Course Goals | Mysite

Graphic Design is the application of effective visual communication skills to the
needs of businesses and industries, for empowering ideas, with visual
problem-solving techniques.

Piscataway Magnet School's Graphic Design program, facilitates a 360-degree approach towards the discipline, enhancing students' skills, and preparing them to succeed in all their post-secondary endeavors.

Over the course of four years, students learn about the various principles of graphic design that includes: illustrations, color theory, typography, branding, advertising, photography, page layout design, photo and video editing, animation, multimedia
and various other topics related to the career major.

Students are introduced to three major industry-standard Adobe programs: Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, in which they gain mastery at the end of their final year. Students have the ability to validate their acquired skills in the field of Graphic Design with certification in NOCTI which is the leading provider of industry credentials and resources for career and technical education (CTE) programs across the nation.

The Graphic Design program is primarily project-based, where students start building their portfolio from the very onset of their Freshman year. At the end of the fourth year, students have considerable amount of portfolio pieces that they can display while interviewing for college applications or jobs.

Every year the shop holds an Art Show that enables students from all four grades to display their compositions and skills. Several invitees from the industry get a chance to visit the exhibition and evaluate student work.

Our district hosts a Career and Technical Expo; a competitive event that allows students to display their knowledge and skills in their career major in front of industry experts. For the last few years, the Graphic Design shop has continuously secured first, second and third place in the competition.

The Graphic Design program at Piscataway Tech encompasses the curriculum set by NJDOE. It caters to the requirement of the current industry-based standards and assists students in achieving their goals towards being a successful professional. Students develop their resumes, portfolio, and at the end of the program, they walk out with a body of work that showcases their knowledge and skills in the filed of graphic design.

The program lays the foundation for students to venture in fields like; Web Design, UX Design, advertising, editorial, publication, fashion, photography, illustration, and digital media. The four-year program at our school opens up a window for a large variety of professions that our students can explore after high school.