"Design is design is design," says graphic design professor Nicole Roberts. "That becomes clear when you're working around multidisciplinary designers—we speak the same language."

A notable double alumna, Roberts (M.A., interior design, 2011; M.F.A., graphic design, 2010) teaches from expansive experience. "It's not a far leap from graphic design to interior design to architecture, especially when working in the built environment. We're all talking about the human condition, and the human experience, and we're in the same lane."

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Roberts excelled in the design firm realm as creative director at Kolar Design, and as design director at FRCH Design Worldwide. She also taught at multiple institutions of higher-ed, before joining SCAD faculty full-time in Fall, 2021.

"Nicole is a force," says Michael Mikulec, SCAD chair of graphic design. "Her professional experience and exceptional skill set help further the dialogue around what a 21st century graphic design practice can be. Her understanding of design for physical environments provides our students with top-of-the-line insights into thinking beyond standard expectations. The university, department, and our students all greatly benefit from her presence."

Now based in Savannah, Roberts is known for her bonhomie, her Chi-Poo pooch named Logo ("A designer dog deserves a designer name!"), and her devotion to academic rigor. This quarter, she is teaching two sections (one in-person, one via SCADnow) of Graphic Design Portfolio (GRDS 408).

"We work to create the portfolio that will get you where you want to go," she says. "How do you define your mission, vision, and values? What are your specific goals for your career? Some students want to work at big agencies, some want to freelance, some are on the fence. I tell them about my own professional experiences, and let them know it's only one person's experience."

Roberts also helms graduate-level courses Experience Design for Physical Space (GDVX 757), and User-centered Strategy and Process (GDVX 770), the latter about "building human-centered design in the digital realm."

"Students develop a user app, allowing research to drive their design decisions," she explains. "Their project involves interpreting an analog game into the digital realm, without sacrificing the fun of sitting with family and friends and having a tactile experience. It's a deep dive into the human experience of fun."

Tactile and digital, research and fun—these dualities achieve unity through Roberts' pedagogy.  Working in Adler Hall, she sees the efficacy of a building that houses multiple degree programs, and what that does for students.

"There's not a hardline between departments. In my graphic design and visual experience design courses, I have advertising students, LXFM students, and fashion students, all coming in from adjacent industries."

She offers a knowing smile. "In the classroom we replicate the true experience of working in design."

"Usman represents the best of what a creative thinker and maker should be," says SCAD associate chair of graphic design Michael Mikulec of his student Usman Ibrahim. "Usman finds idiosyncratic ways into projects, creating with an exciting sense of agency and command of subject matter. He follows through on his ambition with his outcomes."

Professor Mikulec's praise is manifest in Ibrahim's vision. In recent months, anyone walking around the perimeter of the basketball courts in Savannah's Forsyth Park has seen a striking message stitched in yellow in its perimeter fencing: "Keep it busy." There, in the bucolic heart of the city, a place where locals, tourists, fitness enthusiasts, and socializing students all gather, Ibrahim's public art thrives.

"The initial prompt from professor Mikulec was to go on a dérive, an unplanned journey through an urban landscape," explains Ibrahim (M.F.A., graphic design). "The purpose of the dérive was to find a location in Savannah for creating an environmental poster that spoke to my experience. On my walk, I came across the fence and it felt natural to use that as a grid for creating blackletter typography. The words 'keep it busy' came from a freewriting exercise. Although they were written in a specific personal context, I picked them out so that anyone who came across the piece could make it their own, and find some inspiration and motivation to keep doing what they're doing."

Ibrahim's project was spurred by professor Mikulec's class User-centered Strategy and Process (GDVX 770). It took approximately 15 hours for Ibrahim to complete the installation, working by hand in the hot sun and fielding intrigued questions about his purpose from passersby.

In addition to the Forsyth installation, Ibrahim deconstructed that environmental iteration to create a motion poster and a digital print edition, to explore how an idea can be applied in different media. "Those posters were inspired by my process and the painstaking time and effort it took to weave the ropes into the fence," explains the native of Karachi, Pakistan. "It was about becoming more comfortable with creative freedom—something we as designers both dread and crave—and converging on what works and feels right."

Lest a temporary public art project confine perceptions, Usman's other projects are as varied as the depth of his talent. He is founder and creative director of Pin'd (billed as "Pakistan's first enamel pin company"), brand producer for TEDxLUMS, and an illustrator whose work has been featured on adda ("The online magazine of new writing from around the globe").

Ibrahim will return to SCAD Savannah in fall 2021 to begin work on his master's thesis, using graphic design to address the history of Pakistan and how external influences from colonialism through globalization affect his home nation's identity. "I want to address our visual identity as a community. We cannot lose the idea of having something to add to the discourse of the world."

Visit Usman Ibrahim.