differences. Because of this, using contrast within your designs displays energy and helps draw attention particular parts of the composition.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy is the order of importance within a piece. Hierarchy gives the user a clear path of how you want them to flow into the design. It organizes the content and allows for quick recognition of the information you want to get out.

Framing and Layering

Framing is the use of images, words, and space to influence decision making and judgment by manipulating the way information is presented. Layers are simultaneous, overlapping components of an image of sequence. It is important to understand layering and how combining images, colors, shapes, and objects will do to a composition.

Grid

Grids are a network of lines that can encourage the designer to vary scale but have a well-structured piece. Grids provide organization, facilitate movement, and allows for a structure that simplifies information and provides greater function of content.