Assistant Professor - Graphic Design

The Department of Art and Design invites applicants for a tenure-track assistant professor position in graphic design starting in the Fall of 2027. The successful candidate will demonstrate excellence in multiple areas that may include: advanced typography, brand systems, design history, and/or UI/UX. It is also important that the candidate possesses broad fluency in the cultural, historical, and theoretical frameworks that shape contemporary graphic design practice.

We are particularly interested in candidates who bring a current perspective to industry practice and whose work reflects an awareness of the discipline's expanding boundaries. Candidates who engage in emerging technologies in relationship to typographic practice are especially encouraged to apply.

Primary teaching responsibilities may include courses in advanced typography, brand identity, design history, and advanced studio at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The candidate will also contribute to curriculum development, graduate thesis advising, and department/ college-level committee service work.

• Teach undergraduate courses in graphic design with emphasis in advanced typography, brand systems, and design history
• Advise and mentor BFA and MFA students in the development of their design practice and professional careers
• Maintain an active, evolving creative research practice that generates a record of industry engagement, exhibition of creative work, scholarly disciplinary research, and/or national industry recognition
• Contribute to curriculum development and program planning within the Graphic Design area
• Participate in departmental, college, and university service including recruitment, accreditation (NASAD), and committee work
• Engage with the broader design community through professional organizations, conferences, and/or community partnerships

Minimum Qualifications:

• MFA in Graphic Design or a terminal degree in a closely related discipline by appointment start date
• Contemporary professional industry experience in graphic design, with a strong and current portfolio demonstrating breadth of practice
• Expertise in one or more of the following areas: advanced typography and experimental typographic practice, editorial and publication design, brand identity and visual systems, experimental image-making and visual process
• Awareness of contemporary theoretical and cultural concerns within the graphic design discipline
• Proficiency in current industry-standard design tools and an openness to emerging technologies and workflows

Preferred Qualifications:

• College-level teaching experience
• Demonstrated engagement with the historical and critical discourse of graphic design
• Experience with interactive, computational or screen-based design as it intersects with typography
• Record of professional recognition, publication, or exhibition at a regional or national level

Salary commensurate with qualifications. Utah State University offers a generous benefits package.

Employees typically work indoors and are protected from weather and/or contaminants, but not, necessarily, occasional temperature changes.

Department Highlights Housed in the College of Art and Sciences and accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the Department of Art + Design has a century-long history and a suite of well-established and highly regarded programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. (Please see art.usu.edu for a complete listing of all academic programs in the department and their curricula.)

The department also works closely with the Caine School of the Arts and the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art to engage students from across the university in arts programming. In addition to programs on the Logan Campus, the department has faculty on the USU Eastern campuses in Price and Blanding, Utah, and delivers courses by electronic and hybrid instructional systems to USU’s six other regional campuses and numerous county centers around the state.

Caine School of the Arts Highlights The Caine School of the Arts, within Utah State University's College of Arts & Sciences, promotes the arts and arts education on campus and throughout the community. The school supports community engagement in the arts, provides professional stewardship of performance and exhibition facilities, and collaborates with university leadership, patrons, and…